…flows, does not push, moves with grace to meet a goal
Our backyard has had a couple of different lizards scurrying around and an occasional butterfly. I wish I could capture a photo of a butterfly! Red-tailed hawks have flown overhead, as do common ravens. The usual birds are at the feeders or in the trees. My October nature journal:
Three high school students were peering into the water’s edge and calling out to each other, “There’s long neck. Look how large he is. This is the second day seeing him.” I frequent this park and could not imagine what they were observing. And to name an animal, “long neck”? So I went to where they were standing and asked what they were looking at in the water.
It was a turtle with a long neck! Yup, good name! I mentioned I had never seen one in all the years frequenting this park. Many red-eared sliders were in the water too. They were the usual, and most numerous, turtles for us to see. This long-necked turtle was new to me!
I immediately used the Inaturalist app with a photo of the turtle to determine what it was we were looking at in this water. We discover it is a spiny softshell turtle. These students, who were visiting from New Hampshire, saw the turtle the previous day too. Yes, this was a new turtle for me too! The students also now aware of the Inaturalist app.
I enjoyed talking with the students. They would only be in Tucson another day but had hopes of seeing a javelina. Unfortunately they missed the parade of javelinas through our yard last month. And they will not see javelinas at the Grand Canyon where they will visit next. But they are having an educational Arizona visit in towns and parks around the state.
As I walked the park’s paths this month, I saw my first phainopepla. Of course the Gila woodpeckers were busy and noisy as usual. The vermilion flycatchers with their bright red color is easy to see, just as a northern cardinal that also tried to hide itself in some shrubs. Off in a distance on an electrical power pole I saw what first looked like a black vulture. I did not have my camera that day, but after talking with another birder, I decided it was a juvenile turkey vulture. Few wading ducks, only a couple of ring-necked ducks. About 17 different bird species are usually seen. Now I can keep my eyes open for the spiny softshell turtle too!
The harvest moon and hunter’s moon, the rain and rainbows, and migrating wildlife this month has been fascinating to observe. Here’s my October nature journal for Agua Caliente Park:
One never knows what the birding day will be like till having spent the time. I hoped to see as many birds as I could this October day. Soon I found myself in the middle of a Gila woodpecker festival. They seemed to be all around me and busy collecting food. Here are some photos of those observations.
I listen to various birds and am still learning their calls. I wonder if one call I hear is a phainopepla. Is that squeaky call a phainopepla? It is most helpful when I finally see the bird while calling! Yeah!
I hear the call of a bird I know! Most every time I will find this bird scratching around on the ground, so that is where my eyes search for sight of an Abert’s towhee. I follow the call. No bird is around on the ground as I walk the trail, but I know it is here because I hear its call. I could not believe it as I look up in a tree and see the Abert’s towhee!
A favorite bird of mine is a curve-billed thrasher. It is a challenge to find this bird, but the call helps me head in a correct direction. Then, will the bird be on the ground or in a tree? It hides so well in the shrubbery. Finding it today was easier than usual as I see it on a tree branch!
It’s important to not distract yourself while birding with other thoughts, things to do, or whatever. Can you? Sure! But I find it more relaxing and believe I see more birds when I tune into the sounds and sights around me in nature. Being in the moment today provided me with seeing 17 different species of birds at this one park. I pointed a couple of birds out to people who were simply walking by. They appreciated the info, and there is a northern cardinal to point out so easily with its red color!
Jane Goodall was always an inspiration to me. In the 1970’s, I knew of her observational work with chimpanzees and time in an African forest. At the same time, I was a science teacher, backpacker and loved science, nature and the outdoors. To record factual info, spend time in a natural environment and observe nature was one of the reasons I enjoyed the subject of science. I was also aiming to encourage my science students to be aware and involved in environmental activities. While listening to Jane Goodall speak a few times at Cornell University, I knew my goal in encouraging my students to care about their local environment would be beneficial. She spoke to me in a way that further opened my heart to the love of the natural world. I wanted to do the same with my students. To touch another’s heart with a compassionate and loving message, there is a better chance the individual will join your project.
Jane Influenced My Approach to Teaching
My junior high school science students learned the usual info in science books, but also had outdoor activities. In the beginning, each class simply went on an outdoor walk around the school yard with me, observing and discussing what they noticed. Eventually each student with a partner did “adopt” an area of land in our school’s deciduous backyard. Students had a piece of land one foot by one foot at its surface and also took measurements approximately a foot above and below the land’s surface. They recorded the organic and inorganic matter in their plot, once a month for 8 months in the school year. (Yes, there was snow, much to the chagrin of my school administrator who wondered how the students would do their outdoor observations on those days.) Students enthusiastically accomplished their observations and made some surprising, at least to them, notes. I think to be outdoors doing science was so unique to the students there was no question it intrigued them to participate.
