17 de agosto de 2019

Thanks to the Identifiers and experts!!

I want to thank all of you for sorting through my photos. It has made my quest of censusing the flora/fauna on our land possible and fun and I cannot thank all of you enough! I am doing it, in part, to protect our land from road construction and other dangers. We own 226 acres and have been working on restoring it to its original state. Our intention is to keep it that way forever.

I try to crop and lighten where needed to make the critters easier to identify.
Please let me know what I can do better and what body parts ("naughty bits") I should try to photograph. I am learning and love it!

If anyone wants or needs a specimen, I am more than happy to try to get them; just let me know. I have already sent some Elaterids to someone. We also welcome visitors who wish to wander on our land. Let me know. A gentleman has already been by to look for our Asilids.

I have been using an incandescent light and a mercury vapor light almost nightly since mid May and have been photographing much of what shows up. At first, I tried to ID the moths before posting them but am now just posting them. I wore out :)

I remember, years ago, meeting some young men in SE Arizona, mothing. I loved the picture of tough young men with a generator, lights and a case of beer; with kleenex hanging out of their ears to prevent critters from crawling in. Our kids had a good laugh. These men were wonderful and taught us a lot.

Thank all of you!!

Publicado el agosto 17, 2019 10:03 TARDE por annmcpete annmcpete | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

01 de febrero de 2019

McPete Prairie

We own 226 acres of land. 40 acres are tilled by a neighbor farmer (we qualify for CRP but he needs the hay/corn/soy for his dairy cows. This will change down the road). The rest is a combination of goat prairie, tallgrass prairie and deciduous woods. We own a mile of bluff over a valley that runs into the Mississippi River, 1-2 miles away. For ½ mile, we own from County Road 77 on the bluff to County Road 10 in the valley. For the next ½ mile, we own the slope which is goat prairie and deciduous woods. I identify submissions as McPete Prairie and McPete Land. The tallgrass prairie is around our house on top, about 5-7 acres as well as the goat prairies. The goat prairies below connect and are original. The prairie around our house was created from scratch in 1993 and has evolved with an incredible biodiversity. At the beginning, we scraped off the topsoil and broadcast over 250 species of native prairie plants. We collected seeds from local goat prairies and purchased seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery in Winona, MN that were local as well. We have maintained it with periodic burnings and slow removal of invasives.

The primary underlying base is limestone. Partway down the hill is a band of sandstone. There also is a layer of sandstone on the top in certain areas. Our six-lined racerunners live on the sandstone band down the hill.

Our created prairie and the plants have thrived. Invertebrates have appeared that are specific to tallgrass prairie. We have Bombus affinis and a number of MN DNR endangered/threatened/special concern plants. The biodiversity is rich.

The high number of plant species is vital to a healthy prairie. North American prairie plants live primarily underground. Along with a richness of species, this allows the prairie to survive anything: drought, burns, weather changes, grazing animals, haying, mowing and so forth. As long as the soil remains intact, the prairie does well. We have watched over the years how some species seem to disappear then suddenly show up when conditions are right. They are surviving underground until conditions are right. I hadn't seen Culver's root for several years; then one appeared this past summer. It never left!

The soil is "aerated" by pocket gophers and ants. I love tracking the movements of our pocket gophers from year to year. We also have least and short-tailed weasels, plenty of mice, 13-lined ground squirrels, red and gray squirrels, gray and red fox, and an occasional possum: the coyotes sing to us every night. Too many white-tailed deer. A neighbor has a photo of a black bear on our land! Milk & garter snakes, bats in my bat house every summer.

Publicado el febrero 1, 2019 05:39 TARDE por annmcpete annmcpete | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

21 de enero de 2019

Wood Specimens

For those interested: I have finished specimens of over 500 species of woody plant. They have been presented to and favorably received by members of the International Wood Collectors Society.
I carefully identified each species, cut it, usually to 1.75"X2"X4", sanded gradually to 600 grit (velvet soft!) and finished with tung oil/10% resin. Some specimens obviously were much smaller or different: I and my table saw have had many discussions. My goal was to produce specimens that could be handled (not displayed) and enjoyed. They are fun to use for testing specific gravity and to learn ID. The IWCS specimens are much larger but thinner. I wanted to be able to feel the heft of the specimen and to be able to see a greater variety of cuts: 6 viewable sides rather than a front and back.
I did no staining, just tung oil. The final finish included 10% resin for a glossy appearance which shows the chatoyance.
I could post photos of more specimens if members want. I have kept careful records of ID and locality. My family could relate many stories, as I, armed with saw, would stop at a house and ask permission to cut a tree limb.
A small number of the specimens are of purchased wood but most are cut by myself.

Publicado el enero 21, 2019 12:00 MAÑANA por annmcpete annmcpete | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Archivos