Herons and egrets are beautiful birds with their long, elegant lines. We spied the Great Egret’s white feathers from the road for a photo opp. It wasn’t until the photos were downloaded that we saw the Great Blue. An earlier attempt to capture the Great Blue failed when the closeness of our car made him nervous and off he flew.
Kudzu has no natural enemies in Arkansas, but doesn’t have any friends either. Kudzu was introduced from Japan as an erosion-stopping ground cover and sometimes pitched as cattle forage. Cattle turned up their noses, but kudzu quickly lived up to its reputation as a ground cover. Not only does it cover ground, but it also covers trees, utility poles and anything that doesn’t move quickly.
A nice morning to curl up with a hot cuppa.
Not all the color belongs to the flowers. The succession of blooms in the small, then large goldenrods ensures a good four to six weeks of pure butterfly paradise. The cooler weather and light rain has also brought out the honey bees and other pollinators.
With morning temperatures in the 50s and some overcast, it was a great time to be out and about. Leaves are beginning to turn and summer’s flowers are enjoying one last hurrah.
Today’s full moon marks the annual Moon Festival. One of the best things about the Moon Festival are the moon cakes. These delightful molded and glazed pastries are filled with sweetened bean or lotus seed paste and a cooked egg. To see some serious and not-so-serious samples, visit this post about Cheeky Moon Cakes.
My mother, a Thai whose father spent some time in pre-Communist China, introduced me to moon cakes as child. It seemed funny to have beans in dessert, but one bite convinced me there was no reason to believe that Vigna angularis was not up to post-entree duty.
Learn more about the Moon Festival.
A prescribed burn in a neighboring county sent a long plume of smoke across the southern horizon.
This walkingstick made the 15-mile trip from Ferndale to the office, hanging onto the wing mirror even at highway speeds.
Epilogue: The walkingstick stayed on the wing mirror all day. While on the commute home, he crawled up the passenger side window to the roof. Never saw him again.
The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface 