Monthly Archives: January 2013

Reality Sets In

Posted on January 31, 2013 by the roused bear

I have been daydreaming about butterflies and thinking about butterfly conservation.  Mother Nature has apparently decided that I should not be wasting my time, and hit us with a snowstorm and some arctic weather. We get “snow dogs” once in … Continue reading →

Posted in rural scenics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

More on the Idea of the Butterfly Flux

Posted on January 28, 2013 by the roused bear

One of the things about blogging is that you can put ideas out there in real time, maybe while they are in the process of being developed.  So I put out the idea of a “butterfly flux,” and since that … Continue reading →

Posted in butterflies, butterfly surveys, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Butterfly Flux

Posted on January 24, 2013 by the roused bear

Are you familiar with the concept of flux?  It is sort of a technical concept, and it usually relates to the rate of something (heat, a chemical reaction, photons) across a unit area.  That rate can be in the process … Continue reading →

Posted in butterflies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Thinking about Butterflies in the Middle of Winter

Posted on January 23, 2013 by the roused bear

I have been thinking about butterflies and butterfly conservation lately.  I know it is winter, but that is the way it goes. It seems to me that butterfly conservation efforts focus on the rare.  The Poweshiek skipper that I have … Continue reading →

Posted in butterflies | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Melting Snow

Posted on January 19, 2013 by the roused bear

Most of our snow has melted.  We have another warm day today, but the forecast is for the temperatures to stay down below freezing starting tonight, and continuing for several days. I found a small patch of snow that is … Continue reading →

Posted in rural scenics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Government is Trying to take Your Arkansas Toothpicks

Posted on January 17, 2013 by the roused bear

This news article is from the Niles Weekly Register,  September 16, 1837. A tax of one hundred dollars on a particular type of knife (that certainly sold for less than 100 dollars) seems like an attempt to prevent people from … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Water Towers

Posted on January 17, 2013 by the roused bear

This is a shot of Granger, Iowa through the fence on our property.  I liked the light but did not have time to do the light justice.  

Posted in rural scenics | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Wet Lichen

Posted on January 12, 2013 by the roused bear

This lichen is on the bark of a tree in our yard.  Lichens take on stronger colors when they are wet, as this one was. I leafed through my book Lichens of North America, by Brodo, Sharnoff, and Sharnoff.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological diversity | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

It is Still There

Posted on January 11, 2013 by the roused bear

A few days ago I wrote about a small bit of moss that lives in the tongue of an antique cornstalk cutter that we have.  At the time it was covered with snow. We have had a few days with higher … Continue reading →

Posted in diptera, insects, plants | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Life List of Life (of a sort)

Posted on January 8, 2013 by the roused bear

This Autumn I went to the Texas Butterfly Festival.  It was a pretty unique event and I had a lot of fun.  I had a little bit of a culture shock when I went down there, though.  A lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in invertebrates, plants, snails | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment