Power of Observation

Try this sometime.

Locate an item of interest in the natural world and see what you can find/observe in the space of five minutes or so.

I did this the other day.  I picked a clump of milkweed in the yard and no sooner had I arrived to check it out this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail lit on a milkweed bloom.  It's flutter was a-stutter tho...

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No wonder.  It was missing half of its tail.  I wonder what the story is behind that?

  

Lurking amongst the shadows and blending-in with its pale green camouflage was this katydid...

   .

Hiding in a milkweed bloom was a Monarch caterpillar... 

And locating caterpillar frass (poop) on the leaves of a milkweed I tracked this guy down...

It is mind-boggling to think of how much of the natural world we pass by on a daily basis simply because we don't take the time to stop and observe.  

Don't waste your powers of observation and never allow them to waste-away...

Sunset

Day is done...

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ButterFly Ranching Continued

In-coming!

From our walk thru the butterfly ranch is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail coming in for a landing on a Prairie Blazing Star.

 

Amazing....

 

 

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Butterfly Wrangler

Freshly-emergent female Monarch butterfly.

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She lit on my shirt and following that hung-out on my fingertips for some pictures.

Hard work ranching such a delicate and beautiful butterfly - Head 'em up, move 'em out, Move 'em on ... Cut 'em out, ride 'em....

 

Bushwhacking

click on the New Holland Tractor for a better view

Trail maintenance is an annual chore here at The Platz.  Necessary access for recreation, fire fighting and emergencies.  There is also the issue of maintaining wildlife openings to provide for edge habitat, bedding cover, raptor hunting territory, pollinator habitat and much more as well.  No brushing or clearing is performed until the primary nesting season for ground nesting birds is past.  Wildlife openings wait until the nesting season AND the Monarch butterfly hatch is complete.  Moreover, the openings (meadows) are only cleared in alternate (even-numbered) years.

This year imposed additional unplanned delays - namely the wet.

Anecdotally, when you do not have to irrigate your garden and your plantings do not germinate as suspected by the cold and damp you have too much precipitation on hand.  Arguably, you cannot have too much precipitation inasmuch as it is good for the meadows, the trees and the critters in general.  Even the Labs revel in the wet as Mud Season is awarded an unplanned extension.  It's all good from a habitat/critter point of view.  But I digress.

You cannot get afield with heavy equipment and bust trails until such time as you can be reasonably sure that you will not make ruts in the turf or become inextricably stuck in the mud.  Furthermore, the longer you wait the taller the turf and pretty soon you're trying the chop 36 inch-tall grass with a Rhino bush hog. This is a not fun conundrum.

Last weekend dawned with a golden window of opportunity to strike while the iron was hot and at least get the trails cleared.  A half-day was burned with maintenance on the tractor and brush hog and the remainder of a day and a half celebrated the clearing of three and a half miles of trails.  I even chopped a couple of lengthy shooting lanes (east and south) of the Arm-Pit stand for both bow and gun hunting. Take note fellas.

Topping it-off I had plenty of time to cogitate about deer movement, patterns and possible ambush locations so I ordered and additional metal deer stand to be assembled and situated during Schützenfest.  I believe I've scouted a terrific location.

This Old Guy is raising a toast to feeling accomplished.... 

 

Bistro Cooking

Having made three trips to France in the past six years it is difficult to believe that I haven't taken the opportunity to replicate the ubiquitous salad of bitter mixed greens dressed lightly in vinaigrette that appears with every meal in France.  Morning, midday and evening.

So this year I deliberately planted three kinds of mixed greens - two of which successfully germinated following the second and third sowing.  

Gardening has been a challenge this year - but I digress.

This evening Jill and I dined upon a traditional Parisian bistro meal of grilled venison (exceedingly rare), scalloped potatoes and a huge side of mixed greens dressed in a homemade French vinaigrette.  

Served with the vin de maison rouge it was terrific.  All that was missing was the baguette with unsalted, sweet cream butter.

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Here's the dressing recipe:

 

Classic French Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Ingredients

        2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

        2 tablespoons red- or white-wine vinegar

        2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

        4 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

        Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Preparation

In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt; let the mixture stand 10 minutes.   This allows the shallots to mellow a bit.

Whisk in the mustard, then add the oil in a very slow, thin, steady stream, whisking constantly until the dressing is emulsified.  

Season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The vinaigrette can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 1 week.

Making baguettes may be in the future.  So stay tuned....

Parallel 44 Office

My office today at the 44th parallel.  

Dogs, sun, breeze, laptop, SmartPhone, laptop, butterflies and coffee at my elbow.  If I could only convince one of the four Monarchs flitting around to land on my screen.

Several phone calls and one conference call remains...

Friday Music

I hadn't heard of - or anything by - English singer songwriter Thea Gilmore until last Monday.  I stumbled across her surfing channels on satellite radio Monday.  This is a nice acoustic cover of John Fogerty's 1969 Top Billboard  hit.

Butterfly Wrangler

Is is a bird or a bug?  

