Beautiful Blessings - 9/9/15 & 9/10/15

~ T-bug seeing the hat and declaring "it has blue and peppermint!"

~ A delicious nectarine!

~ Lil' G going cricket searching after learning about them in science!

~ A beautiful sunset after a lovely day!

~ Getting second chances to restart a day! 

Science Saturday: Woolly Bears

(Via Wikipedia)

So, I think, um, I might be a little off with my weeks and my planning/scheduling on this, so I'll fix it for next week.

A few factual slighty-sticky notes for your brain:

•   A popular old wives' tale is that you can tell how cold/hard the winter will be by the size of the rust-brown band on the Woolly Bear Caterpillar. Actually, it tells us how old the Woolly Bear is! Younger Woolly Bears have more black than brown. As they mature the brown band widens.
• Now if you see one as it's getting chilly, and the band is very small, it just means it's a younger caterpillar getting ready for winter. So it's not forecasting the weather, it's just responding to the cold weather at the time you see them.
• They are such a popular caterpillar. Do you ever think about what they become afterwards? In the summer they become an Isabella Tiger Moth. Pretty much just another moth you'll see near a porch light. Not as exciting as a caterpillar, but still pretty neat.

Science Saturday: Hares, Asters, and Bumblebees!

(A white aster with a bumblebee! :~D My lovely Mommy took this!)

A few interesting facts that may be slightly beneficial to your brain:

•  Hares and Rabbits are completely different animals. Hares tend to have big ears, big hind legs, and a a larger body. They are from the genus Lepus.
• One of the more-common Hares is the Snowshoe Hare. They grow extra fur on their feet to help support their weight when they are in deep snow.
• They enjoy eating grasses, green leaves, buds and twigs in the summer. In the winter they eat needles and twigs from conifers, bark, buds, and twigs from deciduous trees. For water they drink dew in the warm months, and snow in the cold months. 
• The name Aster comes from the Greek word for "star". Fall is a perfect time to see the "star flowers". 
• Asters are a perfect example of a composite flower. They have tiny individual flowers called florets. The ones in the middle of the flower are called disk florets. Surrounding the disk florets are small thin ray florets.
• Asters are perennials, so if you find them one year, they are most likely going to be there for the next several years.
• Bumblebees still can be around after a few frosts. Some of the females are still buzzing around looking for mates. After they mate they will bury themselves in the ground in an inactive state.
• If they survive the winter they will come back out in April or May. Honeybees prefer hives in trees and so forth, but Bumblebees tend to live in burrows in the ground.
• As the colony slowly gets bigger in the warmer months, the Queen is busy laying eggs. The older workers spend time foraging for food while the younger workers help in the nursery. Then the cycle continues.

Science Saturday: Chipmunks, Daddy Longlegs and Frost!

(My Dad took this picture the other day!)

Marvelous, mildly-mediocre, interesting facts:

• Chipmunks are different from Squirrels by the mere fact that they live underground while Squirrels live in trees. They usually make burrows near logs, stumps, or boulders.
• A Chipmunk's burrow is more than a place to hide. They make chambers for food storage, sleeping chamber, and an exit tunnel. If it's a female, she would also make herself a nesting chamber.
• They do hibernate some, but they also need to eat through out the winter. This is when the food storage chambers come into play. They can easily access them so that they can eat when they need to.
• Daddy Longlegs are not spiders, but they are part of the Arachnid family. Spiders have 2 distinct sections of their body (the cephalothorax and the abdomen) while Daddy Longlegs have one section (the cephalothorax and abdomen are combined).
• Daddy Longlegs do not have silk glands for spinning webs. They also don't have poison glands for paralyzing prey. Daddy Longlegs do have a unique gland that emits an offensive smell to their predators.
• Their legs aren't just for moving, they are also important sensory equipment. They can be used to sense the surroundings. If anything happens to the second pair of legs, the Daddy Longlegs will most likely die within a short time.
• Frost is a turning point in the fall. It kills the vulnerable plants as the temperature drops below 32* F. 
• You may think of frost as frozen dew, but in reality frost is more crystal-like, an akin to snow.
• Frost occurs when it's a clear night and the temperature drops below 32* F. The vapor in the air freezes into what we know as frost.

