Nature Notes (#509)~A rainy day is a special gift to readers.~ Amy Miles

Join Nature Notes-What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature?

1. Pictografio 5. A Green Ridge 9. betty – NZ
2. Sallie (Full Time- Life) 6. Forest 10. MOSSY
3. Pat — Colorado 7. orchid( Japan) 11. AUTUMNAL SUN
4. Cloudia Honolulu 8. Birgitta B.    
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The weather has been unusually cold with rain and even some wet snow. It has rained daily mostly for the past 2 weeks and it is the miserable cold rain that doesn’t invite sitting outside or taking photos but watching from the window hoping for sun. I have yet to plant my seeds for my annual bed as it just isn’t warm enough. But nature moves forward so matter how I feel about it….
 
I did catch a sky/cloud shot with an angry-looking sky….
 

Emily Dickinson

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree –
Another – on the Roof –
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves –
And made the Gables laugh –

A few went out to help the Brook,
That went to help the Sea –
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls –
What Necklaces could be –

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads –
The Birds jocoser sung –
The Sunshine threw his Hat away –
The Bushes – spangles hung –

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes –
And bathed them in the Glee –
The Orient put out a single Flag,
And signed the Fete away –

(A drop fell on the apple tree’ is sometimes known by the title ‘Summer Shower’, although Emily Dickinson (1830-86), famously, didn’t give titles to most of her poems. (It was Dickinson’s original editors, Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, who gave the poem the title by which it has become most familiar.)

 

 

Have a wonderful nature-filled week! Please be safe.

Nature Notes (#508)~Lilacs are May in essence.~Jean Hersey

Join Nature Notes-What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature?

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Thank you for your kind comments about last week’s post about my grandson. Nothing warms a teacher’s heart especially a Grandma’s heart as when a child asks for and loves books. He asked for one on Bee’s which I sent him and he is going to tell me all about bees…I am learning from a 6-year old…
 
Colder weather has been a constant now stressing the emerging vegetation, but we are getting needed rain to break the moderate drought this area is in…
 
I love lilacs. They remind me of my maternal grandmother’s yard and how much she loved her lilacs..The process of the flowers coming up and then blooming is beautiful too. Two photos are from my archive, but I love them. The closed-up bud and the just emerging lilac….
 

 

Have a wonderful nature-filled week! Please be safe.

 

Nature Notes (#507)~A coleopterist is the name given to an entomologist who specializes in studying beetles

Join Nature Notes-What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature?

1. Pictografio 5. Cloudia Honolulu 9. Birgitta B.
2. Sallie 6. A Green Ridge 10. RAINY
3. Pat — Colorado 7. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening 11. GRASS
4. Shiju Sugunan 8. orchid( Japan)    
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I am behind. First it was the recovery from the second vaccine which was expected to be prolonged for me and my autoimmune disease and then good news is that we were able to have one of our grandchildren come and stay. Blake is 6 now and we have spent the past year talking about insects on Facetime. Blake loves everything to do with insects. He likes finding them and learning about them. I have sent him books on the ones he is interested in. This is a book on crickets.
 
I have learned so much about insects in researching and talking to Blake. When he was here, he  brought his new favorite book. THE BEETLE ALPHABET BOOK.
 
Blake wants to be an entomologist when he  grows up but told us that he might want to be a COLEOPTERIST and yes he knows those words. So what I have I learned about beetles..
 
What is a Coleopterist?
A coleopterist is the name given to an entomologist who specializes in studying beetles. The name coleopterist is derived from the name of the Order of beetles, Coleoptera.

Beetle Facts for Kids

  • Adult beetles have two sets of wings.
  • Female beetles usually lay dozens or hundreds of eggs.
  • Most beetles only live for a year.
  • Beetles cannot see very well, so they communicate using pheromones, sounds or vibrations.
  • Some beetles are not considered pests. “Ladybugs” are beetles and are considered to be good luck in many cultures. “Fireflies” and “Lightning bugs” are also beetles. They glow in the dark to communicate.
  • There are 12,000 different kinds of beetles in the United States and over 300,000 species in the world. Beetles are found on land and in fresh water and can adapt to almost any environment. Beetles usually just live where they eat. 
  • Beetles can both hurt and help the environment. Some beetle species destroy crops or property, while some species help get rid of garbage, eat dead trees or help pollinate flowers.

In going through my photos I see that I have not given much thought to beetles and don’t have many photos but I did find these

Small Milkweed Bug-Lygaeus kalmii

lady beetle

firefly

I look forward to learning more about the world of beetles…from my grandson… 

Have a wonderful nature-filled week! Please be safe.