WALK AT HUNTLEY MEADOWS PARK IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA ON 5-22-21 - PART 1

 It has been raining over the last few days, along with thunderstorms.  Our walking has been cut to a minimum.  Last month we took a trip to Huntley Meadows, another place we haven't been to in over a year.  It was so good to get back.  There is a path through the wood, which eventually takes you to a fork.  The left path goes through more woods and eventually gets you to the marshland.  The right path gets you to that marshland very quickly.  This is the one we usually take.  

I shared these interesting insects in a previous post. They were son's photos.  Here are a few more I found at Huntley Meadows.  This will probably be the last of them for a long time as they will disappear soon.  The next emergence will be in 1938.  I noticed a big difference in the degree of sound this morning, not the usual steady hum.  It rained heavily last night, but even without the rain, they have been quieter.

Last night it rained hard.  Will they be back?  Not sure!

Brood X has left quite an impression on me.  I have actually enjoyed the experience.  You can read about them at this link and another interesting article here.

The collage below is comprised of photos from the deck at the back of our house.  I noticed the interesting transformation on this one.  It is shedding its final skin.  The insect emerges very pale but it slowly gets darker once its body hardens.  Those pale wings in the middle bottom photo remind of those I see on fairies in book illustrations. 

A collage of those I saw at Huntley Meadows.

One more photo and that's it, I'll go onto other things I saw that day.

For instance, trees!  It all seemed incredibly lush and green.  I was very happy to be out in the sunshine, and in the wood with all those trees.  I wanted to go hug every one of them.  Yes, I restrained myself.  The spirit was willing but good sense said there is a lot of poison ivy out there, and yet…

“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.”

~Albert Schweitzer~“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”

~Martin Luther~

“Ancient trees are precious. There is little else on Earth that plays host to such a rich community of life within a single living organism.”

~Sir David Attenborough~

“The trees encountered on a country stroll reveal a lot about that country's soul...a culture is no better than its woods."

~W.H.Auden~

We are almost through the wood and we are getting close to where the beavers hang out.

We didn't see the North American Beavers today.  They are more active at a later hour, but there were signs everywhere. Do you see the two dams they built along that stream?  I have seen much larger and longer ones nearby.

Next you can see more of their handiwork.  One felled tree and two trunks sticking out of the water.  They are off center right in the photo...and further along they just started on this tree.

The frogs were out also today and another critter friend, but that's for the next post.

OUR SON'S CICADA PHOTOS

I am sharing our Son's cicadas.  It has been determined by his parents (us of course), that he and our Daughter-in-law definitely have more in their area than we do around our home.  

(These are ones where all you see are their molted outer shell.)

We have a few in comparison but I suppose it's early days yet.  If I sound disappointed I am not.  We have trees in our yard but their home backs onto a wood.  We exchange photos via text from our trips out, even around our garden if something of interest comes up.  They enjoy walking each day and have their own interest with things in nature.  I am very happy about that.

Interesting facts about Cicadas according to this website, is that "periodical cicadas - the ones with 13 or 17 year cycles, first made an appearance in scientific literature about 300 years ago.  These cicadas are distinct from the ones that make an appearance every summer.  The periodical cicadas remain juveniles for more than a decade, until hormones kick in and turn them into adults." 

They continue to say that "there are several 'broods' or groups of these cicadas across the eastern United States.  Each brood emerges in the same year and in approximately the same geographical area - sometimes a small area, and sometimes a larger one.

Biologists have been closely following the cicadas  for centuries, and in that time have uncovered some interesting things about these insects.

Periodical cicadas only live in one area worldwide: in the United States, in areas east of the Great Plains.  These species moved there after the last glaciers began leaving the area some 18,000 years ago.  The ice would have been inhospitable to the cicadas beforehand.  You can read much more about them here.

According to the link here, cicadas live on all continents except Antarctica, and they thrive in warm environments - especially the tropics.  Therefore you will find them in Latin America, Australia, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, and South Africa hot spots.  There are more than 170 described species throughout the U.S. and Canada, and the U.S. alone is home to 15 groups (broods) of cicadas with varying life cycles.

An annual cicadas can live between two and fives years, and a periodical cicadas can live for up to 17 years in the larva stage.  That's not quite as long as queen termites which are thought to live 50 to 100 years, but it's far more impressive than the average life span of a housefly which is 15 to 30 days.  Cicadas, like most insects, live the majority of their lives in the immature stages of development.  While some can remain underground for more than a decade, they typically die only a few weeks into adulthood.

(In the above collage you will see they are in various stages of molting.  The ones on the bottom 2nd from left and first on the right, have shed.  Once their skins harden their colors change like you see in the other photos.)

Another website of interesting facts can be found here, and another here.

That's all from my Son's cicadas photos.  But I'll end up with one more photo and a video of his.  The first are wildflowers, Philadelphia fleabane.  I will share it again sometime and add more information...

and this video.  He was walking along the path and came across a deer.

You can click on the link below to take you to more fascinating photos.  It really is a fascinating phenomenon.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/brood-x-cicada-pictures 

All for now!  Hope you have enjoyed.  I know they are not everyone's cup of tea, but this has been quite an experience for us and as I always do, I enjoyed learning about them. 

