September 2020
Here are a few photos that Ritch Seifert sent to me. I am saving some of his other photos for another time.
A 2016 photo taken from a car on Aberdeen Drive. Google-Images identified this as a coyote.
A photo from August 2011. Google-Images identified this as a Cooper's hawk. Indeed, it matches photos of an immature Cooper's hawk.
Google-Images identified this as a Screech owl. To me this looks like a snag with a lump.
Thank you, Ritch.
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
Flowers in the middle of July
By the end of September all of the little flowers are gone, the head droops and it turns inside out. Seeds are forming.
Seeds. This plant is native to Europe and Asia but can be found along all of our roads. The cultivated carrot was derived from this species which is sometimes called a wild carrot.
Rose
Rose hips. No flowers at this time of year. I should know the name of this rose but there are a few different species that look about the same to me.
Some very straight main trunks that will go above my head in the shadier places. The thorns look bad but they are much nicer than blackberries.
The leaves usually consist of 7 or 9 leaflets.
A Close Look at Duckweed (Lemna)
Duckweed consist of a single leaf that floats on the water. Well, I see that sometimes there can be a few leave connected together. Duckweed is a flowering plant but I have never seen a flower. It usually reproduces by division. Each duckweed has a single root that dangles less than an inch in the water. The root is sticky and may cling to the feathers or the feet of birds allowing duckweed to spread to new locations. There are different species of duckweed and it is likely that there are more than one species in this photograph.
When I looked closely I was surprised to find these ferns. Each fern consists of a few branches and each branch has a number of fronds. These "water ferns" grow on the surface of the water. At times these ferns can completely cover the surface of the water. There are multiple species in the genus Azolla.
A small fly rests. Notice the hairs on the fallen leaf. The angle of the light makes these hairs stand out.
Other very small insects
A late blooming Bull Thistle flower (Cirsium vulgare).
Most Bull Thistle flowers have formed seeds. The seeds with tufts of hair have already blown away. Look at those prickles.
Dandelion flower (perhaps Taraxacum officinale). At the end of each petal there are five points. It is thought that this "composite" flower was once a collection of five-petaled flowers. Over time each flower changed into a ray petal. The five points at the end of the ray comes from the original five petals.
This crab apple is about the size of a quarter. Many have become rotten at this time of year. I like this photo because of the different types of lichen. The upper lichen form tubes. The lichen to the left is flat and attaches to the dead branch.
Continue to November, 2020