Learn something every day! Thanks.

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Deartháir don phaidir an port.

Cue Plant jokes!

Or do we stem that tide? Turn over a new leaf?

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Wizard needs whiskey, badly!

You're a nut, my frond.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I didn't intend the pun. It was somewhat unavoidable, I feel, at least if I wanted to be brief, which I did. I suppose I could have been more specific and have pointed out that the word "vervain" came directly from the Latin word "verbena".

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"Only connect!"

https://youtu.be/ezbWVysJAOY
https://tapm.bandcamp.com/

Because I don't have any clover plant puns, I am going to point back to a previously mentioned thing.

Mera Royle, the Manx harpist mentioned previously, did win the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award per Kiaull Manninagh Jiu (Manx Music Today) newsletter put out by Culture Vannin (http://www.culturevannin.im).
Here is a link to the newsletter: http://www.manxmusic.com/media/Newslett ... 202018.pdf

No, it’s Minneapolis. Which is colder than Point Barrow. But you already knew that. Why anyone would live with Minnesota winters when they could be down here enjoying our Texas droughts, tornados and wildfires is beyond me.

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The Walrus

What would a wild walrus whistle if a walrus could whistle wild?

The second mouse may get the cheese but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired.

Hey, we get those. Just ... less of it.

The point being, though, that it's not winter, see. Winter I could understand. In Minnesota we do winter, to the point that it's not worth talking about.



Trust me, the shorts aren't all that unusual.

But it's April 9 - well into spring - and instead of the normal mid-50s, we've been having February weather, not unlike what you see in the above pic. Right now it's 35F (2C), the first it's been above freezing in many days. Early spring is always unstable here, but this protracted sub-freezing cold is way unusual stuff with normal warming just not getting a proper chance; when it's just warm enough to melt snow, that's become our makeshift criterion for "nice out", lately. Yesterday I met a fellow tenant and said (exasperatedly), "Look - it's snowing. Again." And he just resignedly said, "Oh, why not." We've been capitulating to what once was unthinkable.

Normally, by now the day lilies and irises would be pushing up.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Another one worth a look is Merlin from the Cornell ornithology lab. Even if you don't need it for bird identification (I do) it's fun to listen to the bird sounds. Didn't need it to identify the pair of pileated woodpeckers this afternoon, though. No mistaking those beasts.

They're supposed to be endemic to these parts, but I've never seen sign nor sight of any of those in my neighborhood, so it may be that the immediate locale doesn't support them. It's Downies for the most part, here. One day around this time last year there was this insistent and obnoxious tapping at my window, and when I went and looked ("If they want a cup of sugar, couldn't they just ring the doorbell?" I thought), there was a wee male Downy rapping hard at the window frame. It's metal, though, not wood, so I wondered why he kept trying. He did eventually give up, but not before I started wondering about his mental state. But it may be he was simply staking territory with the noise. Not being a birder per se, I'm not too up on these things.

Our once nearly-extirpated population of red-headed woodpeckers has rebounded very well indeed, but again, I don't see much sign of them nearby. Around Lake Nokomis is another matter: Once - and this was years ago - I saw a big old tree absolutely riddled with holes, and those so neatly arranged in a foursquare grid, that the tree looked like an enormous grater. Each hole was stuffed with an acorn. I didn't know then, but know now, that red-headed woodpeckers were the most likely cause of this curious sight; although pileated woodpeckers also store acorns by inserting them into trees for easy retrieval, there wasn't the damage associated with that species to be seen anywhere, so I feel confident in ruling them out. In any case, someone's winter larder was well-stocked.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I'm a budding birder, so the app will be nice for me. (There, finally a plant pun.)

At this point, I just have a little book that I use occasionally, and I try to draw the birds so I can remember what they are. But it will be nice to have access to audio! I've really only drawn two, but I imagine as spring starts coming, I will draw more.

I do my drawings on iPad. It is nice because I can use a wide variety of art tool styles without much forethought. These both are used with the "pencil" tool. And I can export little videos of my progress. I've uploaded a gif of me drawing a mourning dove. Unfortunately, my video for my American Robin didn't work properly.

Here is my mourning dove: (It will start after a second or so... I think. If it doesn't play, click it and it will open it in a new window and it should work.)


My American Robin:

Nicely done; I recognized the mourning dove right away.

One used to hear them all the time in my patch, but not any more. They're not endangered, so I wonder where they've gone...

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Thank you.

Based on your marketing of Minnesota, it sounds like they have good enough reason to leave.

Of late? Perhaps so. My own locale is supposed to be at the northern edge of the bird's typical year-round distribution range, so you'd think I could expect to hear them any old time. And habitable ranges for a lot of animals have been extending even farther northward lately, but weather-wise, apparently Minnesota didn't get the memo this year.

I'l be hitting the car wash today because it won't freeze tonight. Tomorrow, though, would be a fool's errand.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

You're a far better artist than I. Both birds were immediately recognizable to me.

The Mrs. and I enjoy seeing the birds around our place, we have quite few different species, everything from humming birds (in season) to song birds, wood peckers, road runners, owls, and hawks. A couple of mornings ago, we had a bleedin' owl convention right outside our door; there were at least 4-5 different individuals all hooting away for all they were worth. Mating? Establishing territory? Publicizing a rodent buffet? Who knows. They quit just before sunup (they are nocturnal after all).

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Deartháir don phaidir an port.

For the record, the mourning doves aren't having a better time in Ohio. I was scrapping solid frost off the car and we had a little snow (didn't stick) on Monday and yesterday was 75F


I had been acted as a substitute teacher for an art teacher once and during the course of the day, I perused the books on sketching. They had some rather simple suggestions and principles but for me, it was "Oh! So, that is what you do!" So then I started sketching students on sticky-notes and giving the students the sketch. I haven't sketched or drawn a lot, but I have enjoyed drawing animals and other things. I really enjoy the level of observation that goes into it. For example... one part I didn't do well on the Mourning Dove was some of the feathers: They've got this crazy set of under-feathers that almost looks like paper-marbling with a solid dark with very light borders:


(image credit: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/bird ... rning-dove)