Science Saturday: Field Crickets, Shooting Stars, and Nocturnal Animals!

(It's not the shooting star, but it is the night sky! This is Cassiopeia! :~D )

A few somewhat intriguing facts that may stick to your brain so that you can win in Jeopardy* someday:

•  Field Crickets mate in the fall before the frost comes. They lay their eggs in the soil to wait out winter. After they do this, when the frost comes, they die.
• If you can hear crickets, it's the male crickets making all the noise. They have crinkled little wings with 2 unique parts: a ridged vein called a file and a hardened section called a scraper. They can alternate which file and which scraper they use, but commonly they are right-winged. They use the right file and the left scraper.
• Females can be distinguished by their tidy, song-less wings.
• Shooting Stars are not stars that are shooting past. 
• In fact they consist of a piece of debris that collided with the Earth's atmosphere. The friction of the high speed of moving through the atmosphere gives it a glowing appearance until it melts and vaporizes.
• During the time it is visible, it's called a Meteor. If doesn't vaporize, and reaches the Earth intact, it is a Meteorite. 
• One of the most well-known nocturnal animal is the Bat. Bats are a small insect-eating mammal with a unique gift of echolocation. High frequency sound waves bounce off the objects around them and they know what to eat or and what to avoid hitting into.
• Owls are another well-known nocturnal animal. Owls are a bird of prey, and while they don't have echolocation, they have marvelous ears to listen for tasty morsels. They also have large light sensitive eyes that are work very well in very little light. One of the best kept secrets of Owls is their silent flight through the forest, due to unique feathers on their wings.
• The glowing eyes we often associate with nocturnal animals are usually from cats, racoons, porcupines, skunks, and deer. They have special reflectors in their eyes that bounce the light back from behind the retina so the retina has a chance to absorb it.

*If you win in Jeopardy, please give me credit ;~) lol!

Science Saturday: Earthworms & Toads

(A worm T-Tot found last year :~D )

A few possibly interesting things about these 2 unique animals:

• An adult Earthworm can be up to 11in long with 100-200 body segments. Each body segment has 4 pairs of bristle like structures called setae.(Setae is from the Latin word Setis, meaning brushes. I just looked it up for the sake of curiosity). The setae are used to cling to the walls of the burrows.
• Their predators include woodcocks, toads, frogs, snakes, turtles, skunks, some slugs, some beetles, centipedes, shrews and moles. They happen to be very useful for fishing, too.
• Earthworms eat a LOT of soil. If they can't burrow through, they eat it. In their digestive system the dirt is ground up into finer particles, while the nutrients are absorbed.
• Toads hibernate in the winter. They bury themselves deep into the earth. The rest of the year is spent in hiding from predators who may think toads would make a tasty snack.
• They have a mottled skin which gives them the ability to blend in with the ground. If someone thinks they are tasty, Toads can not jump far away, but they can jump away and startle the predator. If that fails and they are in the mouth of their predator, then they are able to emit a poisonous substance which makes them taste REALLY bad. 
• Mostly their predators include snakes, hawks, owls, crows, and skunks.

Science Saturday: Hawks & Mushrooms!

(I took this picture on a hike with my best friend while we were camping :~D ) 

A few marginally thought-provoking things of interest: 

• Hawks are not hawks. (Just don't confuse them with crows like I did when I was kid.) Hawks are actually a name for a raptor that eats other birds. They are part of the genus Accipiter. What we think of as Hawks are from the genus Buteo.
• True Hawks are the Goshawks, Cooper's Hawks, and Sharp-Shinned Hawks. The raptors we call "Hawks" are Broad-winged, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and Rough-legged Hawks.
• In UK, they call the "Hawks" buzzards. Considering we are already confused with the Hawks that aren't Hawks, and we call Vultures, buzzards, let's just stick with the name Hawks.
• Mushrooms are reproduced by spores. (Just read about this in my Biology textbook). The underside of the Mushroom cap have tiny gills. Each gill has tiny pores where the microscopic spores are produced and blow away in the wind.
• Mushrooms are decomposers. They break down the wood, leaves, dirt, etc. by which they reside.
• The Indian Pipes we talked about a few weeks ago are often considered Mushrooms, but they are not. Indian Pipes are flowers.

