Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Hummingbird Moths
August 4, 2009
Hummingbird Moth (Hermaris thysbe)
This Hummingbird Moth, also known as a “Bee Moth” in
There may be 3 species of Hummingbird Moths in the region around Protection Farm but I have only observed this one species. Last year the Hummingbird moths were much more plentiful. This year, as of today I have only seen one. These photographs are from last summer, late July.
This is an odd moth. It is so named because it can be easily confused to the casual observer with a hummingbird. Sometimes with a quick glance one does not note that it is an insect. It looks like a hummingbird in coloration, shape, and size. It hovers like a hummingbird. It is slightly smaller but not by much. But, it does have feathery antennae one of the telltale signatures of a moth. It has insect body parts although the head, thorax and abdomen seem like one body part. Unlike many common moths it is active during the day. It is typically found visiting flowers for nectar along with hummingbirds.
This species (Hermaris thysbe) is colored olive green and red. To me, it looks a lot like a lobster with wings. Some of the photos that I have taken make it look like it is hanging on the outside of a reef. It has a very lobster like back end. It has bands or stripes on its abdomen, and this exoskeleton makes it appear similar a lobster.
Tufts of hair on the abdomen are feathery looking which give it a bird like appearance. The wings are mostly clear and beat rapidly and issue an audible buzz, not unlike a hummingbird.
The insect has a long thin proboscis which is the nectar sipping mouthpart.
Some of my photographs look like it is a lobster on a coral reef. The reef being the flowers.
The female lays eggs on host plants that include honeysuckle, hawthorns, viburnum and Black Cherry, and Black-eyed Susan. The caterpillars are yellowish green with darker green lines and reddish spots on the sides. They have a yellow tail horn. When the caterpillars are fully grown they climb down the host plant and into the soil where they make a cocoon and become a pupa.
If it is early in the season when they pupate they adults will emerge in a few weeks. If it is in the fall, the moths won’t emerge until the following spring.
Adult Hummingbird Moths feed on nectar from many sources. At Protection Farm they are often found at the Bee Balm, Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed, Butterfly Bush, and other nectar sources. They are a lot of fun to watch as they hover, and curl and uncurl their spectacular proboscis.
There are only three kinds in the animal kingdom of hovering nectar feeders. Hummingbirds, certain bats, and these sphingids.
Some of the sphingids are the fastest flying insects, capable of flying at over 30 miles per hour.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Cat Predation has Tremendous Impact
Cat Predation has a Tremendous Impact on Wild Bird Populations
Green Living- Reprinted from the July 2009 Sardinia Standard
By Jay Burney
Let me start out by saying that I am a cat person. That is as opposed to a dog person. I love cats. Nothing against dogs, they are fine, I have had dogs, but they are just not my favorite animal. Cats have been my companions and my pets of choice all of my life.
Late one bitter night last winter, a stray cat showed up at my rural door at Protection Farm. There are lots of feral cats in my neighborhood, perhaps a couple dozen visible daily along Miller Road. This one, a young jet black male cat recognized me as a species that it could adopt. It must be part of its genetic make up. Humans and cats have been co-dependent for a very long time. This cat is a very beautiful and pleasant animal with a magnetic and loving personality. It held nothing back and insisted that I pay attention. It was seeking shelter and compassion and it was willing to give its love. It was a very young cat and we decided to feed it. It came into the house which sent shock waves through our other two housecats. It wanted to stay. We knew that we faced a choice and that any actions would have consequences. We have a piece of property that we think of as a nature sanctuary. We love birds and other wildlife. We know that cats can be destructive of that kind of investment. Our two resident “inside” cats convinced us right away that we didn’t want another inside cat. \
And so the bargain that we struck with ourselves was that we would encourage the new one to be a barn cat as much as possible. In this decision we combined out compassion with idiocy and wishful thinking. We did fall in love with the creature, but we let it inside only on bitter nights. To make a long story short, here it is in June and the beautiful little black kitty which we have named snowball still lives with us.
