Finding Treasure

Whilst out on a walk through our neighborhood, I spotted the flattened remains of a porcupine on the road, its identity evident from the quills. I could make out the entire backbone and its individual vertebrae, as well as a jaw bone, ribs, scapula and hips.

Perfect porcupine posture!

As can be seen from the photo, most of the flesh had already disintegrated or been eaten, so I thought it would be great for my natural history display case. I returned home to retrieve gloves, a shovel and a bucket, and went back to collect it.

I was thrilled to find a jawbone with molars (camouflaged against the gravel) and a yellow-orange incisor up front.

I'm preparing the bones at home and cleaning them before arranging them in my showcase! So excited! This is as far as I've got with cleaning them.

I hope to string the vertebrae together in the right order for my display.

Graced by a Monarch

I think such a visitation is a seal of approval from the monarchy! This beauty was probing all over the flower of my Stokes' aster, Stokesia laevis. Can I just say that I'm STOKED (sorry! Corny!). Though this is not native to the northeast, it is from the continental U.S. so I decided that it would be okay for my yard. It's an incredibly showy bloom, and a pretty low maintenance plant.

Later that same day, my Joe-Pye-weeds were anointed with HRH presence and attention, too. Monarchs seem to have excellent eyesight and vigilance - they seem very edgy and flighty, so it wasn't easy catching them with their guard down.

Bladderwort Beauty

I was lucky enough to find these blooming common bladderworts (Utricularia vulgaris) along a shaded and less-traveled channel through a clump of islands. Their structure is so amazing. They can float to the surface and put up a flower stalk that can be pollinated out of the water. 

You can clearly see the foliage just breaking the surface tension of the water. These two have found (or made) a gap in the lily pads for themselves. When not flowering, the foliage is submerged and not seen at the surface.

Sometimes it can be hard to notice them amongst the blaze of vegetation on the surface - they're subtle.

Up close, the flowers make me think of Daffy or Donald Duck's profile!

Light Drama

I had a fantastic time paddling late one afternoon as a storm passed by in the distance. There was so much variety in the lighting and its intensity that I was happy being out there just to see it change so dramatically.

The moody gray-blue clouds were impressive

I had an amazing, exhilarating experience out there and came home exuberant.

But then I had to come down from the clouds and make dinner.