Science Saturday: Shrews, Coyotes, and Wolves

(I didn't have any pictures of the topics, so I grabbed a moon to howl at. ;~)

I saw a coyote a couple years ago on my way to dance. It was pretty cool!

A few mildly intriguing things:

• The name "Shrew", means ill-tempered and scolding women, started off as "screawa", Anglo-Saxon, for venomous animal. The word changed to shrew in Middle English. (This is where the word "shrewd" came). So why is a Shrew called a Shrew?
• A Shrew has poisonous saliva produced by glands in their lower jaw. It's not strong enough to kill a human but it can stupefy a mouse and give it convulsions.
• They are voracious insect eaters. They eat more than their weight a day. Some species, if they go with out food for a couple house, die from starvation. 
• Wolves are a part of the canine clan, so they have characteristics that are found in domestic dogs.
• Wolves are carnivores, which means they are meat eaters. They are also social and prefer to travel in packs. They were/are diminishing, so many efforts are being made to keep them from extinction.
• Unlike most canines they are also coursers which means they have the body and stamina to chase prey or run for long distances!
• With wolves diminishing, coyotes have been increasing. Some people thought they were wolves, or an interbreed of wolves and dogs, but neither is true. Coyotes are coyotes.
• They used to live out west and slowly around the 1940's they started becoming established here in the East. Eastern Coyotes are merely adventurous westerners. ;~D
• They can interbreed with dogs, but as numbers have increased they aren't as likely to.

Science Saturday: Centipedes & Millipedes, Thistles and Goldenrod!

Someone is enjoying the goldenrod in our yard!

Some interesting things to know:

• Usually Millipedes have have more legs than Centipedes. Centipedes have 1 pair of legs per body segment, while Millipedes have 2 pairs. Though some species of Centipedes have more than Millipedes.
• While the names sound the same, they look totally different! Both of them have segmented bodies, but Centipedes tend to have a hairier appearance while Millipedes look more like worms, it's body is cylindrical.
• Millipedes are vegetarians while Centipedes tend to enjoy bugs and things. (In the Amazon Rainforest, there is a 12in one that likes mice and things to eat! O.O Eeek!!!)
• Most Thistles are a part of a 2 year cycle. The first year the seeds germinate and sprout. The second year they flower, produce the seeds to continue the cycle, and then die off.
• If you try to get rid of the Thistle by chopping it up into many little pieces, each of those pieces will take root, and then you'll have more Thistles on your hands.
• While most wildflowers are pretty to pick for bouquets, Thistles are not that way. They are covered in sharp spines all over the entire plant. If you try to pick it, your fingers will not be happy with the pain you will receive. ;~)
• Goldenrods join us at the end of summer, so it can be disappointing to see them as it means summer is drawing to a close. I love to watch for them as their bright splashes of color are beautiful!
• Goldenrods are popular with insects including, honeybees, bumblebees, several beetles, and flies!
• Goldenrods are native to the U.S.! There are over 100 different kinds of species. They are often confused with Ragweed as they bloom at the same time, so Goldenrod gets the blame for causing allergies instead of the troublesome Ragweed!

Science Saturday: Cattails, Mouring Doves and Cardinals!

