by Judy Appel | Jan 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
December temperatures moderated on New Year’s Day. I had to bundle up for a walk on the first day of 2022 as the wind was blowing at 20 mph and temperatures lingered around the mid 40’s. My photographer friend Buddy Walker drove us to the Estrella Park Reserve to look for a Vermillion Flycatcher early morning. Believe it or not a beautiful male flew right in front of us and landed on a branch.
SRP has drained ponds in their recharge area. Two Great Blue Herons and a Snowy Egret took advantage of the situation to hunt for stranded fish on Wednesday morning.
While OMICRON has surged here in Arizona, most of us are fully vaccinated and boosted. We do wear masks and avoid indoor gatherings. Neighborhood hikes and good reading fill days.
Below left is the Vermillion Flycatcher, next the Herons in the pond and finally on the right a view of a Curve-billed Thrasher singing its full repertoire of beautiful melodies.
Joy abounds in ambient sounds of Nature.
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For more birding resources click the Menu “Newsletter” button.
by Judy Appel | Dec 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
Raptors that are common in the Maricopa County area year around.
The list includes Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s hawk, American Kestrel Falcon, Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon year around. Migratory Birds of Prey in this area are Bald Eagle and Turkey Vultures.
During the winter Osprey,, Northern Harrier and Harris Hawk visit as well.
The primary migration season (breeding) is November through May.
The breeding season is a little later, beginning in December .
These Birds of prey can be found ion several sites: The SRP Recharge Area, farm fields, Estrella Park, Base Median Reserve, and the Hassayampa River Reserve in Wickenburg.
by Judy Appel | Dec 6, 2021 | Uncategorized
Today I posted my first Newsletter in two weeks. I’ve been traveling!
First to Severna Park, Maryland, where we celebrated my son Tom’s Thanksgiving Day birthday, mostly outside. Although we all were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and boosted, it seemed the prudent thing to do since several of us had traveled from distant locations.
Friday we visited granddaughter Lauren and boy friend Aren’s apartment in the College Park area north of Baltimore. The kids are both recent college grads working at first jobs in their fields of study. They work from home and neither has met their colleagues in person. Lauren is on the left and Aren on the right in the shadowed picture. The photo on the left is of Lake Artemisia and the viewing areas and hiking trails just a stone’s throw from their apartment. The day was very windy and cold! The photo of the Wood Turtle posted in my newsletter today was taken as he crossed this trail.
Sunday I checked into this beach front condo on Isle of Palms. My unit is on the second floor, the second on the left where the two blue chairs are on the deck. The sunrise photo was taken on Monday at about 7:15 AM.
These four photos were all taken on Wednesday’s Bulls Island adventure. In the first my daughter is slurping a very fresh oyster harvested on the spot by our tour guide Chris Crowley. On the right we are relaxing with lunch on Bulls Island’s Bone Yard of dead Live Oak Trees. The Brown Pelican is a mature breeding male scouting about in Bulls Bay. Finally here is one of over a dozen alligators we found lounging in the sun on the island. Where was I at this moment? Sitting high above on a trailer waiting for the big guy to run for cover in the bay.. incidentally Chris told us that alligators can run at a speed of 35 mph when challenged!
Bulls Island is a privately owned Category 1 protected nature reserve. That means that no one lives there and there are no roads or development.
Sunday afternoon Nan drove us northward and west toward the undeveloped side of the Cooper River. This glorious place is within the Mepkin Monastery Gardens. The place was so peaceful that we took time to just lie down in the grass and gaze at the sky through the moss covered branches of dormant Live Oak trees. All for free!
Click on the “Essay” item on the Menu in this website to learn more about Coastal Conservation League and the Nature Conservancy’s work in making these and other pristine natural areas open and free for the general public’s enjoyment.
Thank you for visiting gillespiecreek.com.
by Judy Appel | Nov 11, 2021 | Uncategorized
Gillespie Creek
The weather remains warmer than usual and no significant snow has fallen. Yesterday, November 10, 2021, birds were feeding in a frenzy at my son Robert’s sunflower feeder. Chick-a-dee, Nuthatch, both white and red breasted, Downy and Red Bellied Woodpeckersand a Cardinal fought for a foothold for hours. Today about 3/4″ of rain has fallen, the sky remains cloudy with temperatures above freezing. Gillespie Creek’s watershed remains at least 5″ below average in rain fall. Sadly the flock of Wild Turkeys that we have been watching grow and prosper in their County Road B habitat were all wiped out by a careless driver in the past week. I hold out hope that a breeding pair has survived somewhere near by. The best news is that plants in the greenhouse are thriving! Can’t you just imagine how nice it smells in there!
