Author: David Gorsline
Out of Heber Springs
Eren Orbey reports on the scuffle over the legacy of photographer Mike Disfarmer.
Disfarmer is the subject of a puppetry piece by Dan Hurlin.
Virginia getaway 2021
My road trip took me to several spots in the Roanoke vicinity.
First off was Poor Mountain Natural Area Preserve, known for its population of the hemiparasitic Piratebush (Buckleya distichophylla). I set off down aptly-named loop trail. Some determined peering under foliage turned up two female plants beginning to come into fruit. I also became reacquainted with Galax (Galax urceolata); met a ferny-looking plant that turned out to be Canadian Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis); and stumbled across an American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) maybe 10 feet tall.
Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve in Floyd County was recommended by Chris Ludwig as one of the best NAPs to visit in August—he steered me right. I arrived early on a Friday morning, before the tiny parking lot filled up. Oh, so quiet. I heard Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) (and got a visual) and Scarlet Tanager’s (Piranga olivacea) chick-burr. Not looking for anything in particular, I found a couple specialties of the house: hot pink Allegheny Onion (Allium allegheniense) and Roan Mountain Rattlesnakeroot (Nabalus roanensis) just coming into flower.
Barrens at the top (about 160 m climb from trailhead) revealed Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana) and an oak that I’m not so sure about.
For fun, I’m trying the state parks trail challenge, so I added two parks to the road trip. Fairy Stone State Park in Patrick County delivered some interesting looks on the Whiskey Run loop: a huge clone of Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum), Common Elephant’s Foot (Elephantopus tomentosus), and the iNaturalist community pinned down the first robber fly that I’ve found for myself: Red-footed Cannibal Fly (Promachus rufipes).
The trail I intended to take at Smith Mountain Lake State Park was closed, so I followed a trail closer to the lake. The area is very… recreational. But some Blue-fronted Dancers (Argia apicalis) showed up.
Bonus butterfly for the trip, and it proved to be a lifer: On my way home, I pulled up at the Nelson County Wayside south of Charlottesville to stretch my legs and fiddle with the CD player. I chatted with a guy who had stopped to do much the same. But I caught a glint of yellow flickering along the gravel. After the fellow left, I pulled out my camera and snapped away. When I got home, I keyed out my first Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe)!
Back to a hatchback
Say hello to Dr. Hardtacks on his first road trip, already a little dusty from the drive. We’re at the trailheads for Buffalo Mountain in Floyd County, early enough to pick our own space before the parking lot fills up (and it did, on a Friday morning).
With multiple new safety features and an automatic backy-uppy parking trick, the doctor is definitely smarter than me. His surname comes from the name of a turtle that Aaron Posner likes to work into his scripts.
For the first 1000 miles, we’re doing 66.5 mpg.
Fudge Kalamazoo pie
John D. Cook illustrates the Major mnemonic system for phone numbers and such.
In entertainment news
“The Lost Episodes of I Love Lucy,” by Julian George.
Even some pescetarian options
Case closed
So long, Della, faithful sidekick for 14 years. We traveled to various places in Ohio, to Memphis, to Maine and New Brunswick, and to Florida (by Auto Train). Della will soon be turned into public radio programming.
From the Top with Grown-Ups
Today in counterfactual history, NPR sells off cultural programming, new network dubbed ‘NPR Music & Entertainment’, by Wes Horner.
In all the excitement about celebrating NPR’s 50th, we’ve managed to lose sight of some of the network’s original aspirations in the arts arena, and some crazy, risk-taking frontier women and men who, like me, had a somewhat different vision for NPR than its present, near-total news identity.
Check the label
Coffee drinkers are indeed willing to pay more for socially responsible coffee, according to a new meta-analysis.
So many
They’re coming! It’s the summer of glacier ice worms (Mesenchytraeus spp.).
May to June
Martin R. Kalfatovic says so long to Brood X with some detailed materials from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
With or without juggling
Stanley Allan Sherman, artisan mask-maker.
…his best-known mask appeared on the professional wrestler Mick Foley, in his character of Mankind, a wounded psychopath.
“They basically wanted Arlecchino but didn’t know it,” Mr. Sherman said. “I knew it.”
At the park: 120
After my annual scuffling with the Google chart API, I can post the summary graph of nesting activity for 2021. There’s a gray vertical bar for 2020’s missing data.
The true Wood Duck numbers (blue track) are higher, because I did not include two boxes of uncertain disposition: one for which we never got a good egg count, and one dump nest of 25 eggs that didn’t show sufficient evidence that 24 of the eggs had hatched. I found one dead duckling and not much else.
Clifton Institute dragonfly/damselfly count 2021
I made the acquaintance of several new odonates during Saturday’s inaugural count organized by The Clifton Institute, as well as a warmup walk with executive director Bert Harris a couple of weeks prior.
I walked with Larry Meade, Kurt Gaskill, and others at Leopold’s Preserve (near Thoroughfare Gap) and Silver Lake Park.
Top photo observations include a nice up close Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis ), an Elegant Spreadwing (Lestes inaequalis) that we mis-ID’d at first, and an Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera) that I got to sit down for me. Slaty Skimmers (Libellula incesta) were common; making an early appearance were a few Autumn Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum). I might have to start keeping a list.