A nature sanctuary, birds and small mammals, and a cat, cannot coexist. We enjoy birds, small mammals, insects and other wildlife. We feed them, garden for them, and build nest boxes for them. I take photos of them, many of which appear in this newspaper. This spring we had two pairs of bluebirds nesting in boxes we built, a pair of tree swallows, a pair of kingbirds, woodcocks in the field, and several other dozens of wild species. As I write a pair of bobolinks are chatting it up outside my window no doubt making plans and building a ground nest.
Until a few days ago snowball was an outside cat. As winter receded and spring progress I have had the pleasure of observing his hunting skills. It is a good mouser. It is proud of this and presents us with certain gifts, some still living. Early in the spring when the mouse population apparently declined, he moved onto voles. That was ok with me, because they did a bit of destruction to our lawns. Then I noticed that our rabbit population had all but disappeared. For a few days Snowball even stalked and hunted the digger bees that have a huge sand nest. He cheerfully devoured them without any apparent harm. And then he began taking chipmunks. The almost last straw to my self denial was when he presented me with a very much alive wide eyed baby chipmunk. I rescued and released it much to the, I assume, appreciation of its noisy parents which had followed Snowball and his treasure to the bench upon which I was sitting.
When the migrating birds started coming through and started to make nests I grew increasingly distressed. I asked around if anyone wanted a cat. I contacted the vet about getting the cat neutered but complications in my schedule prevented my action on this. Bluebirds were here early. Two pairs each laid four eggs in nest boxes we had constructed. They all hatched. Today Snowball is living in my basement
Because
According to the USFWS we have over 60 million housecats as pets in the USA. In addition there are feral cats that are uncounted. Each year it is estimated that in the USA, hundreds of millions of migratory songbirds are killed by cats. In 1990, researchers estimated that cats were responsible for killing nearly 78 million small mammals and birds annually in the United Kingdom. The University of Wisconsin issued a study that said as many as 150 million songbirds are killed annually in Wisconsin by cats. A Study done by Point Reyes, California researchers estimates that as many as 4.4 million songbirds may be killed daily in the U.S. by cat predation.
Housecats are not native to North America and therefore cat predation here is not a natural act that helps promote a balance of nature. The introduction of cats to North America was the introduction of an invasive species. And so if we are concerned with biodiversity, we have to be concerned about cats and cat predation.
What Can You Do?
According to the USFWS we have over 60 million housecats as pets in the USA. In addition there are feral cats that are uncounted. Each year it is estimated that in the USA, hundreds of millions of migratory songbirds are killed by cats. In 1990, researchers estimated that cats were responsible for killing nearly 78 million small mammals and birds annually in the United Kingdom. The University of Wisconsin issued a study that said as many as 150 million songbirds are killed annually in Wisconsin by cats. A Study done by Point Reyes, California researchers estimates that as many as 4.4 million songbirds may be killed daily in the U.S. by cat predation.
Housecats are not native to North America and therefore cat predation here is not a natural act that helps promote a balance of nature. The introduction of cats to North America was the introduction of an invasive species. And so if we are concerned with biodiversity, we have to be concerned about cats and cat predation.
What Can You Do?
-Feral cats multiply exponentially. Make sure to neuter or spay any cats that lay claim to you.
-Keep your cats inside, especially during bird nesting season and especially during late spring, early summer when many of our wild birds are having their initial broods. Barncats are useful and helpful. But it is important to know that they will prey on songbirds, other small mammals, and other valuable creatures.
-Do not feed outdoor cats with the expectation that this will diminish hunting. This will not work. It may attract more cats which increases predator density.
-Support local pet clinics and shelters. The feral cat population in is way out of control and these valuable organizations and agencies play a big role in helping to protect our biodiversity.
Return to the Farm
I started this post to have an online place to put my regular, or semi regular journal writings about my and my families life at Protection Farm, where we have been living for a little over two years. Often I find myself writing beyond the geographical boundaries of Protection Farm, or about wider issues. I will post those pieces here as I see fit. I also publish and write for a newspaper The Sardinia Standard" and I will occasionally post stories from that publication here as well. For instance, the previous post about strawberries came from the June 2008 Standard.