ARTSY PHOTO OF...

 our son and a bit of a hodge-podge from our week.  Son came over a couple of days ago for a few hours.  I was sitting at the other side of the kitchen table while we were talking and I was drinking out of my half-pint mug.  When I got to the bottom of my glass of water I said to myself, that would make a neat photo and so here he is, an artsy one of son as taken through the bottom of the glass with my cell phone.  No I can't stop myself and my two fave guys are always so patient with my desire to record everything in our lives, even in artsy ways.  I can almost see my Dad smiling, he was the same way.

Next is a photo of my Mother's Day flowers.  They have lasted longer than I expected.  A few of the flowers are gone but most are still viable.  There were three wood lilies, and one took longer than the others to open up.  When I came downstairs a week later, this pretty bloom greeted me.

These were looking good also.  The flowers have lasted longer than usual.  I added plant food when I first got them, and fresh water every day, which is what I do with any flowers I get.  Always happy when they last this long.  They do brighten the place up.

 

We made a start to our planting before the heat gets too high.  Hellebores o. 'Pine Knot Select', hoping for a deep pink but I will be happy with what comes.  We also planted a couple of Pica Bella Coneflowers.

This week we will be buying more as we are trying to fill in a shady part of our garden and those frosty nights should be over by now.  The coneflowers will get more sun.  I want lots of butterflies and bees!

I was there to help out and act as gopher (go for this, go for that, you know how it is), but when Gregg asked me to get one of the tools he needed, on my way past another tree I saw a Catbird.  Yes, hubs got what he needed first as I gave him the box cutter, but I had grabbed my camera in the house and started taking photos of the bird.  I have to download them still and will post them next week sometime.  I was on call for the rest of the planting session, but I also wanted to take photos of our 17-year brood of Cicadas, which were/are everywhere.  Son took great shots near their place and has a lot more than we have.  They back onto woods.  I will share those in a few days also.  This is one I took.  Not everyone's cup of tea, but like all things in nature I find them fascinating.

I saw my first Cicada yesterday and I was wondering when we would be getting ours.  Last night we heard them singing, they were really loud!  As I walked around the garden I saw all these small holes in the dirt, and looking up there were dozens of their shed shells on the trellis.  Then I looked over at one of the hostas, one that needs to be trimmed as half of it seems to have died.  On the bare branches that needs to be removed, there were about a dozen or so shed skins.  Then I looked over at our Willow Oak and there were more on its trunk, one I saw in the process of shedding, and more like the one above climbing up the tree, there were several like that actually.  One stopped when I got close to it with my cell phone.  I hope this short video comes out as I think it is the first time I have tried loading one since blogger changed things around.  If it doesn't work I will get back to it later and see what I can do.  Gregg had just found thick tarp that had been laid about a foot down, maybe the last time we had extensive work done on that area, and he was having a really hard time cutting through it with the tools he had, even with the box cutter he had asked for.  He had to cut through it for each plant and it was hard going.  There was no way I could help and I felt exasperated for him.  The tarp was so embedded into the earth that it was impossible to pull up any large pieces.  A future project for removal!

There were lots of maple seeds lying around so had to take a photo of those.  

Next is a photo of a moth that was on the door screen when I went to let some fresh air in.  Pretty little thing but do not know what kind of moth it is.  This was also when I came downstairs first thing.  Such a pretty day today.

Someone posted the following on my neighborhood app, the same place I got my possum graphic that I posted yesterday (it is actually called an Opossum but I can't hear the 'O' sound very often).  There are a lot of animal lovers on my neighborhood app.  With the days getting hotter, it is a good reminder for the safety of our furry family members.  Even though we ourselves no longer have any pets, I still like to share these safety measures for others who do, just in case.

One of our neighbors across the street shouted hello when we were outside planting. He was walking up the hill with his dog.  I chatted to him for a while.  We both said how wonderful the weather was and I said something like it's nice to be getting back to normal, at which  he said with emphasis, oh yes it certainly is.  I asked him how his family was.  They had a baby girl not too long after they moved here and she was almost a year old already.  I was shocked.  It is hard to believe but with everything going on, not too many people have been out and about, and time has certainly marched on.  Yes, things are slowly getting back to normal.  No photos of our neighbor and his dog, but a nice memory of pleasant conversation.  

A very nice young man, and his wife and other little girl are the same way, and their dog usually comes over and says hello.

One last photo of a weekend treat.  Gregg makes the most delicious coffee milk shakes.  It is his memory from childhood.  He spent a lot of time in New England while visiting with his Mother's family.  He remembers New England milkshakes being thinner, which he prefers to this day and he makes them the New England way, at least from his memory of 60  plus years ago.  We lived in New England for about a year-and-a-half in Newport, Rhode Island.  We hadn't been married long but I don't remember what their milkshakes were like.  Have to say his are the best I have ever had.  I don't say it just because I know Gregg enjoys reading my posts, it's the truth.

A bit of a hodgepodge today and I realize I am all over the place.  This day has gone by so quickly and it's time to publish this before I put the computer away.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.  I will be back on Monday.