The Beacons' Wooden Bear

Watering Logs: Pukall Lumber, Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin

See more of my pictures of Pukall at: Middle Stanza and here.

Minocqua, Wisconsin: Two Times, Two Cameras

Wisconsin Fly that Looks Like a Bee

For the life of me, I can't find a match for this bug. There were several of these on the wood pile behind The Beacons. One of the groundsmen ("Big" or "Little" Dave?) saw me taking pictures and said, without looking closely, that they're Deer Flies, which deliver a powerfully painful sting.  However. . .

. . . this guy is hairier than a Deer Fly, has a way more projectile blond mustache, lacks the Deer Fly's prominent orange antennae, and sports eyeballs that look like welding goggles. By the way, the picture isn't good for judging scale. I guesstimate that this fly is about eight times as big as a Common House Fly.

I'm going to have to make this post without an identification, sorry. The bug is awesome, though, right?

Fawn, Fern, Deer, Wisconsin River

Above: Bambi eating ferns on the property across from The Beacons in Minocqua, Wisconsin. Below: Deer peeking out at me from behind the trees, same area.

Below: Deer eating underwater weeds while wading in the shallows of the Wisconsin River near the town of Eagle River. Farther below: Pictures of the same part of the Wisconsin River. You can see the same deer (center, tiny) in the first shot.

Dragonflies & Damselflies of Oneida & Vilas Counties, Wisconsin

Following are the lovely dragonflies I photographed while on vacation with family. My amateur identifications are based the Wisconsin Odonata Survey.

Male Calico Pennant Dragonfly

Celithemis elisa (Hagen, 1861).
Photographed this gorgeous dragonfly in the wildflowers near State Highway 70 alongside the Wisconsin River in the Eagle River area (Vilas County). We stopped there on the way back from visiting my Uncle Jack and Aunt Charmaine in Phelps.

Female Calico Pennant Dragonfly

At the pond at Pukall Lumber, pictured below under Twelve-Spotted Skimmer.

Northern Bluet Damselfly

Enallagma annexum (Charpentier, 1840).

Same location as the Calico Pennant.

Canada Darner Dragonfly 

Aeshna canadensis (Walker, 1908).
This really big guy appeared to be sleeping on the underside of the deck above mom and dad's condo on Lake Minocqua, Wisconsin. Early morning, used flash.

Lancet Clubtail Dragonfly

Gomphus exilis (Selys, 1854).

This fellow kept flying around my head when I was swimming (below) in Lake Minocqua on the northwest side of The Beacons' boat dock. Once I got out of the water and grabbed my camera, I caught him resting on this patriotically colored ski boat (above). 

Twelve-Spotted Skimmer

Libellula pulchella (Drury, 1773).

This huge dragonfly was acting king of the puddles at Pukall Lumber Company in Woodruff, Wisconsin, where we stopped to take pictures of the watered logs (below the dragonfly picture). After a lot of waiting around, he eventually landed. What a beauty!

Four-Spotted Skimmer

Libellula quadrimaculata (Linnaeus, 1758).

This guy, which I originally mistook as a female because of his neutral coloring, was also perched by the Pukall pond. Man, it was warm and humid that day.

Tule Bluet Damselfly

Enallagma carunculatum (Morse, 1895).

There were absolute tons of these around The Beacons. This pic was taken with the Minolta. 

Some Favorite Wisconsinites: Bald Eagle, Blue Jay, and Red-Winged Blackbird

It's breathtaking to look up and see an American Bald Eagle flying low overhead. Taking pictures was difficult because of the overcast sky, but I did my best. The Eagle above was flying over the swamp behind The Beacons. There's one that has a nest in the Norwegian Red Pines right next to mom and dad's condo. Boy, do I wish I'd had my camera when we were swimming in Lake Minocqua and that Eagle swooped down right next to us and grabbed a fish out of the water. It was actually a little scary because, for a second, I thought he/she was going to dive-bomb us.

This pair of Bald Eagles (above) perched in a Birch tree just down the lake shore a bit from the Four Seasons restaurant in Arbor Vitae. We went for the Friday night fish fry as well as lovely views of Big Arbor Vitae Lake. The seagull-like sounds of Eagles while we ate was an added bonus. Below: mom and dad at our table at Four Seasons. (Note to self: Above and below, Minolta.)

I've always loved Blue Jays. Here in Los Angeles County, we see a lot of Western Scrub Jays, who are absolute freaks for peanuts. Seeing Blue Jays, though, took me back. A sucker for complementary colors, I was particularly interested in taking a picture of a Jay in the one dead pine with burnt orange needles. Below: Blue Jay (times three) at The Beacons in Minocqua.

I used to see a lot of super-glossy Red-Winged Blackbirds on roadside fenceposts in Iowa City when I was in grad school at UI. My favorite bike ride was south of town down Sand Road (I think that was the name), where I got to see all kinds of roadside birds in addition to sheep, goats, and of course, hogs. Oh, Memory Lane...

Below: This Red-Winged Blackbird stood on a small stump (or part of a submerged log) on the seemingly unnamed swamp near Huber Bay of Lake Minocqua (and near the less beautiful Save More parking lot).

P.S. My pond is jealous of the prolific wild water lilies all about Northern Wisconsin.

Greater Sandhill Cranes near Phelps, Wisconsin

Grus canadensis tabida (J. L. Peters, 1925).

