Click to enlarge image. Once enlarged, click to close.
6 October 2020 - Please see the three pictures below. Small worm-like creatures appear
to be standing up on a Triumph Elm’s leaf. Actually, they are galls. According to
Wikipedia and the University of Minnesota Extension Service, galls are generally the
result of insects or some other foreign organism such as fungi, bacteria, mites, or viruses
feasting on the leaf. If a leaf is attacked in the spring when the fresh, new leafy growth
is occurring, the tree responds by producing a gall around the irritant.
In most cases, the irritant moves on before the gall completes it’s growth. However, in
some cases, certain types of insects will live within the gall using it as a habitat, food
source, and physical protection from predators.
Unless a massive infestation occurs, leaf galls are not a problem for the host tree.
Enjoy!
galls 06 Oct 2020
06 Oct 2020 tag
20 October 2020 - Below is a short video captured by our critter cam two nights ago. It
appears to be the same fox that visited last August 6th. If he is the same animal, he has
filled out nicely.
fox video 20 Oct 2020
20 Oct 2020 tag
Click to enlarge image. Once enlarged, click to close.
9 November 2020, Monday - If you want to impress your friends and neighbors, call the
plants pictured below fungal fruiting bodies, because that is exactly what they are.
Below are two mushrooms, also called toadstools, that were found near one of our
columnar evergreens. Their spores, called basidiospores (pronounced ba-sid-e-o-
spores), are produced on the gills and fall in a fine rain of powder from under the caps.
The gills are the wide and thin sheet-like plates radiating from the stem under the cap.
fungal fruiting bodies mushrooms 09 Nov 2020
09 Nov 2020 tag
27 November 2020, Friday - It has been quiet in the neighborhood with only an occasional
cat or rabbit coming around. This time last year, we had a great many deer videos,
sometimes a dozen or more in one night. Not so this year. Critter cam finally captured a
doe and her yearling. Enjoy.
deer video doe and yearling video 27 Nov 2020
27 November 2020 tag
25 December 2020, Friday - Critter cam has been incredibly quiet for some time now.
Earlier this week, the weather folks expected clouds for Christmas, however a deep cold
front moved in after Wednesday’s blizzard. This morning’s sky cleared and turned a deep
cobalt blue - something we see only on the coldest of winter days. Below is a picture of
Mr. Kitty in his happy place catching the morning’s rays. He got his Christmas wish. Sure
hope you did too.
Merry Christmas!
happy cat 25 Dec 2020
25 Dec 2020 tag
Image provided by NASA.
Image taken with cell phone.
26 December 2020, Saturday - These conditions seem to happen only once in a great
while around here. We had a mixture of thin clouds, freezing fog and little wind as the
sun came up this morning. Ancient astronomers would use conditions like this to find sun
spots. A cell phone photo of that is below. Of course today, we understand the risk to
our eyes, plus have access to some astounding technology that alleviates the need to
gaze directly at the sun.
Thanks to NASA, we can see that there are three sun spots visible today - see NASA’s
Intensitygram image below. (Note: If the NASA link is selected after today, it will
most likely show a different picture. Which is good because their page displays only
current images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Atmospheric Imaging
Assembly.)
Enjoy!
sun spots 26 Dec 2020
26 Dec 2020 tag
October-December 2020 Blog Posts
R L Bailey & Company (Retired)
6 October 2020, Tuesday - Please see the three
pictures below. Small worm-like creatures appear to
be standing up on a Triumph Elm’s leaf. Actually, they
are galls. According to Wikipedia and the University
of Minnesota Extension Service, galls are generally the
result of insects or some other foreign organism such
as fungi, bacteria, mites, or viruses feasting on the
leaf. If a leaf is attacked in the spring when the
fresh, new leafy growth is occurring, the tree
responds by producing a gall around the irritant.
In most cases, the irritant moves on before the gall
completes it’s growth. However, in some cases, certain
types of insects will live within the gall using it as a
habitat, food source, and physical protection from
predators.
Unless a massive infestation occurs, leaf galls are not
a problem for the host tree.
Enjoy!
galls 06 Oct 2020
06 Oct 2020 tag
20 October 2020, Tuesday - Below is a short video
captured by our critter cam two nights ago. It
appears to be the same fox that visited last August
6th. If he is the same animal, he has filled out nicely.
fox video 20 Oct 2020
20 Oct 2020 tag
9 November 2020, Monday - If you want to impress
your friends and neighbors, call the pictured plants
below fungal fruiting bodies, because that is exactly
what they are.
Below are two mushrooms, also called toadstools, that
were found near one of our columnar evergreens.
Their spores, called basidiospores (pronounced ba-
sid-e-o-spores), are produced on the gills and fall in a
fine rain of powder from under the caps. The gills
are the wide and thin sheet-like plates radiating from
the stem under the cap.
fungal fruiting bodies mushrooms 09 Nov 2020
09 Nov 2020 tag
27 November 2020, Friday - It has been quiet in the
neighborhood with only an occasional cat or rabbit
coming around. This time last year, we had a great
many deer videos, sometimes a dozen or more in one
night. Not so this year. Critter cam finally captured
a doe and her yearling. Enjoy.
deer video doe and yearling video 27 Nov 2020
27 November 2020 tag
25 December 2020, Friday - Critter cam has been
incredibly quiet for some time now. Earlier this week,
the weather folks expected clouds for Christmas,
however a deep cold front moved in after Wednesday’s
blizzard. This morning’s sky cleared and turned a deep
cobalt blue - something we see only on the coldest of
winter days. Below is a picture of Mr. Kitty in his
happy place catching the morning’s rays. He got his
Christmas wish. Sure hope you did too.
Merry Christmas!
happy cat 25 Dec 2020
25 Dec 2020 tag
Image provided by NASA.
Image taken with cell phone.
26 December 2020, Saturday - These conditions seem
to happen only once in a great while around here. We
had a mixture of thin clouds, freezing fog and little
wind as the sun came up this morning. Ancient
astronomers would use conditions like this to find sun
spots. A cell phone photo of that is below. Of course
today, we understand the risk to our eyes, plus have
access to some astounding technology that alleviates
the need to gaze directly at the sun.
Thanks to NASA, we can see that there are actually
three sun spots visible today - see NASA’s
Intensitygram image below. (Note: If the NASA link
is selected after today, it will most likely show a
different picture. Which is good because their page
displays only current images from the Solar Dynamics
Observatory and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.)
Enjoy!
sun spots 26 Dec 2020
26 Dec 2020 tag
Oct-Dec 2020 Blog Posts
R L Bailey & Company (Retired)