Gallimaufrey

[pameladean]

Ooof. Well, I voted in the Hugos, in the nick of time. I had actually, in the course of trying to keep up with the field, already read almost all of the legitimate nominees. I made an earnest attempt to read the others, and even got right through a number of the shorter ones, just in case there was a hidden gem, or a trick ending to a drearily

Comments

[lblanchard]

A most nutritious gallimaufrey indeed. Some day I'd like to watch dragonflies and their kindred who knows a blue darner from a B-52. Our current wildlife is a family of feral cats that is getting acclimated to the Havahart in our back garden.

[pameladean]

I think you have a larger selection of dragonflies in PA than we do here, some really spectacular. I've seen green darners right downtown, but Minneapolis has so many lakes and marshes, it's not too surprising. Also they migrate, so just going downtown is nothing to them.

Best of luck with the feral cats. They have their own charms.

P.

[sartorias]

Oh, that sounds like a lovely walk. And bonus osprey!

[pameladean]

All Three Rivers Park District parks have an osprey platform, but of course whether the ospreys are at home is always a matter of chance.

P.

[asakiyume]

Great name ^_^

My vote for the little white flower would be lesser stitchwort, because that's the one I'm always looking up. (Latin name is apparently Stellaria graminea)

[pameladean]

Oh, that's a pretty one. But mine has rounder petals, only four per flower. I should take a snapshot. It's all over prairie restorations, though that doesn't necessarily mean it's a native plant, as most restorations have some invaders that like the situation.

P.

[pameladean]

Sadly, it's not bastard toadflax, though at a distance the plants would look very similar; and no, I don't think I ever will forget that! These are intensely white four-petalled flowers, fairly abundant, on a plant about two feet tall.

I love "bec-de-grue" too. I'll have to look up where it might be found locally.

Rain can wash away pleasant scents, so maybe it did the same thing to your Robert Geranium.

P.

[asakiyume]

Your names for the dragonflies! I love them---are they real? an Eastern amberwings or two ... a stray Hallowe'en pennant or so, many blue dashers, and some powdered dancers and meadowhawks. Makes me want to jump into your entry.

And swoopy goldfinches. When they fly, it's like they're doing stitchery in the sky. I like how you represent their call ^_^

I heard a gloomy NPR story say that Eastern wood peewees were getting rare, so now every time I hear one, I treasure it.

What makes horsemint weird?

[pameladean]

Those are the actual common names of the dragonflies. Dragonfly nomenclature is weird and wonderful.

Yes, that is just what goldfinches flying look like. The call mnemonic I use is from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum; a few years back they had an installation with statues of common birds along with what their call sounds like, and that's what they chose for goldfinches.

I'm sorry to hear the peewees are getting rare, but glad they like the parks I frequent.

Horsemint flowers are stacked up vertically on the stalk, and because of the bracts, I think, they look a bit like a pile of disarranged caps from the 19th century.

P.

[inlaterdays]

I do love your nature posts. How wonderful to see ospreys!