Update on Pip

Pip appears to have recovered from the injuries from an attack by another animal, that she sustained earlier this month.  She no longer has a tail but I suppose that is better than the alternative considering that she had some nasty wounds.  She seems a bit weary these days and who can blame her but she is still living under the deck and essentially coming forth when I call her name since she knows she will get a piece of apple.  She ate some peanuts from my hand last night and she also scampered right up next to Andrew sitting in his lawn chair. He wanted so bad to reach down and scratch her ears. (-:

GodSpeed Mr. Moth

The Royal Walnut Moth (citheronia regalis), who spent yesterday in our spare bathroom drying his wings, was not at all interested in cooperating for a photo once he was done with his task. Can't say I blame him after having spent the past two years in a pupal stage. So we got a couple photos (that are not up to our usual standard ) in the house and then we took him out into the yard and where he successfully lifted off, after fluttering around my face for a few seconds as if to say goodbye. I'd like to think that he was acknowledging that I had been caring for him for the past two years.  He headed off toward Alum Creek Park (1/2 mile) where he is likely to find a mate. It was almost as if he knew exactly what direction to go. He finds a mate by the pheromones she emits. Maybe he caught a whiff. Who knows how strong their sense of smell could be.  

 5 inch wing span

 Ready to go onward

One final goodbye

Extraordinary Thursday

This morning the neighbors dogs came bounding out of their house all happy and barking and woke me up at the same time.  It was about 6 am. and I just groaned and rolled over -not wanting to face the day after a late night of movie watching.  Then DH, who had arisen to get ready for work, yelled down the hallway and told me one of my Royal Walnut moths had hatched.  Let's just say I sprang up like a rocket and got to the kitchen in .5 seconds.  For those of you who have not been following this story you can catch up on the action by reading my previous blog posts about how all this excitement began with a gift of eggs, which then hatched, and grew and ate and we photographed them and we played with them and then finally pupated all within the time span of a month and a half. What's the big deal you ask?   It's been almost two years in the making! A brief history:  The Royal Walnut moth lives for about a week and its sole purpose is to mate and for the female to lay eggs.  They don't eat or drink and after mating they die.  What good are they you ask?  They contribute to the over all species diversity of an ecosystem, are environmental indicators, and are a part of the food chain providing food for other animals such as owls and hawks.  What extraordinary about this event?  These insects have an the ability to sense extreme environmental conditions while in the pupal stage and over-winter for an additional year if necessary. Our moths are second year moths. We have been patiently waiting since August of 2011 for their arrival into this world. Remember how it was scorching hot most of last summer in Central Ohio?  This is the likely cause. This doesn't happen that often and it's even rarer that we got to witness it firsthand.  Of the 14 eggs that hatched and survived we retained 4 of them through the pupal stage.  Two of the 4 were still viable. In April I brought their aquarium (filled with an inch of dirt) into our kitchen and I have been dribbling water on them about twice a week since to simulate rain.  Two of them would wiggle when the water hit them and that is how I know they are alive. The other two did not move and weigh significantly less now than then did when they first pupated. (We recorded their weight by using a small digital scale for weighing really lite weight objects.) Their pupal cases feel empty. They have died.  The first moth to hatch was a male.  We know this because the males of most moth species have large feather like antennae. You will be able to see them on the photos below. The adult moth has about a 6 inch wing span. I am hoping to get some photos later this evening and update you all later.

 1. ex•traor•di•nar•y
/ikˈstrôrdnˌerē/
Adjective
1. Very unusual or remarkable.
2. Unusually great.


Synonyms
uncommon - unusual - singular - remarkable - exceptional

The Way I See It

DH and I were asked by alumni relations at our alma mater to be the featured alumni artists for Homecoming. Our photography exhibit with will be up from August through November in the art gallery of the University library. Here is the write up that will appear in our alumni magazine:

“The Way I See It” by Andrew ’06 & Annette Boose ’94

When a subject is viewed by two individuals at the same time and in the same place the possibilities for capturing that subject in the form of a photographic image can be limitless.  We have combined our love of nature and the outdoors with our individual perspectives and technical abilities to produce this unique collection of seasonal nature photographs that we are pleased to share. Each of the images has been framed in old discarded lumber, whose time worn character serves to compliment the images, and enable us to contribute to our personal mission of environmental sustainability.

 Cardinal in the Snow frame=cedar (The cardinal is our University mascot)

 Frost on Blackberry Leaves frame=cedar and pine

 Sweet Dreams Are Made of These (Hepatica flower) frame= oak and cedar

 

Beaver Chew (frame=cedar and beaver chewed birch)

In conjunction with the exhibit we have launched a WEBSITE where people can purchase a variety of prints and greeting cards. We will be adding many new images over the next few weeks so please take a look now and check back from time to time to see if there is anything new that you like.  You can also see a feed of newly added images at the top right hand side of my blog. Most of our work is nature/wildlife related but you might find a few unusual other items as well (if we see it and we like it we photograph it). We have base priced items as low as $32 for a single art print in order to make it affordable for people who wish to purchase a nice piece of artwork. Please message us if you are looking for something in particular and we can get it up for viewing if we have it. 