I have just returned from a week or so in Costa Rica and am beginning to think through how to write about what I saw there. Its not Sardinia, but it is me. You will see postings in the next few days and weeks about the fantastic, beautiful, unusual, experiences that we had there.
Today, at PF, it is raining. Apparently it has been raining since we left. The gardens here are green and not dried and parched as I feared they would be when we were in the highland cloud forests of Monteverde. And we have a second brood of bluebirds. The first thing I did was check the bluebird boxes and the five eggs have turned into five fuzzy little chicks. They will probably fledge in about a week. Mom and dad bluebird remain, for the moment, calm and friendly. I know from experience that in the 48 or so hours surrounding the actual fledge, they will become frantic, aggressive, and very pointed in their attention to whomever approaches the nest box. On friday, which is in two more days, we are having a large party here for Alpha, Jonna's sister, whom is having a baby. Besides having to find a way to mow the lawn which has grown a couple of inches since I left for Costa Rica, I hope that we can find a way not to have any incidents with dive bombing protective bluebirds.
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Strawberry Story
From the June 2008 Sardinia Standard
By Jay Burney
With the late spring and summer comes the strawberries, and our region is often rewarded with an abundant crop. This year (2008) we have some weather challenges, but the strawberries are out there and you can find them in prices ranging from about $2 a basket for self picked, up to as much as $4.25 at roadside stands.
The history of strawberry cultivation is fascinating. We have all seen and probably tasted the delicious wild strawberries that grow commonly in our fields and yards. These delicious, sweet, juicy, and tiny morsels of goodness have inspired humans to joy and exultation probably since the beginning.
The legends, lore and stories of how the strawberry became so popular is interesting, complex, and echoes the social, economic, and agricultural history of the spread of human culture.
There are a many species of wild strawberries worldwide, with at least two that can be found locally. The Common Strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) is what we find in our fields and yards. The herbaceous plant has a small white five petaled flower, a three parted leaf, and the familiar tiny red fruit hanging below the leaves. The Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is somewhat taller and the fruit is often held above the leaves. Both of these are members of the Rose Family of plants (Rosaceae). The flowers open early to mid spring and the fruit can be found in early summer. The plants produce fruits throughout the summer.
One of the earliest written references to strawberries was by Pliny, the Roman naturalist and writer. He mentions that the ground strawberry is different from the tree strawberry. There is not reference to eating the fruit.
The Roman poet Virgil author of the Aeneid, wrote warning children to avoid strawberries because of “serpents that lurk in the grass.”
The Strawberry is a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.
The Strawberry was used by medieval stone masons to symbolize perfection and righteousness. Often strawberry inspired designs were carved into altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.
In the 12th Century, it was a common custom in Europe to avoid eating strawberries. Saint Hildegard von Binger declared strawberries unfit for consumption because “they grew along the ground where snakes and toads most liked crawled up them.” This admonition became a popular trend in European for most of that century. Because of their color, shape, and juicy plumpness and because of their connection to the ancient goddess of love, Venus, eating strawberries the delicious fruits was considered wicked in certain quarters.
Sporadic efforts of strawberry cultivation began in the 1300’s with plantings of the wild fruits in home gardens. In 1368 King Charles V of France planted his Parisian gardens at the Louvre with 1200 strawberry plants. In the fifteenth century the strawberry was first illustrated in a German botanical volume called “Herbarius Latinus Moguntiae, The Herbal Mainz”. In the book the wild plant is described as a medicine, and not as a food. It is said to help with the appetite and with digestion.
Native Americans were enjoying wild strawberries when Europeans first arrived on the shores of North America. They introduced a bread to Europeans which was baked with cornmeal and crushed berries.
Jacques Cartier traveled to North America in 1534 and wrote about the “vast patches of strawberries” along the St Lawrence River in Quebec. He and his crew learned to eat a lot of wild plants from the natives of the area including white-cedar tea which at one point saved many of their lives. The crew had become famously malnourished and suffered from scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency. A grateful Cartier named the cedar plant (Thuja occidentalis) “arbor de vie” or “arbor vitae”, the “Tree of Life.”
