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Whoops, broken foot!
Last week I flew down to San Francisco to attend Steamstock. I have alot of steampunk friends in California, so there was much hugging going on. Excitement and joy filled the air, with the promise of almost eleven solid hours of steampunk music awaiting us. True to form, at least for me, I spotted one of my friends and charged at him with a running bear-hug, for which he was unprepared. I grabbed him, he grabbed me, I lifted my feet off of the floor, and over we went. My right leg ended up being bent up behind me. I fell on it and my friend fell on me. That little episode resulted in me breaking my foot.
Yep, that's my foot. They wanted to take me to the hospital, but I didn't want to miss any of the music. An ace-bandage, alot of ice bags, two chairs (one to sit in and one to prop my foot up on), and a glove to keep my toes warm, kept me in the game. The next day, I hobbled down the street to the bus, down three flights of stairs, aboard the Muni (which was packed with passengers, so I had to stand), down some more stairs, onto the Bart, off at Coliseum station, down some more stairs, onto the AirBart, hobbled to the Southwest Airlines desk, and burst into tears. Two wheelchair rides, an airplane ride, and a Shuttle-Express ride later, I wound up back home.
Two days later, I showed up at the doctor's office for x-rays, which showed that I'd fractured my foot from my little toe down the side. After a proper chewing out from my doctor, I'm now wearing a splint-boot, but I'm not allowed to stand on my foot for eight weeks. Obviously, this is going to make it impossible for me to visit West Hylebos Wetland Park to gather information for the blog. EarthCorps has graciously offered to fill in the gap for me. I believe the blogs will consist of personal observations made by EarthCorps, along with The Best of the Blog re-runs. Things are going to look a little different than what you're used to; but, in a way, it'll also be refreshing to hear from some new voices, don't you think? I'll get back to work when the doctor says I'm able. Until then, take care. I'll talk to you later. And, be careful with those bear-hugs.
Teri I. Lenfest
Early October at West Hylebos Park
Halloween is quickly approaching and I can barely restrain myself. My Halloween post is my very favorite post every year and appropriate items are beginning to make an appearance in the park. They make me giggle with childish glee and wonder whether I'll find enough to post my Halloween blog later if I lose control and start posting eerie things now. What am I worried about? It's the wetland, of course I will!
All of the arachnids (spiders) are hard at work. Spider webs are everywhere, waiting to slap unwary visitors in the face or stick to their caps or hair, dangling spiders in their faces. Don't you love the slap of sticky spider webs across your face in the morning?
Many of them are hard at work spinning silvery strands of silk into beautiful fabric for ballgowns. The fairies are preparing for their annual Fall Ball, you know, and gowns are in demand all over the park. Every fairy wants to be dressed in the very finest the park has to offer.
Leftover threads snatch falling leaves from the air, then the breeze spins them around like magical whirligigs.
Here and there, mysterious eyeballs are poking up out of the ground. Are they watching you as you cruise down the boardwalk, chatting, or running, or pushing a stroller, not paying attention to what's around you. You may not be watching the park, but the park could be watching you. Bwaaaahahahaha!
Beware of sharp snaggly teeth hiding along the edges of the boardwalk. Will they snap at you and grab your toes as you wander by?
This female wood duck was swimming around in Marlake making noises that sounded for all the world like crying. Her plaintive pleas nearly broke my heart. Where is her mate? Where are the other wood ducks. Are they migrating? Did she get lost?
Although the wood duck sounded lost and lonely, she wasn't entirely alone in the lake. She may have been lonely for ducks of her own species, but two pairs of mallards shared the lake with her. As I was standing there looking at the lake, Scott Buck came out on his back porch. All four mallards immediately left the lake and waddled over to the porch, looking for a hand-out. I could hear and see Scott waving his arms at them and yelling, "Shoo! Shoo!", then he went in the house. As soon as he shut the door, the ducks spotted me and immediately started their waddle in my direction. If they can't con food out of the man in the house, maybe they can con some food out of the nice lady with the camera. Sorry ducks, you won't get anything to eat from me, either. You need to eat proper duck food. It's not good for you to become dependent on human food.
This beautiful slug must be on his way to the Fall Ball. He's all dressed up in his very best spots. He looks quite the dapper gentleman.