(Last week's Science Saturday)

My fun story about cattails:

I had a cattail head once, and I got the brilliant idea to open it up in the house! Sigh....that resulted in a rush outside as the fuzz was trying to float around the house....never did that again! ;~) I did get everything out of the house, but the yard had a lot of cattail fuzz for a while! ;~D

A few fun facts:

• Cattails are perennials! They live for several years, and may appear to be dead, but are actually in a dormancy over winter.
• Cattails are edible throughout every season of their life. In the spring you can eat the shoots like celery, and in the late summer before the heads open to release the fluff, you can boil them and eat them like corn. (We tried this, but I think they were getting too old, so they didn't taste the best).
• Even the roots are useful! You can use them for soups or dry them to ground into flour!
• Mourning Doves are named after their mournful "song" they sing.
• Once a Mourning Dove has found it's mate, they are mates for life. In the north they have 2 broods over the course of a summer. In the south they may have up to 5 broods!
• Mourning Doves eat what ever seeds they can find, and in the fall they enjoy the grain and corn kernels left in the fields.
• Cardinals are originally from the south. Slowly around the turn of the 20th century, they've drifted north. At the time, they were certain that the snow and harsh cold climate in the winter would stop them, but as you can see they haven't!
•  Cardinals don't migrate, which is why we can see them all year round. A bright red cardinal on a winter day is such a cheery sight!
• Cardinals weren't the only ones to slowly "drift" north. The Tufted Titmouse, the Mockingbird, and the Carolina Wren have also joined the Cardinals.

Science Saturday: Slugs, Skunks, and Indian Pipes!

(A skunk we accidentally trapped....we were aiming for woodchucks)

A few interesting things!

• Slugs are not snails and they are not leeches. They look the same from a distance, but in reality they aren't even close to being the same!
• A Slug's body is all one piece. They do not have segments. They are part of the Gastropoda family, which means "stomach-foot."
• Slugs aren't too much trouble. Usually. We did have one eat our watermelon before, but that's the first time we've had that happen. They tend to enjoy eating the wild plants.
• Skunks are among the top animals hit by cars. Most often they are hit around February during mating season.
• Skunks are best known for their scent glands which are used as a weapon against predators. They can spray them up to 10ft away, temporarily blinding the predator. The smell and the pain prevent them from getting eaten.
• Skunks are opportunistic carnivores. They like anything that they don't have to chase too much. They enjoy insects, birds, mice, turtle eggs, toads, and frogs. Occasionally they will help themselves to carrion. (Which is why they often become carrion ;~D )
• Indian Pipe is a flowering plant. The flower hangs like a bell from the top of the stem, which makes it look like a pipe!
• It doesn't feel like a flower, but more like a mushroom. Interestingly enough, you can not transplant it.
• It lacks chlorophyll, so it can't manufacture it's own food. Instead it obtains food from the roots of nearby trees. The Indian Pipe absorbs food from it's towering friends, and grows quite happily.

Science Saturday: Peppermint, Milkweed, and Queen Anne's Lace!

(Some peppermint from our garden!)

We absolutely LOVE peppermint! Currently we have peppermint, citrus mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, and lemon mint, growing in our garden!

A few interesting facts:

•   Peppermint is not native to the USA. It was brought over with English colonists. Peppermint was not native to England. Peppermint was a hybrid of two European mints (watermint and spearmint). 
• Peppermint is not very good as cross-pollinating. Instead it sends out underground runners which sprout genetically identical peppermint.
• Peppermint is probably one of the most well known flavors/scents
• Milkweed has very deep roots which enables it to continue to grow no matter how many times it has been cut back or dug up.
• Milkweed has a very unique way of pollinating. The surface of the flower is slippery and designed to have insect legs slide down until one of them has landed into a small hole in which pollen sacs are hidden. When and if the insect can get free, it transfers the pollen to another milkweed plant.
• Throughout every stage of it's life, it is edible! (If you want to eat it, if I were you, I'd research it to know how to prepare and eat it, etc.).
• Queen Anne's Lace is one of the most common abundant wildflowers! It's named after Queen Anne of England. We've all heard the story of how the red flower in the middle of the flower is a drop of blood from where "she pricked her finger while working on her lace."
• Queen Anne's Lace is related to carrots which is part of the parsley family! Celery, parsnips, parsley, dill, caraway, fennel, coriander, cumin, and anise (one of my favorite spices) are also related.
• Despite it being a wildflower, Queen Anne's Lace has a delightful scent!

Science Saturday: Galls, Herring Gulls, and Hairy Cap Moss

(A Gall from our yard...the top of the stem broke...)