A group of my science students also started a paper recycling club. They made sure every classroom had a bin just for paper. Students collected the bins throughout the school on a regular basis and stored the paper waste. Old textbooks had their pages ripped from the binders. At locker clean-out time per quarter, students collected the notebooks thrown out and ripped out those pages of paper. (Fortunately these were years when the group received money for the paper they recycled at recycling centers.) They also collected pencils, sharpened what was left to many of them and made them available to the student body.
While I was not in Africa with chimpanzees, I continued to motivate young people in projects so they could appreciate our natural world. Decades later, 1991, Jane Goodall began her “Roots and Shoots” program for school groups. It was similar to what I was doing within my teaching. As I suspected, Jane had touched my heart and that was motivation for me to do the work I did as a science teacher.
As a Cadette Girl Scout leader, I took my troop camping once a month year-round. I wanted the young campers to realize every camping trip is not easy. We wish weather to be beautiful, bugs to be non-existent, campfires to light with a first match, and rain to stop … there is much to be learned when things do not go as planned. My hope was they would be problem-solvers and remain optimistic even when challenges grew larger. I saw this too with Jane Goodall as the decades went by. She had talks with opposing groups to understand how their side could help to make all a bit better. If we could all work together a common goal, no matter how small the goal. There was an importance in compromising to meet a goal: small positive action moved forward rather than a full stop and no goal met for decades or ever.
The Future is in our Youth Leaders
I followed Jane Goodall’s work throughout the years with info from the Jane Goodall Institute. She worked tirelessly. To this day I can recall her chimp welcome when she began her talk at Cornell University. I was moved seeing the photographs and videos of her work in Gombe. Her shift to working with young people with “Roots and Shoots” program was what I believed to be most important since they are the inheritors of this planet. Hearing young people speak so intelligently about the natural world is heart-warming. I believe we are in good hands as the younger generations move forward with knowledge and understanding of the natural world and how to have a healthy planet. Soon they will be in position of power to make the decisions needed. Our generation may think we know it all, but we are spending time trying to fix the mess we made and at times I’m not even sure we are doing that! The younger generation wants a healthier planet for them and their future generations.
To quote another influencer in my lifetime, Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Jane Goodall accomplished so much during her life till the day she died … touched many a heart … and one is mine! Thank you Jane!
Mountain biking requires me to truly focus on what I am doing while pedaling various trails. Some are smooth, others rocky. Some uphill, some downhill. Some steep and others even less enjoyable! But as seasons change I take notice of the wildlife, plants and animals. I actually find myself stopping to photograph the flowers that sprouted after a monsoon rain:
When especially lucky, I may see a squirrel or on this particular day, elk moving through an area! I know elk migrate here in northern Arizona, but rarely do I get this opportunity to see them. By the time I pulled my camera out, they were a distance away, but still seen:
What a great day!
My camera was inside my home. Here was an hour I set aside to be tech-free and focused on pulling weeds from our front area! (Keeping my HOA happy!)
They are not really weeds, according to me; only wildflowers and grasses just wanting to sprout. And not many to be pulled. Suddenly my nose detects a rotten smell. I look up and see a good-sized, adult javelina looking at me. Could it really smell that bad? No time to think as I notice other javelinas behind him!
I know javelinas have poor eyesight so all I could think about, after saying aloud “wow”, was giving this one and others some space! My movement was to back away and move eventually to behind a backyard gate. Nine javelinas walked across our front yard, across the neighbor’s driveway, through their side yard and on.
I step out from behind our gate toward our front door when another javelina looks at me! Backing away again, 6 more javelinas walk by me! I’m glad we are all getting along so nicely!
Fifteen javelinas! I bet at least one of you are chewing my irrigation lines, stomping on our rain gutter overflow spouts, and/or running over our bushes. Convinced I could get back to weeding, I return to the front yard.
A grunt. A movement. And there is another javelina! I am in its path. Quickly I move away and see 2 javelina walk across our yard to our neighbor’s driveway, their yard and beyond. My neighbor was watching also as she had just opened her garage and was soon to pull her vehicle out. We know the javelina’s path so no surprise there.
Where was my camera! Darn, this number, 17 javelina, seen at one time would have broken my sighting record! Oh well… my weeding goes on and the rotten smell has left the yard!
More than 2.5 years ago my best friend was dying. We both knew death was inevitable. We just were not sure how long the dying would take. My friend had a challenging last couple of years. She fought cancer through rounds of chemo, found extra bursts of energy when spending time with family and friends, and never seemed to feel sorry about herself while talking with others. I, on the other hand, was angry, sad, and not ready to lose my best friend for any reason, especially for one as permanent as death.
She and I talked often and about everything through our 40 shared years. Her divorce and our friendship were misconstrued by some. Her belief was: if anyone truly knew her, they knew the truth. She moved on with her law school acceptance and graduation and me with my various administrative school positions; we celebrated it all. Our travel opportunities, hikes searching for loons, and time at my Adirondack cabin were enjoyed by us. We discovered some people never knew/understood a deep love could exist between friends. At those times, we wished we were family instead. Apparently it was more acceptable to say “I love you” to a family member than anyone outside of that circle.
