Tuesday afternoon I took my class out to Lowell’s. We put up a wood duck nest box on a pole, and launched a mallard nest platform onto the pond. We watched the catfish come up and eat the fish food, then went on to construct a big brush pile.
Angelica, Michaela, Brent, Johanna. Brent with a walking stick.
Wednesday afternoon I drove down to St. Louis. I didn’t have much time to burn, but I stopped at REI to look around. Most of their stuff was a little pricey. I went to the Ethical Society building to meet my contact. He called to say he’d be late because of a big traffic accident on I-270. After he arrived we went to a nice Chinese restaurant. I ate all my lemon chicken; it was delicious and I was hungry. We went back to the Ethical Society, where I gave my talk on bald eagles to the St. Louis Camera Club. It seemed to go over well, as I got a lot of positive comments afterward. A fellow named Tony Salvador came up and asked (with a bit of an accent) if I was Portuguese. Of course! I had agreed to judge their photo contest. It was quite an experience. I had to critique other people’s photos (with a microphone) and pick winners and losers–while they were in the room watching! It seemed like it was getting kind of boring, so I was lightening things up with some humor. An image came up of some sand dunes with tracks running across them. I said, “Looks a little grainy.” It was a good experience in the end, and they seemed to think I did a good job. After the meeting we went to another restaurant for dessert. I had chocolate lava cake. Yum! I got home at 1 A.M.
Thursday I slept in. I ran some errands downtown. I took the truck down to the brush dump and pulled out some good boards and logs. I found a nice shrub someone had thrown out. I don’t know what it is yet, but I planted it in the back yard temporarily.
It only has a single little flower, but it’s a nice one.
I was out shooting my bow and spotted a monarch on the new england aster in the prairie. I netted and tagged it. That was #99 for the year. I only have one tag left, and one caterpillar. The caterpillar has pupated, but too soon. It will be the smallest monarch ever if it hatches.
Nancy brought me a dragonfly. It sat for my macro lens. It’s a wandering glider.
The cabbage white is a rather pedestrian butterfly, but I’ve had a hard time getting a decent shot of one. This one sat still for me on the aster.
Friday morning I went out to Lowell’s to hunt deer. I didn’t see any, or much of anything else. There was a huge covey of quail, however. We went fishing and I caught about 5 bass. We had lunch in Ewing. I went home and did odd jobs in and out of the house.
Saturday I went in to QU for a Discovery Day. I took all my monarch stuff to show. We only had a couple of students interested in biology, but that’s better than last year. I got the free lunch afterward, then went to run errands all over Quincy. It was nuts, people crowding all the stores. I got most of what I wanted, gearing up for the Galapagos trip.
Sunday I did some chores around the house and got a lot of grading done. When Stacey got home we cleaned the house in anticipation of her birthday party. Yup. She’s forty. A lot of our friends came over for snacks, desserts and socializing. She had a good time.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving down by the river when I saw a small turtle about to cross the road. I stopped, picked him up and put him in the back of the truck. I just wanted to take it home and show it to Stacey and Savannah. When I got it out in the driveway, Stacey was on the phone, and said, “My husband just brought me a new pet turtle!” That was not what I had in mind. Stacey set up an aquarium and he lived there awhile, but he never ate. So Sunday I turned him loose.
Hangin’ out in the aquarium. The plastron shows you why he’s called a painted turtle, and also that he was probably a she.
Angelica, Michaela, Brent, Johanna. Brent with a walking stick.
Wednesday afternoon I drove down to St. Louis. I didn’t have much time to burn, but I stopped at REI to look around. Most of their stuff was a little pricey. I went to the Ethical Society building to meet my contact. He called to say he’d be late because of a big traffic accident on I-270. After he arrived we went to a nice Chinese restaurant. I ate all my lemon chicken; it was delicious and I was hungry. We went back to the Ethical Society, where I gave my talk on bald eagles to the St. Louis Camera Club. It seemed to go over well, as I got a lot of positive comments afterward. A fellow named Tony Salvador came up and asked (with a bit of an accent) if I was Portuguese. Of course! I had agreed to judge their photo contest. It was quite an experience. I had to critique other people’s photos (with a microphone) and pick winners and losers–while they were in the room watching! It seemed like it was getting kind of boring, so I was lightening things up with some humor. An image came up of some sand dunes with tracks running across them. I said, “Looks a little grainy.” It was a good experience in the end, and they seemed to think I did a good job. After the meeting we went to another restaurant for dessert. I had chocolate lava cake. Yum! I got home at 1 A.M.
Thursday I slept in. I ran some errands downtown. I took the truck down to the brush dump and pulled out some good boards and logs. I found a nice shrub someone had thrown out. I don’t know what it is yet, but I planted it in the back yard temporarily.
It only has a single little flower, but it’s a nice one.
I was out shooting my bow and spotted a monarch on the new england aster in the prairie. I netted and tagged it. That was #99 for the year. I only have one tag left, and one caterpillar. The caterpillar has pupated, but too soon. It will be the smallest monarch ever if it hatches.
Nancy brought me a dragonfly. It sat for my macro lens. It’s a wandering glider.
The cabbage white is a rather pedestrian butterfly, but I’ve had a hard time getting a decent shot of one. This one sat still for me on the aster.
Friday morning I went out to Lowell’s to hunt deer. I didn’t see any, or much of anything else. There was a huge covey of quail, however. We went fishing and I caught about 5 bass. We had lunch in Ewing. I went home and did odd jobs in and out of the house.
Saturday I went in to QU for a Discovery Day. I took all my monarch stuff to show. We only had a couple of students interested in biology, but that’s better than last year. I got the free lunch afterward, then went to run errands all over Quincy. It was nuts, people crowding all the stores. I got most of what I wanted, gearing up for the Galapagos trip.
Sunday I did some chores around the house and got a lot of grading done. When Stacey got home we cleaned the house in anticipation of her birthday party. Yup. She’s forty. A lot of our friends came over for snacks, desserts and socializing. She had a good time.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving down by the river when I saw a small turtle about to cross the road. I stopped, picked him up and put him in the back of the truck. I just wanted to take it home and show it to Stacey and Savannah. When I got it out in the driveway, Stacey was on the phone, and said, “My husband just brought me a new pet turtle!” That was not what I had in mind. Stacey set up an aquarium and he lived there awhile, but he never ate. So Sunday I turned him loose.
Hangin’ out in the aquarium. The plastron shows you why he’s called a painted turtle, and also that he was probably a she.