Loon Lake
Today the Loon Lake neighborhood’s final signature tree has achieved its fall splendor. This stunning Maple tree has always been the last to color and lose its leaves. Now we have finally identified the species. It’s as a Black Maple. This tree more commonly grows in the southern part of Minnesota and is native. My tree was a gift from friends Dick and Marsha Wetzler. Dick dug it up in his dad’s yard in eastern Minneapolis. I received it in October of 1990, for my 50th birthday. The first growth died. This second try has naturalized itself and become a beacon in the fall. As you see its leaves are huge, gold in color and its trunk now quite black. Earlier in the season it is more grayish.
by Judy Appel | Nov 6, 2021 | Uncategorized
Saturday morning, October 30, I flew southward on a Airbus 321.
Weather was “Clear and a Million” as my pilot son would described it. From my window seat framed pictures show a patchwork of subtile fall colors passing below. River valleys provided the quilted boarder of white fog fluff of Minnesota countryside. Passing over the more flat, arid farm lands of Kansas and Nebraska circular irrigation circles dotted the land with symmetry. Several creative farmers equally divided their soil circles into perfect 180 pie cuts anticipating spring planting. We passed over Colorado just south of Colorado Springs. Only a slight muting of dry mountain tops hinted of a recent dusting of snow. Clearly drought parched lands continue to beg for a return to more normal periodical rainy weather patterns.
I drifted in and out of dreams. Preparation for the departure had been intense. Flying is a relaxing transition for me. I enjoy flights where the plane gently rocks periodically to let me know that the pilots are awake and all is well. This day I had also been calmed by a pretty powerful Bloody Mary purchased at the newly constructed Zone Cocina restaurant across the aisle from Gate 9 F. Boarding the plane my belly was full. This charming dog slept through the flight near me.
My delightful neighbor picked me up, took me to lunch, and delivered me to my desert home. She recently retired, bought an RV and is now into a vagabond life of travel and meeting new people. It’s a joy to listen to her enthusiasm .
Unpacking was simple. Time and energy were left for a neighborhood walk.
Northern Geese were not far behind my flight landing. A flock was preparing for their splash down on the pond in my Quail Run neighborhood. Listening I walked out on my patio to scan the sky above my home in the Valley of the Sun.
A new world ecosystem surrounds me. Please join me as we explore land, sky, water and living creatures over the next few months.
by Judy Appel | Oct 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
October is my birthday month.
The beauty of the changing colors of deciduous trees, mild weather and delicious scents of the autumn season have always lured me into the woods in October. Up here in the Gillespie Creek neighborhood the forest is often silent midday.. Early morning and late afternoon the songs of Sparrow, Vireo, Chickadee. Wren, Nuthatch and Finch are syncopated by the bold calls of Cardinal, Crow, Blue Jay. Mornings, Swans trumpet, Sandhill Cranes Coo, Canadian Geese Honk. This week faint calls of migrating ducks mix into the joyful symphony .
A deep breath brings the perfume of falling leaves and pine needles. Each now seeded grass clump emits an essence. All olfactory stimulation is sweetened by the lingering Wild Aster blossoms on a sunny day. Mist in the morning deepens the aroma..
A walk in the wild is calming to me. I always leave the woods refreshed and smiling.
Have I seen all the birds? No. Is there evidence of the processes that bring about all of Nature’s visible response? No
Walking along, every creature knows I’m intruding into their territory. Crunching leaves along my footpath have signaled my presence. The gentle tap of my walking stick alert Garter Snakes of an invader approaching.
Birds often silence. Many other hidden processes engage preparations for possible danger approaching .
This week wild mushrooms are featured in my newsletter. Researching mushrooms, I find a compelling story.
Two sources: a YouTube Power Point prepared by Brewster Johnson and an essay by Meg Schader of “Sciencing.com” give a bit of insight into one of these mysteries.
The Wild Mushroom; Tree Connection
In an article published 9/30/21 Meg relates recent revelations. Mushrooms are the communicators of the forest. Brewster Johnson presents the astonishing fact that the surface mushroom reveals only 5% of the entire plant. The mushroom itself is simply the reproductive part of the mushroom organism. According to Meg scientists believe that trees exchange messages through 95% of mushroom systems (fungi) living below the surface by entwining their networks with tree roots in a mutualistic relationship. The mushroom fungi form an intricate web of communication amongst the tree roots, helping to distribute messages and nutrients between a wide network of interconnected trees.
What do trees talk about with the help of the mushroom network? They send stress signals, alert neighbors to impending dangers like bugs, toxins and deforestation. The trees then release hormones and chemicals to defend themselves from predators.
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Look closely at my photo of the Horse Mushroom. Do you see the slug with its antenna stretched out on the mushroom’s underside spore surface? I find that some mushrooms are carnivorous. Nematodes are their prey! The mushroom can paralyze the nematode within a few minutes of its contact. Interestingly the nematodes, the same pests that often infest our garden Hosta are the most abundant animal in the soil. Mushroom help to control them.
Treasure the often hidden garden mushroom. Not only are Horse, Puffball and Morels delicious to eat. Each lives its hidden life purposely, an instrument for sustaining the balance of life on our changing planet.