Mother Nature is busy dusting the wetland floor with beautifully colored leaves. Sometimes the fairies sit in these leaves and ride them through the sky, smiling and laughing, yipping and crowing, squealing and screaming, and having a wonderful time. Can you hear them?
Cattails were bowing their heads in the wind. They kind of reminded me of stands full of cheering fans at a football game, doing the wave.
The northwestern thatching ant ranch between benches two and three is closed for the season. That doesn't mean that the thatching ants are gone though.
The northwestern thatching ant hill is doing very well, indeed. So well, in fact, that I didn't want to get too close to it. There were literally thousands of ants swarming on and around this hill. Can you see their big red heads and their round black eyes?
Last, but not least, I leave you with Laser Cat. That's my cat, Miss Belle, watching television. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Sweet dreams, my friends. Sleep with one eye open. You never know where she might show up next, nor what she might do while you're sleeping.
Teri I. Lenfest
Frogs Identified
Some people have asked me to show them where the three frogs are in the photograph I posted in the Where Are The Frogs blog. I have circled the three frogs in the photo. See them?
Teri I. Lenfest
October Arrives
October greeted us with a big, beautiful harvest moon. I felt really lucky to have gotten this shot because I've tried to photograph the moon before and gotten nothing but a big bright spot without any definition. Our lovely moon is quite beautiful, don't you think?
There were a lot of beautiful things to see in the park today. The vine maples were blazing, adding gorgeous splotches of vivid orange among the usual myriad of greens and browns. All of my favorite colors in one place. Nothing wrong with that!
The false-lily-of-the-valley berries have started to turn red. They start out green and, by mid-winter will be a vibrant red, but this stage is my favorite. Every year I think about how happy I'd be if I owned jewelry that looked just like this, ecru splotched with chinese red. Delightful!
Remember when I told you that the beautiful lavender blooms that twined within the pacific trailing blackberry and salmonberry canes would form berries that were deadly poisonous? Here they are. This is deadly nightshade, otherwise known as European bittersweet. Bittersweet, indeed. This will kill you very quickly. Beautiful leaves, beautiful blossoms, and beautiful berries;but oh, so deadly. Don't let looks deceive you. This can kill. Please look, but do not touch.
Dragonflies are still busy laying eggs at both lakes. See how this one is dipping it's abdomen into the water? Here, there, and everywhere, dragonflies are laying eggs that will, in time, become new dragonflies.
No wonder this cardinal meadowhawk is taking a break. Creating future generations is exhausting. Actually, for a dragonfly, creating future generations is a terminal disease. Once they finish laying their eggs, they die, just like salmon. Dragonfly nymphs and salmon fry have to figure everything out by themselves, no parents involved. Puts your mom and dad in a whole different light, doesn't it? Thanks, Mom! I love you!
It was overcast, chilly, and a little foggy when I left the house, but gartersnakes were busy trying to warm themselves anyway. Luckily, the fog burned off and it actually warmed up a bit by afternoon. There are still some warm days ahead when hungry snakes can warm up, and fatten up, before it gets cold enough to hibernate.
Nuts are starting to fall off of the trees. Take a good look at these nuts.
And, these. Remember what they look like.
Now this scat found in the middle of the boardwalk. That's my foot in the picture, women's size 6.
Anything look familiar? I also see what looks like bits of apple. We've seen this in previous years. Fish and Wildlife tells us that this is typical coyote behavior.
Douglas squirrels are busy collecting douglas fir cones. Some they'll eat now, others will be stored to last them through the winter.
In some areas of the park, you will be lucky to get across sections of the boardwalk without being clobbered over the head by falling fir cones. Don't say I didn't warn you!
And, of course, this is the very beginning of fungi season. Last year was a banner year. The number of different fungi that I found in the park was amazing. I can't wait to see what I find this year.
Teri I. Lenfest
Where Are The Frogs?
You'd be amazed at how many times I'm asked that question and how difficult it is to answer. Frogs can be found all over the park, but in different places, depending upon the species and time of year. Whenever I meet visitors in the park who are complaining about not being able to find the frogs, I always take the time to show them a few so they can go home happy about their visit and not feeling cheated. Finding frogs is easy for me. I've been finding frogs in the park for more than a dozen years. Trying to explain to someone else how to find the frogs is a whole different ball of wax. Today, I'm going to try to give you a little primer on where to look for our tiny native frogs.