One of the first settlements in North America, now called Portsmouth N.H. was originally called “Strawberry Bankes” because of its abundance of the wild fruit. Settlers in 1630 sailed up the Piscataqua River and built a “Great House” adjacent to a large patch of berries.
English explorer Thomas Hariot found the wild strawberries in Virginia to be larger and more flavorful that the European varieties that he was familiar with and brought plant specimens back to London.
By 1560 the physician to King Henry IB noted that the English ladies enjoyed their strawberries and cream so much that they began planting the strawberries in their own gardens. Today, strawberries and cream are an established English tradition and are famously celebrated at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
Today, in certain parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberry to the horns of their cattle as an offering to the elves. They believe that the elves, who are thought to be passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk in return.
Modern Cultivation
Strawberry cultivation and hybridization really took root in the 17th and 18th Century. Wild species with large fruits were discovered in Chile in 1712. Amedee Francois Frezier, a French Navel Engineer described the Chiliean berries as “Large as eggs”. He brought them back to Paris. Eventually a Virginia specimen was bred with the Chilean specimen and the rest is history.
The first hybrid strawberry “Hudson” was introduced into the United States in 1780.
By the mid 1800’s there were almost 300 cultivated varieties available around the world and Americans were enthusiastically panting strawberries in their home gardens. Sell
The Name “Strawberry”
According to a variety of sources, the name came about because straw was used freely to mulch the plants during the winter. This practice discourages weeds and lifts the berries up from the soil. When it came time to harvest the berries children would pick them and string the on a blade of straw. At the London markets the children would sell “Straws of Berries”
Don’t forget to support your local growers and roadside stands. Go out today and get some delicious strawberries during this preciously short season.
By Jay Burney
With the late spring and summer comes the strawberries, and our region is often rewarded with an abundant crop. This year (2008) we have some weather challenges, but the strawberries are out there and you can find them in prices ranging from about $2 a basket for self picked, up to as much as $4.25 at roadside stands.
The history of strawberry cultivation is fascinating. We have all seen and probably tasted the delicious wild strawberries that grow commonly in our fields and yards. These delicious, sweet, juicy, and tiny morsels of goodness have inspired humans to joy and exultation probably since the beginning.
The legends, lore and stories of how the strawberry became so popular is interesting, complex, and echoes the social, economic, and agricultural history of the spread of human culture.
There are a many species of wild strawberries worldwide, with at least two that can be found locally. The Common Strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) is what we find in our fields and yards. The herbaceous plant has a small white five petaled flower, a three parted leaf, and the familiar tiny red fruit hanging below the leaves. The Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is somewhat taller and the fruit is often held above the leaves. Both of these are members of the Rose Family of plants (Rosaceae). The flowers open early to mid spring and the fruit can be found in early summer. The plants produce fruits throughout the summer.
One of the earliest written references to strawberries was by Pliny, the Roman naturalist and writer. He mentions that the ground strawberry is different from the tree strawberry. There is not reference to eating the fruit.
The Roman poet Virgil author of the Aeneid, wrote warning children to avoid strawberries because of “serpents that lurk in the grass.”
The Strawberry is a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.
The Strawberry was used by medieval stone masons to symbolize perfection and righteousness. Often strawberry inspired designs were carved into altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.
In the 12th Century, it was a common custom in Europe to avoid eating strawberries. Saint Hildegard von Binger declared strawberries unfit for consumption because “they grew along the ground where snakes and toads most liked crawled up them.” This admonition became a popular trend in European for most of that century. Because of their color, shape, and juicy plumpness and because of their connection to the ancient goddess of love, Venus, eating strawberries the delicious fruits was considered wicked in certain quarters.
Sporadic efforts of strawberry cultivation began in the 1300’s with plantings of the wild fruits in home gardens. In 1368 King Charles V of France planted his Parisian gardens at the Louvre with 1200 strawberry plants. In the fifteenth century the strawberry was first illustrated in a German botanical volume called “Herbarius Latinus Moguntiae, The Herbal Mainz”. In the book the wild plant is described as a medicine, and not as a food. It is said to help with the appetite and with digestion.
