Lauren's Life Book: October 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

I walked by this cotton field while on my way to a beaver dam near State Route 609 in Capron, Virginia on the afternoon of Thursday, August 19, 2010. I ended up seeing the dam, but there were no beavers in sight. One day I will go back there and find one of nature's engineers for this blog. In the meantime, you can read more about this variety of cotton here, and about harvesting cotton here.

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

I saw this grouse while hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park on September 4th, 2010 around 6:00PM. My sister actually spotted it by chance from about 15-20 yards, which was quite impressive since she had no clue what she had seen. This grouse is typically hard to spot by the casual observer because of it's cryptic coloration. I believe this is the female, and given that they place their nests on the ground, sheltered by tree stumps, this looks like it might be the location of a nest also. You can read more about this bird here.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

I saw this egret in the Urban Wetlands of Greenwood Cemetery in downtown Orlando, Florida in the afternoon on August 11, 2010. You can read more about these egrets here.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

I saw this gray jay hiking on the Twin Sisters Trail in the Rocky Mountain National Park on September 5th at 6PM about a mile from the trailhead. I was sitting on the ground in one spot for a while and the jay flew up to inspect what was going on, probably looking for food. I was in a crazy amount of pain from what appears to only have been a sprained ankle, but being able to see this bird somehow made it better. Or at least it was an interesting way to pass the time while waiting for mountain rescue, and my sister had to take the pictures because I was a little incapacitated. Yes, even in the middle of a little mountain emergency I still take the time to look at birds. The cool thing about these birds is that they mate for life (but if one of the mates dies or goes missing they will find another mate). An interesting thing about the offspring of these mated individuals is that once they are out of the nest, but still living with their parents, they kick the less dominant offspring out of the nesting area where it most likely won't be able to survive on its own. The dominant offspring are the ones that go on to live with the aid of their parents. Gray jays are usually found in forest regions where there aren't that many people, so sorry all you city people. You won't be seeing these jays anywhere around. You can read more about these jays here, and even though this isn't a strict example of siblicide, you can read more about siblicide here.

Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

Blue Peacock (Pavo cristatus)

Blue Peahen and baby (Pavo cristatus)

I saw these peafowl in Orlando Florida in a neighborhood in the vicinity of Michigan and Conway sometime around August 10th in the late afternoon. These peafowl have been occupying that neighborhood in some form or another since I can remember. On this particular occasion there were seemingly hundreds of them everywhere, all over the roads and trees and yards of the neighborhood. I have many more pictures somewhere on a hard drive that I'll add once I find them. I really adore peafowl since I had lived in the Conway neighborhood for over 10 years, and have learned how to do a really good call from hearing it so much. Also, the peafowl is a really good example of sexual dimorphism in action and a good example of sexual selection via displays. You can read more about peafowl here, and you can read more about sexual selection here. Since it turns out some people don't like nature and want to get rid of the flock, you can read more about the Conway area peafowl drama here.

Crow Awareness Day: American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

I saw these crows walking down Howes Street in Fort Collins today at about 11:15AM. The only thing that is interesting about this fact is that they were in about the same location I saw the Vulture Bees a while back. American crows are very common to most places I've been to in America, and they just end up blending into the background of every day life. It is for that reason I hereby declare today Crow Awareness Day at Lauren's Life Book HQ. To commemorate such an event, if I see any more crows today on my adventures I will take pictures and post them here. You can read more about crows here and wait with bated breath until I spot a raven and do a comparison post.