We both knew we had things to talk about at as her energy and time dwindled. I think I was more heart-broken about this all than her. She seemed to be in a better place understanding the finality of life than me. It may have been her final two years that forced her to look at life through a different lens than mine. I was always wishing for the next moment we would share, and yet knew it would probably not be.
And so when I spent the last weeks of her life with her, I knew it was time to talk. I wanted to know her latest feelings about some of the things I had been wondering about and would no doubt continue to wonder beyond her death. Our discussions involved close looks at the environment, family, friends, religion and whatever else came to us as we talked. Who, what, why and where? Respect, trust, love, likes and dislikes. Life seemed so complicated and so did our end-of-life discussion. How appreciative I was of having time to talk with my best friend just before she died.
As I move on without my friend, I must realize how fortunate I was to have such a wonderful friend in my life … and that will always bring a smile to my face, a warmth in my heart, and tears in my eyes. I tell myself: life goes on … as she said it should. Remembering her birthday this month with fond memories, such as our pursuit of loons!
Spiders and wasps are seen where I live in southwestern USA. The tarantula spider kills many common pests around our home, yet it is often thought dangerous. It is not! They are not aggressive or deadly. Any human harassing a tarantula spider can get bit although its venom seems to not be toxic to humans. I observed an unlucky tarantula spider on a hike last month. It is fascinating to see in action things one reads about in nature articles. More about the observation during my hike in a minute. Here is a sketch of a tarantula spider:
Let me introduce you to a tarantula hawk wasp. If you live in the desert regions of southwest USA, you may have seen this wasp. In my backyard it feeds on our milkweeds. This insect does have a powerful sting and if a human provokes it, you’ll be stung and it causes great pain. I read about their hunting style and life cycle, yet even more amazing is to see it in action. Here is a sketch of a tarantula hawk wasp:
A female tarantula hawk wasp mates with a male. Then it is time for the female to lay an egg, which she’ll do about 13 times in her approximately 13 month lifetime. The female wasp needs to capture a tarantula spider each time. (Males however only live 2 – 3 months.)
Once the female captures a tarantula, it will sting it, then inject venom and paralyze the spider. The female tarantula hawk wasp will drag the spider’s body to a burrow or nest. A wasp can drag spiders 8x their size! Amazing! I had never seen this until this hike. Also fascinating was observing the fact the tarantula hawk wasp walks backwards dragging the upside-down tarantula spider here! A photo I took trying to capture the wasp dragging the spider along:
Tarantula hawk wasps can fly 20 mph, but even on the ground this female was dragging the spider along quickly. Once in a burrow, the female wasp lays an egg on the paralyzed, still living, tarantula’s abdomen. When the larvae hatches, it will feed on the fluids and internal organs of the tarantula. It avoids the vital organs so the spider, its host, is alive longer. Eventually the larva pupates inside the tarantula spider’s carcass and emerges as an adult. The life cycle will continue.
I was unable to stay longer to see where the wasp’s burrow or nest was since my fellow hikers were ready to move on. However, it was a great observation for us to make while we were on our birding outing.
Reading about animal behavior is one thing, but seeing it in action is amazing! What have you observed? Wish to share? Please do.
I recently learned observations of mine with the iNaturalist app can be tracked. With past input of red-eared slider observations, I discover I have seen this animal at the following times and locations: July 2020 in Tucson, Arizona. April 2021 in Marana, Arizona. April 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. July 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. That is so cool! I love this app allowing me to be a “citizen scientist”. Join, for free, if you are out in nature, have a smart phone, and wish to add to the observations. Download iNaturalist app.
The natural world is one step beyond your front door. Do you notice any living thing within your first footsteps? Is there a flower, an insect or something else living that you notice?
If you snap a photo, share it at the iNaturalist app, you have just joined the other citizen scientists around the world. What does this mean?
With the minute you took to observe the natural world, photograph a living thing and share it within the iNaturalist app, you are providing information where others note your observation. Once it has been accepted, through their very easy process, other people, especially scientists see the entry. What’s interesting about this? Some people around the world have actually photographed, unknowingly, rare plants and/or animals! Or maybe it is a plant or animal not observed in decades at your location.
Scientists cannot travel the world, year after year as they do their research. Instead, they can comb through what others are sharing, such as through this app, iNaturalist, along with their first-hand observations.
I submitted this photo on the app:
Recorded the date, location and looked at the suggestions listed. Then chose what I thought was what this lizard would be identified as. Submitted it all easily through the app. Once a couple of other people agreed with my assessment or I changed to agree with them, then research grade allows my information to be used by anyone in the world! (I think it is a desert spiny lizard. Awaiting others to agree or not so I can go from there.)
So, you have the iNaturalist app and use it? Kudos to you! Keep at it! If you do not have the app, and wish to, then download it on your smart phone at the app store, for free, iNaturalist. Or, check out the website for iNaturalist. Either way, get involved and become a citizen scientist.