Frogs mate and lay their eggs in the spring. Around here, that can be as early as February. The primary amphibian nursery in the park is Marlake. Marlake is a man-made lake that is primarily fed by rain water and run-off. Bull frogs (who are not native), pacific tree frogs, striped chorus frogs, and red-legged frogs all lay their eggs in Marlake, but usually not in the same place. Most of the frogs seem to lay their eggs on the east side of the lake, but the red-legged frogs lay theirs on the south and west sides of the lake. When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles mature, and the little froglets hop out of the lake, that's where you need to look for them.
The red-legged frogs will be in the mud on their sides of the lake. Notice how well camouflaged they are. They're very tiny and hard to see in the mud. Careless feet can mash a dozen frogs with each step. Please don't enter the mud looking for them. Stay on the path, stay still and quiet, focus your attention on the mud, and look for them.
Striped chorus frogs and pacific tree frogs will hop out of the lake on their side and into the grass. At that point, Dana will stop mowing the grass. We request people to avoid going over on the east side of the lake at that time for fear that they'll step on the tiny frogs. Can you see this little frog hidden in the grass?
They're only this big! That's my hand in the photograph and I have very small hands.
In a week or so, the tiny frogs will find their way over to the bushes and hop onto the leaves. Only when the frogs have left the grass and hopped onto the leaves is it safe to walk around that side of Marlake without fear of mashing baby frogs. The frogs will stay up in the bushes for a week or so and then hop into the wetland.
That's when things get interesting. You might see a frog sitting on a leaf.
You might see a frog sitting on a lily pad.
They might be hidden in the curl of a skunk cabbage leaf.
I often see a red-legged frog sitting deep within the cavity of this fallen tree. I've seen some really huge frogs in there.
I spot frogs here a lot. I'll show you where.
If you look down around the lower edge of the root-wad, where it meets the ground, you'll find little cavities behind pools of water, like this. I often spot frogs sitting in the mud in front of these cavities. Sometimes I'll be staring at the mud in front of a cavity and a frog will suddenly hop out of the cavity and surprise me. These frogs are usually the exact color of the mud, so you can be looking right at one and might not see it.
This is a great place to find frogs. This is one side of the tree-well that I usually refer to as being the one by the owl tree. I usually spot frogs right at the edge of the tree, where it enters the water, in the debris along the edge of the water, or in the mud and debris in the water.
If you startle the frogs, they might jump up onto one of the fallen trees, so be sure to check the trunks of the trees as well, in case someone came before you, startled the frogs onto the tree trunk, and they're still sitting there.
This is the other side of the same tree-well. I often spot frogs lined up along the edge of the water or sitting on that log that you see on the left, under the skunk cabbage leaves.
This is another great place to spot frogs. Yep, it's another tree-well created by a fallen tree. This is the place where I spotted the snake that was out hunting frogs to eat.
Today, I spotted this frog there.
This frog there...
And, this frog there. Now, this is why people have trouble spotting our frogs.....
Without using the zoom lens, this is what you see. All three of those frogs are in this photograph. Can you find them? Don't feel bad if you can't see them. Most people can't. I can see them because I've been looking for them for a very long time and my eyes have had more than a decade of practice.
This is the Deep Sinks. That's always a good place to look for frogs. They can be on any one of those pieces of wood, sitting on the bank near the edge of the water, or even in the water itself. Another good place to look is in the mud under the bridge on the Brooklake spur. Also, since the bad storm we had last winter brought trees down over the muskrat pool to the right of the Brooklake viewing platform, I've spotted frogs on those trees and in the mud around them.
So, that brings us full circle, really. I know you've heard me say this so many times that you're probably bored stiff, but I can't say it enough. If you want to see this,
or this,
Or this, you have to go slow, be quiet, stop often, look up, down, onto, and into everything you see around you. I stop frequently and scan, up, down, and all around as I slowly turn in a full circle, covering the entire area around me with my eyes. I hope these hints are helpful. Good luck frog hunting!
Teri I. lenfest
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