A few interesting things:

•             Galls are an abnormal growth of plant tissue caused by something other than the plant itself. Most commonly caused by insects but they are also caused by mites, nematodes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
• The Goldenrod Gall is caused by a small fly that lays an egg on the stem of the Common Goldenrod. As it grows it forms a solid spherical gall around itself to protect it and feed it.\
• Galls are wonderful for protection, but some birds and rodents can see that they are holding something "yummy" inside, and will eat the contents.
• Herring Gulls are one of the most common gull along the Atlantic Coast. They have migrated inland, and have been found by the Great Lakes, the Mississippi and other large bodies of water.
• They were protected at the beginning of the 20th century because of low numbers, but since then, they've increased in number and have no need for such protection.
• Herring Gulls are ground nesters, so they prefer to be on islands where predators are few. It takes 25-27 days for an egg to hatch. Then the parents feed them regurgitated food until they are old enough to take care of themselves.
• Hairy Cap Moss grows in thick spongy beds on the forest floor. It should be called "Mattress moss" because of how soft it is! ;~)
• Moss is unique in it's ability to remain dormant for extended periods of time, yet still be alive when it receives water again.
• Moss is good for reviving areas that have been devastated by natural causes. Because of their unique ability to adapt, they can revitalize areas stricken by forest fires, floods, volcanoes, and other natural catastrophes! 

Science Saturday: Raspberries, Snapping Turtles and Bullfrogs, oh my!

Winslow LOVES raspberries! He was so excited when he heard that it would be one of the topics for Science Saturday! T-Tot actually picked some to go with dinner today! Mmmhhhhmmm good!

A few interesting things about Raspberries, Snapping Turtles, and Bullfrogs:

• Raspberry bushes have a 2 year growth pattern. The 1st year the canes grow. The 2nd, they bear fruit. After they produced their berries, the 2nd year canes die.
• Raspberries (and Blackberries) are actually not berries. A true berry has seeds in the center. Some examples of true berries are oranges, lemons, grapes, and tomatoes.
• Raspberry prickers aren't as sharp and poky as Blackberry prickers.
• Most turtles are slow, but comparatively Snapping Turtles are "fast". Their neck and head move quite quickly. Which is an advantage for when they are snapping at people or things.
• When Snapping Turtles are in the water they are not as aggressive as if they are on land.
• Snapping Turtles' shells grow to be about 1ft long. Occasionally they will be larger than that. They also range from about 10-20lbs. In a few select cases they've gotten up to 80lbs. 
• Bullfrogs usually don't awaken from hibernation until late spring.
• Bullfrogs are well-known for their deep resonating vocal calls they make. 
• Bullfrog tadpoles hatch in about 4-5 days after they are laid. It takes 2 years for them to become an adult, and another 2 years for them to mature and repeat the cycle.

Science Saturday: Ants, June Bugs, and Cassiopeia

Ants, June Bugs, and Cassiopeia: not much in common. Though they are all unique in their own way.

(My Dad took this last night :~)

A few interesting things:

• Ants are a close relative of bees and wasps.
• Some of the common Ants in the New England have herds of aphids. They "milk" the aphids for a substance called "Honeydew".
• Ants of the same colony never fight. But if there is another colony or species they will fight over slaves, food or territory.
• Adult June Bugs feed mostly on leaves. They've been found on oaks, elms, ashes, walnuts, and more. Different subspecies prefer different types of trees.
• There are 4 stages of the June Bug: egg, larvae, pupae, and adult. Eggs, larva, and pupa stay underground for almost a year.
• They are also known as June Beetles, May Bugs, and May Beetles. 
• Cassiopeia is near the Big Dipper in the night sky.
• She is named after a Greek Myth. The myth itself is rather depressing, in case you want to know.
• She is shaped in a "W"!

Science Saturday: Bees, Wasps, Hornets, and Inchworms!

A wasp nest from last year!

