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To: elpolvo who wrote (43890)	6/3/2005 7:20:17 AM
From: Crocodile	Respond to of 104160

polvo~ the lake will be back down to normal in a month or so. i'm think they'll salvage and repair them. ah..after reading more about this event, i see. well, that's not too damaging...and yes, if just for a month or two, everything should be salvageable. i appreciated the fauna and flora much more this weekend mostly as a result of reading all your stories and seeing all the pictures that you share. it affected some of the things i took shots of too. that was such a nice thing for you to say and for me to read. one of the things i always hope for when i write and show photos from my walks is that others will take the time to see a little more of the natural world. once you begin to see it that way, it's almost like opening up a beautiful and mysterious book that you barely knew existed. Perhaps it's some medieval bestiary or a herbalist's workbook. Each time you go out, more pages of it are revealed.... that is how all the world seems to me now --- more and more with each passing day. i couldn't get myself to take any of the bugs but i did look at them more closely and at least i didn't squarsh any. <g> lol...spiders and bugs are sometimes where the line is drawn. I crossed over that line quite some time ago and now they are among the things that i most love to search for and study when i'm out walking.... such a diversity of forms and behaviour. thanks for being here and sharing things we often forget to see. thank you. sometimes i get to thinking that i'm not really much of a 'conversationalist' on these threads. in fact, i feel a little lame at such things. in truth, i pretty much spend my life wandering through the world, looking at things, occasionally stopping to talk, and then wandering onwards. much of what i do is very solitary, so conversation does not come so easily. it is good to know that when i wander into the bar with something to share, that it is of interest or brings some enjoyment, and perhaps twigs some curiosity.... I was contemplating posting the field notes from one of my most recent walks, but thought... hmmmm.... these might make for some rather dull reading. but i just thought of how to tweak them a little that will reveal a little of what i was thinking as i shot some of my photos last weekend. i think that could be interesting... btw, i have that beech tree with the mushrooms in the forest you posted, saved on my computer at work. that's wonderful. and that's why i put them up... so that they can be enjoyed once, twice, or maybe many times... well, back in awhile with some photos and some specially tailored field notes... (o: ~croc

To: elpolvo who wrote (43890)	6/3/2005 8:38:32 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 104160

~croc's revised field notes from a morning hike through a beautiful forest in the Frozen North~ * if you just want to look at small versions of the photos i think, if you go to the bottom of the page after clicking on the first photo link, you can choose a smaller version and the rest will then display that way (or so i believe). Guess this will be in a Part One and Part Two as I've gotta run. be back later. hope all of the links work as i didn't have time to check. ~ ~ ~ the crocs set out on a meandering hike that will last for about 4 hours. in that time, they will visit ponds, poke around through decaying leaves, watch a turtle laying eggs, stop to study crushed insects and millipedes along a hiking trail, listen for tree frog and toad trilling, and wind up walking in steady rain for an hour or so... the walk begins with a stop at a favourite pond where dragon and damselflies are often abundant and active. on this day, there are 6 Painted turtles basking in 2 groups on floating logs, but not many dragonflies. However, at the pond's edge, a beautiful female Bull frog is resting quietly in a shady area. I hold the camera above her and shoot several photos, some of which capture the silvery water tension rings that surround her head and some of the vegetation nearby. pbase.com a liitle further along the shoreline i notice that ther are many damselflies hovering at ankle height in the fine grass. i stoop down to photograph one of the mating pairs which are resting on a blade of grass. pbase.com The male is in front and is clasping onto the back of the female's head behind her eyes -- he has special appendages for this, as do all male dragon and damselfies. while this is partly necessary for mating, it is also a means for a male to control the female so that other males will not mate with her. some species of dragons and damsels customarily stay with females after mating until eggs are laid in the water. the males and females are differently marked as well. and there are dozens of species of such insects and all are slightly differently marked. we continue along the trail, now finding many Narceus millipedes crushed on the footpath. people rarely seem to notice them and we find many casualties on this day. we stop at several logs along the trail and most have at least 3 or 4 millipedes visible in cracks or rotted areas of wood. pbase.com i search the carpet of last year's fallen leaves on the forest floor and find many dozens more of these millipedes wandering around. this is a sort of springtime "coming out" for the pedes. over the summer, they will consume decaying leaves, wood and mosses, and turn these into castings in the same way that earthworms do. much is said of the value of earthworms, but some biologists will tell you that millipedes may be even more efficient and significant in converting biomass. however, they remain largely unstudied by comparison with other organisms. wandering onwards, we begin to encounter large numbers of Chalk-fronted Corporal dragonflies -- all of which are teneral (newly emerged), so as yet, not in their true colours and many with glistening, glass-like wings (these will dull in time). pbase.com In a couple of spots, there were so many -- perhaps a couple of dozen -- that they seem to be bumping into each other as they fly up from the ground, circle a bit, and then drop back down to bask on the decaying leaves. such is what happens without the aid of an air traffic controller. on this walk, i hope to revisit the large cocoon (probably Cecropia) which i had spotted among the trees late last autumn. i am pleased to find that it is still in place and looking quite plump now. pbase.com this is how it looked on Nov. 6, 2004 - just for the record. note the imprint of leaves in the surface. This is still visible. pbase.com end of Part One... Gotta run so will post Part Two later! ~croc