Thanks to our friends and family who have supported us in this endeavor. We have been collecting wood, selecting images, cutting mats, constructing frames and assembling since March 15.  It's a labor of love but it has been much more work than we had imagined. (-:

We're Outta Here

Too much work and not enough relaxation prompted the following:

Friday May 31st  Annette to Andrew-"I got a message today from Candace on Drummond Island. She said the the Prairie Smoke has buds and is likely to bloom in 3 days.  The blooms last a week so that puts us at next weekend.  Want to go?

Andrew holds out arm (as in twist my arm): Let's check the weather next Thursday and if it looks good we are outta here!

Friday June 7, 4:10 pm  in Detour waiting on the ferry.

Friday June 7, 5:30 pm   happy campers at the township park

Perfect weather all weekend!  Ahhhh...... Definitely worth the 10 hour drive  Here's the rest of the pictures

 Prairie Smoke on the Maxton Plains

Evening paddle.  Daisy asked to go by jumping into the canoe.

 Perfect campsite overlooking Rabbit Bay

 Mama and her colt  - such a treat to see these up close.

Dueling freighters in the St. Mary's River

Yellow Lady Slippers

Something Suspect

Remember the post I made earlier in the week about the cute Chipping Sparrow family?  Andrew and I both initially thought the baby bird closest to the lens was huge and odd looking. I wanted to investigate further but he was afraid the babies would fledge prematurely or us messing around with the nest would attract a predator.  The doubt about this bird not looking like its parents nagged at us all week and we both should know better. The day after I photographed the chipping sparrows I came home from work at lunch and there was a baby bird on the porch near the chipping sparrow nest.  I picked it up and looked at it and just as I decided that it was a baby robin and not a chipping sparrow momma robin with worm in tow dived bombed me from afar and confirmed my identification. I thought maybe there was a chipping sparrow nest and a robin nest in the same vicinity and that we had gotten into the robin nest, henceforth the bigger baby but that didn't make sense either due to the location of the nest in a bush. Anyway that night we got out the bird id book and looked at those baby chipping sparrows again as Andrew had doubts and swore that one was a cowbird baby.  Ok for the record I have never seen one single cowbird in this yard E-V-E-R.  This evening there was another baby bird on the ground and I was able to get a picture of it.  It was a babycow bird and guess what else?  Along came momma chipping sparrow who landed on the branch next to it and I actually saw her feed it a worm!! Crap!!  I hate that.  And I missed out on the photo of a life time of this tiny mother bird feeding this huge beast baby bird as the auto focus on my Nikon lagged and I missed the shot.

Forty Six Years

That's how long it's been since we have all been together.  My brother Bob and I had childhood friends named Sally and Sandy who lived three door down from us.  All us kids in the neighborhood played together.  This 1967 photo was taken on my birthday in August. I was 4.  The 2013 photo was taken yesterday at Pasquales Restaurant here in town, where they have a kid sized picnic table, incidentally just the thing we needed to duplicate our vintage scene.  Sally and Sandy live in northern Ohio now and they came south to see us (and Sally's son and their sisters) as Sally is moving to South Carolina to retire with her husband and Sandi will be following as soon as her daughter graduates from college. It's really pitiful that it has taken us this long to do this. Sandi and I went to school together in kindergarten and 7th grade. They moved from our neighborhood when she was in first grade and we got reunited in junior high but alas only for a year as their parents decided to retire to Florida.  Sally 2 years older than us and my brother two years younger grade wise in school. Don't ya love it?

 1967

2013

Pipsqueek is Injured

For those of you who have followed the stories of our wild cottontail Pip for the past 6 years I wanted to let you know that Pip was attacked by something last night and appears to be badly injured. She's had her tail torn mostly off, has a big gash on her right flank, and has lost the use of her right hind leg. Good news is that she did hobble out this morning to get her breakfast and her eyes still have a sparkle. She also came out a couple other times this afternoon and other than the lame leg she doesn't seem to be fazed. Don't know whether she will recover or not. Right now I am worried about infection. She had a dust up with something a few years back but the wounds were not as bad. Good vibes and animal prayers would be appreciated. After consulting with a friend of ours who has a wildlife rehabilitation center in northern Ohio we have decided to let nature take its course.  Pip has had a good life here in her little backyard kingdom and if she is going to succumb to these injuries we'd rather her last memories be of her home and not some sterile center indoors and afraid.  Here's some photos of the injuries. If you'd rather not see stop here.

 Tail askew

 Wound and limp

Favoring the leg