When we were on our way to Uncle Jack's house, I spotted a kind of bird I knew I'd never seen before, not even on Sanibel Island, where we've seen all kinds of unusual birds. On the way back, we had to stop at the field to get a picture. The birds had moved farther away from the road, but I still got these shots between the Birch trees and "Trembling" or "Quaking" Aspen (a type of Poplar that some people, including my uncle, call "Popple" trees).

Sandhill Cranes were long identified as endangered, but they've rebounded in response to various protections. They're beautiful birds, and big ones, too. It was a real treat to watch them.

My pictures don't show it well, but they have gorgeous red coloring on their faces/heads. Check out these two pictures from the Free Photo Gallery at The International Crane Foundation. I couldn't resist including a picture of Sandhill Crane chicks. Sickeningly cute, eh?

Three Baby Birds (Maybe Finches) in Nest in Sycamore Tree in Deukmejian Wilderness Park

When I was wandering around the park taking pictures, I noticed a very poopy leaf (below right) about six feet up the trunk of a young Sycamore. Otherwise, I would have missed the sweetest little nest about the size of a baseball about nine feet up the tree. And I would have missed three super-tough baby birds who were mad dogging me like crazy. (They were silent, totally silent.)

Well, okay, they weren't exactly mad dogging me. And I didn't test how tough they were. But there were, in fact, three pairs of eyes on me (above).  I'll have to do some research to identify the nest and type of birds, since I didn't see an adult, but my best guess is that they're Lesser Goldfinches because there are a lot of them in that part of the park. Look at the little guy peeping out (below left).

Lupine Blue Butterfly (Male)

Plebejus lupini (Boisduval, 1869). This guy is tiny, wings only about a half-inch across. It doesn't look like it in the picture, but he appears periwinkle blue while flying. Very pretty. You can see a little of the blue better in the picture-in-picture.

I spotted him in Deukmejian Wilderness Park, where we often take our dog. My favorite butterfly site says Lupine Blues' habitat is: "Alpine slopes, mountain meadows and slopes, prairies, rocky outcrops, chaparral, and sagebrush." Sounds like Deukmejian to me!

Orange Sulphur

Colias eurytheme Boisduval, 1852. I've seen these guys around spans of Rosemary, but like Cabbage Whites, they seldom seem to perch long enough to approach, not to mention grab a decent picture. I finally lucked out, though. Actually, I lucked out twice. These are two different individuals.

 Up top: Beautiful pink trim and pink antennae. Just above: Check out those eyeballs!

Fynbos Aloe Flower Spikes

There are several kinds of Aloe in my yard. This one is Aloe succotrina, and it's flowering now.

Froglet Debut!

A couple of days ago, Bradley went out early in the morning and saw our froglet for the first time without a tail. It was so cute, he said, sitting on a lily pad. When it saw Bradley coming, it took a big frogger leap back into the pond.

I went out that night and saw it sitting on a lily pad again, but I had forgotten to put the battery back into my camera, so the photo op was lost. Last night, though, I heard some little ker-plunks near the spitter and spotted the wee tot. The upper picture I shot by flashlight sans-tripod. The lower picture, I feel guilty, is the result of flash. It automatically came on, so I accidentally blasted the poor froglet in the face. I hope the two-inch long cutie-pie is okay. He/she didn't seem fazed. But then again, how would I know?

Having the tadpoles/froglet is supremely neat, but the guy at the pond place was obviously way off when he said it would take two years before my tadpoles made the transformation. I had been hoping to enjoy the tadpole stage longer, and I worry about raccoons getting the froggers if they leave the immediate pond vicinity, which is moderately well protected by the scarecrow.

Previous tadpole/frog posts: Big & Little Legs: A Bullfrog Tadpole Update and Tadpoles (the March day I brought them home).

Blue, Blue, Blue: Lily of the Nile Times Three

 

I'll be darned if there aren't three kinds of Agapanthus in my backyard: small, medium, and honker. At the Monrovia site, there are fifteen kinds.

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The one I'm calling "small" is probably Agapanthus africanus 'Peter Pan'. It's definitely dwarf. Drought tolerant for sure. The flowers are small and resemble the picture. The foliage is ten to twelve inches high but in a clump two feet in diameter. Individual leaves are narrow, about a quarter of an inch wide.

Above: Wilted "small" Agapanthus flower leaning against BP's iron Raven statuette. Evidence of these hot few days. In the background, "honker" Agapanthus transplant. One bulb, one bud. Not shabby.
 
Right: Some new buds on the "small" plant.

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The one I'll call "medium" is also very drought tolerant, almost certainly Agapanthus africanus 'Queen Anne'. The foliage grows in a taller clump, and individual leaves are larger, about one-half inch wide. Flowers are more numerous and showier. They appear in unison, unlike those on the "small" Agapanthus, which flowers in a longer, staggered way.

Left: "Queen Anne" yesterday and today. (Today it is strangely swamped with flies!?)

Two below: Same plant. I especially like the way the bud skin (sorry, there's got to be a better term!) hangs on for some time after the flowers begin to open. They appear white at first but soon turn blue.

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"Honker" is most like Monrovia's Agapanthus x 'Monmid', but mine are extremely drought tolerant. If I water them at all, I risk causing some kind of fungus or bacterial rot down in the lower stems and bulbs, so I almost never water these guys. They seem to love it. And I love them. Blue is definitely my favorite flower color, and these are WAY blue. They transplant well, so I'm starting them in new spots around the yard. The leaves are about an inch-and-a-half wide, and the clumps of foliage get really big. The one near the pond takes up about a cubic yard. The flower stalks are sometimes four feet tall!

Below: Lots of Agapanthus buds right now (left). Same variety flowering in 2009 (center) and then spent in 2009 (right).