Native Americans were enjoying wild strawberries when Europeans first arrived on the shores of North America. They introduced a bread to Europeans which was baked with cornmeal and crushed berries.
Jacques Cartier traveled to North America in 1534 and wrote about the “vast patches of strawberries” along the St Lawrence River in Quebec. He and his crew learned to eat a lot of wild plants from the natives of the area including white-cedar tea which at one point saved many of their lives. The crew had become famously malnourished and suffered from scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency. A grateful Cartier named the cedar plant (Thuja occidentalis) “arbor de vie” or “arbor vitae”, the “Tree of Life.”
One of the first settlements in North America, now called Portsmouth N.H. was originally called “Strawberry Bankes” because of its abundance of the wild fruit. Settlers in 1630 sailed up the Piscataqua River and built a “Great House” adjacent to a large patch of berries.
English explorer Thomas Hariot found the wild strawberries in Virginia to be larger and more flavorful that the European varieties that he was familiar with and brought plant specimens back to London.
By 1560 the physician to King Henry IB noted that the English ladies enjoyed their strawberries and cream so much that they began planting the strawberries in their own gardens. Today, strawberries and cream are an established English tradition and are famously celebrated at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
Today, in certain parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberry to the horns of their cattle as an offering to the elves. They believe that the elves, who are thought to be passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk in return.
Modern Cultivation
Strawberry cultivation and hybridization really took root in the 17th and 18th Century. Wild species with large fruits were discovered in Chile in 1712. Amedee Francois Frezier, a French Navel Engineer described the Chiliean berries as “Large as eggs”. He brought them back to Paris. Eventually a Virginia specimen was bred with the Chilean specimen and the rest is history.
The first hybrid strawberry “Hudson” was introduced into the United States in 1780.
By the mid 1800’s there were almost 300 cultivated varieties available around the world and Americans were enthusiastically panting strawberries in their home gardens. Sell
The Name “Strawberry”
According to a variety of sources, the name came about because straw was used freely to mulch the plants during the winter. This practice discourages weeds and lifts the berries up from the soil. When it came time to harvest the berries children would pick them and string the on a blade of straw. At the London markets the children would sell “Straws of Berries”
Don’t forget to support your local growers and roadside stands. Go out today and get some delicious strawberries during this preciously short season.
Oh Woe is Us?
oh woe is us. Now the days grow shorter the dark night longer as we begin the precipitous post mid summer decline through that september song (thank you Kurt Weill for the music, Max Anderson for the lyrics, and willie, frank and Jimmy durante for the wonderful renditions! and onto that midwinters December day and the next where hope springs eternal. Ahh sweet seasons. Haaaaa! Hoot man! summer has just begun!
to be sweetly serious- today was a spectacular day. Sunny, hot, humid, after days of rain. The corn is almost knee high and soon it will be the fourth of July! Tomorrow I leave for Costa Rica. tonight I post a story that I wrote one year ago and published in the Sardinia Standard called "A Strawberry Story"
Sunday, June 21, 2009
First Post, June 21, 2009 Summer solstice
Today at 1:45 am Eastern Standard Time, the Solstice occurs. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the Summer Solstice, with the longest daylight and shortest dark of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere it is exactly the opposite.
I am pleased to begin the Protection Farm Journal on this auspicious astronomical date. I have lived at Protection Farm for three Summer Solstices, and co-incidentally, I have kept a good journal of my days, months, and seasons here. Over the coming days months and seasons I will post on this site, material that I have collected, nature notes, facts and figures, and the occasional musings of life in a rural community. I will also keep updating my journal with my adventures of the day or week, as I see fit.
I sit here today on a rainy warm day, surrounded by nesting bluebirds, feeding hummingbirds, brilliant fireflies, and a myriad of creatures, plants and communities from which to learn and teach about my favorite subjects.
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