The irony about these topics, is I got a bee/wasp/hornet sting on Wednesday. I guess it was good timing for this post! ;~)

Anyways, a few interesting facts! :~)

• A bee is not a wasp, a wasp is not always a hornet, but hornets are wasps. (A tongue twister indeed!)
• Bees are hairier and rounder than wasps, which tend to be slimmer and smoother.
• Wasps and hornets tend to make nests while bees usually live in trees, man-made hives, or underground (depending on the type.)
• Inchworms have 2 defense systems to prevent from them being eaten. One is blending in with the tree, and if that doesn't work, they can repel from the tree out of reach. When the danger has passed, they climb back up to where they were before.
• They are the caterpillars of the Geometer Moths.
• Inchworms don't have the same number of legs as the average caterpillar.

"Inchworm" with Danny Kaye in "Hans Christian Anderson"

"Inchworm" with Danny Kaye with "The Muppet Show" 

Science Saturday: Hummingbirds, Spittlebugs, and Buttercups Galore!

(Pardon the fact they are daisies...though there might be buttercups in the far back left corner....)

"A tiny little spittle bug climbed up a stalk.

He almost reached the top, when he heard someone talk.

A bright little humming bird sang in the sky.

He smiled at her before away she flied.

The tiny little spittle bug enjoyed the flower's scent.

Back down the buttercup he went."

A few interesting things I learned:

• Humming Birds' wings are different than most birds. Their wings don't flap, but move in a figure-eight motion. 
• If a human were to sustain the energy output of a humming bird, they would have to eat 285lbs of hamburger a day. Humming birds eat half their weight in sugar daily. 
• Their tongue is unique in the fact it can reach past the end of their bill. 
• Spittlebugs is the name for the young bugs. The adult bugs are called Froghoppers.
• The spittle is wet and slippery with a consistency of saliva rather than foam. It is made up plant juices from what they eat and glands in their abdomen. They use it to protect themselves.
• The Spittlebugs only have one known predator, a species of wasp that knows tasty things are hidden under the spittle.
• On any given plant, you can easily find Buttercups in every stage of their life. Buds, young flowers, old flowers and flowers turned to seed.
• They can, but rarely self pollinate. They are usually cross-pollinated by tiny insects crawling from one Buttercup to another. Cross pollination is better for the species anyways.
• Buttercups are very common, so many people consider them to be weeds. 

Science Saturday: Daisies, Fireflies and Viceroys, oh my!

Over the course of the year, I'll be reading through The Beginning Naturalist by Gale Lawrence and A Field Guide to the Familiar also by Gale Lawrence.

This past week I read about Fireflies, the difference between Black-eyed Susans and Daisies, and (impostor Monarch Butterflies) Viceroys. 

A few interesting things I learned: 

• Fireflies are not flies.....they are beetles. 
• The fireflies that fly are males. Most species of female fireflies can not fly.
• The light they produce has no heat. Scientists want to try to develop a light of similar properties. 
• Black-eyed Susans and Daisies are not related. 
• Daisies are from Europe and Asia, while Black-eyed Susans came from Western USA. 
• Black-eyed Susans are biennials, while Daisies are perennials.
• Viceroys survive well because they are almost identical to Monarch Butterflies which tend to poisonous. 
• They stay in the area in which they are born, they do not migrate like Monarchs. 
• Their eggs camouflage well on tips of leaves. 

Throwback Tuesday: Rachel Louise Carson

Rachel Louise Carson was a marine biologist and conservationist. She helped raise awareness of the endangered bald eagles. The eagles consumed prey that contained DDT. By 1972, DDT was banned in the United States. Because of this, the numbers jumped from 417 pairs of wild bald eagles in 1963, to 4,712 in 1995.

Since Google honored her today, I decided she would be perfect for Throwback Tuesday.

:~) An amazing lady of her time!

Throwback Tuesday: Dorothy Hodgkin

When I saw the Google Doodle yesterday, I was inspired! 

It was for Dorothy Hodgkin, a British Biochemist, who determined the structure of Insulin.

She was the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The only other 2 women awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was Marie Curie and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie.

An interesting random fact is that she was born in Cairo, Egypt. Alas I wasn't ;)