Meet Hemaris thysbe - the Hummingbird Moth - sometimes called the Hawk Moth.  At least I think that is what it is.  It wouldn't stop and hold still for a picture so all I know for sure is that it is definitely an iteration of Hummingbird Moth.

This is a daytime flying moth that resembles a hummingbird as it flies rapidly between plants and hovers to feed over tubular flowers.  In the Old World, there are several co-evolved species of hummingbird moths. Some of these species are closely related and all belong to the same genus, Hemaris.

You can learn more about this fascinating insect via this PBS Special Here.

This is a fun insect we have here at the Butterfly Ranch.  From a walk last weekend I captured this short video clip of a Hummingbird Moth feeding on Joe Pye Weed.  The cowbells you hear in the background are the bells on the girl's collars.  They're wrangling and ranching butterflies too...

 

Begging the Question

Maybe you voted for Trump because you wanted anybody but Hillary.  Maybe you stayed home because Hillary's not going to do anything for you anyway.   Perhaps you abstained because Democrats and Republicans are all the same.  Possibly you cast a vote for Stein or Johnson.  It could be that you wrote in Mickey Mouse for President.  Maybe you left the box blank out of principle.   

This is what the American people voted for.  This is what Trump and every member of his party kept saying they were going to do.  Actions (and inaction) have consequences.  Elections have consequences.

No one should be surprised.

Sandhill Cranes

Meet Antigone canadensis - the Sandhill Crane.  A very large, tall, stork-like bird characterized by a long neck, long legs, and very broad wings. The body tapers into short tail and is covered by drooping feathers that form a bustle.  The head is small and the bill is straight and longer than the head.   

Sandhills prefer to live in open habitats.  For years we’ve had a nesting pair that arrives in early spring while the snow is still on the ground and before ice-out.  They hang-out in the grassland behind the house by the big pond and their courtship dance is a hoot to observe.  They’ll raise one or two young – called colts - and by autumn to late fall they begin to congregate in very large flocks before flying-off to their wintering grounds in Texas, New Mexico, Florida and Mexico.  They raise a racket and their bugling calls can be heard from miles away.  

A couple of weeks ago we were surprised and caught off-guard when mom and dad came thru the yard on a Sunday stroll to show-off the young’un….

 click on image for a better look

You can learn much more about this bird here.

Sneak

Whitetail deer are an enigma to me sometimes.  If I'm out working, raising a racket, driving equipment and generally being obnoxious they'll sometimes observe from a respectable distance and watch - curious-like.

When deer hunting season rolls-around within a short period of time they make themselves scarce.  It's almost like someone gave them a copy of the hunting regulations so they can time their movements accordingly.

Put trail cameras out and they seem both cautions, unafraid and curious.  Even though my and the dogs scent is everywhere.

It's weird.

Couple of does putting-on the sneak of a couple of trail cameras.

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Butterfly Wrangler

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It's that time of year again.  

Yup, love is in the air and the second generation of Monarch's have emerged and the rut is on.  You cannot go anywhere without bumping into pairs of orange and black butterflies flitting-about and engaging in their courtship ritual.  

Poor Jill has been working in her flower beds attempting to reduce some of the milkweed that has taken-over and checks each small plant carefully for the single tiny egg before digging and removal.  They're terribly hard to see and as a consequence we have a house guest raised from egg through his fifth instar and as of yesterday it looks like he's poised to begin metamorphosis.  And now another egg has been added.  God bless her - she's a friend to the butterfly.

I don't want to leave you with the impression this is restricted specifically to Monarchs - there are many other species of butterflies and moths.  The joint has become a regular butterfly ranch and I think we're both feeling a bit like butterfly ranch hands.

Gathering Storm

Off-loading pictures from the old Smart Phone tonight.

Here's a nice one of a gathering storm this past weekend...

Tacos

A couple of cycling pals have suggested that my venison barbacoa is better than the barbacoa found in popular Mexican food-themed establishments in the big city.  Furthermore, they have suggested I operate a taco truck in retirement.  We'll see.

Last night I cooked-up a batch of ground venison and seasoned it with savory taco spices.

Then dished it-up on freshly-picked Bibb lettuce leaves from my garden.  Topped with shredded cheese it made for a tasty taco alternative.

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Best served with a frosty Corona.  Don't want to get in a rut you know.

Braumeister

 click on the buss for a better view

One of my readers submitted the photo you see above.  While not winning any awards for an imaginative choice of name - the Independent Milwaukee Brewery was founded in 1901 more than several generations behind the founding of Milwaukee’s earliest breweries.   

Located on the South Side near the corner of 13th and Cleveland the best-known brand of the brewery was Braumeister.  As a matter of fact five different versions of Braumeister were brewed.  The company also produced at least another dozen brews including Deutscher Club Lager and Log Cabin Beer.   

In 1962 the company was sold to G. Heileman of La Crosse and the Milwaukee brewery was closed.  The Braumeister label was later sold to Peter Hand Brewing Co. of Chicago, which continued making and selling Braumeister until 1998.  

I thought my pal Braumeister would be interested in this walk down memory lane.  It’s probably a good thing there aren’t five versions of him.  That would be difficult to handle.  

You can learn more history here.