Snowy Overhang

My front porch, I plan to knock it off tomorrow.

Hawk

Not the best shots, I cleaned the pics up a bit it was very foggy out this morning when I took these, we rarely see hawks here in town.

Fall 2009

Ledges State Park

Sleeping Sunflower

Storm Front Moving In

Herb

Click on photo for larger image of plants.

I found this growing next to my driveway, it has squre stems and smells of balsam when crushed. It had one lonely flower on the hole plant.

Native Plants

Sunset at Doolittle Prairie

Birds on a Wire

Yellow Majesty!!!

Taken at the Marietta Sand Prairie Reserve in Marshall County, Iowa

Moon over Boone County

John took this shot of the moon for me while we were out on a country drive - I was driving.

Cup Fungi

Cup Fungi

Side view

Just fruited

Older fruiting body

Fungus

This just showed up in my yard under the crab apple tree it is completely encircling the tree. I believe this may be Peziza succosa but I am not sure. The fungi do not have hairs etc., on the interior in fact the centers are almost shiny.

Wild Ginger Blossom

I have yet to see a blossom that doesn't have sand on it! In a fairy tale on could conclude that wild ginger creates sand!

Bluebells

Violets

Native Violets

Hepatica

Lots of lovely hepatica in the woods this evening!

Violet

Tendrils

Mystery Hole

Moss and Lichen

Snake Heap

I think these are garter snakes here on this mossy covered rock and I think they are mating. The sound was unreal I keep forgetting that I have video capability on my digital camera!!!

Year without a Summer???

Things are lining up that we end up with no summer this year, in most places! Why you might ask??? In the past month the earth has seen an unprecedented rise in volcanic activity five of which were major eruptions and three other major eruptions are pending. What consititutes a major eruption you might ask? One or more eruptions that puts ash 25,000 - 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. The five recent eruptions have been closer to 50,000 feet!

Check out Volcano Live http://volcanolive.com/news.html for recent activity

Mount Redoubt - Alaska
Colima - Mexico
Llaima - Chile
Chaiten - Chile
Tonga - Pacific Rim
Galeras, Colombia
Kamchatka - Russia

Pending eruptions that looks as if they will erupt in the coming days if not weeks:

Arenal - Costa Rica
Karymsky - Russia

Spring Beauty

I believe this is Spring Beauty (Claytonia lancelota) but I could be wrong the leaves are a bit narrow but after last years floods and this past winter being so bitter anything is possible at this point. There were only two sepals on each blossom, will know more by the weekend as more things will be in bloom.

Hepatica

Hepatica

Soper's Mill on the north trail.

Hepatica in Bloom

A fleeting beauty and a wonderously timed walk in the woods. Hepatica blooms for about a day maybe two and then the show is over. Today was my lucky blessed day as there was hepatica and everywhere in full showy bloom!

I don't remember if I was out early enough last year to find hepatica in bloom or not, the blossoms look like a lot of other small flowers in bloom right now.

Scarlet Cup or Sarcoscypha Coccinea

Sarcoscypha Coccinea or Scarlet Cup (ascomycetes)

Found this guy sticking out of the ground, poked gently at first with a small twig to see if it was a plant or not. Once I ascertained that it was a fungus I dug out the stick it was attached for better photographing ops. I put it back where I found it, in the mud under some oak leaves. Taken at Soper's Mill on the north trail.

Spring has Sprung in Iowa

Two weekends ago.