Wild Wild Woods: foraging

Showing posts with label foraging. Show all posts

7/09/2023

spiderwort

The Spiderwort Tradescantia in the riparian area around the pond bloomed for a few days. Then, the flowers disappeared.

Critters have been eating plants and leaving evidence behind . . . broken off flower stalks, chewed reeds, left-behind stems, grass sheared off at ground level.

The muskrats swim across the pond to gather food on the opposite shores. The rabbits browse among the plants around the pond. I wonder who ate the Spiderwort?

6/16/2023

Killdeer Charadrius vociferus is a shorebird that is part of the plover family. About the size of a American Robin, it has very long legs and striped black and white neck. It usually inhabits grassy areas but eats mostly invertebrates. This one was foraging along the shore for aquatic insect larvae. The scientific name "vociferus" is from Latin; 'vox' meaning "voice" with 'ferre' meaning "to carry". Their call is surely carrying! https://musicofnature.com/mary-holland/killdeer/

About this blog "Wild Wild Woods"

Through 2018, the posts on "wild wild woods" were photos taken in my bird garden and a set-aside strip of land that was the old fence row when the suburban lots in my neighborhood were farmed land. That wooded area sheltered a variety of plants and wildlife among the trees, understory, and a brushpile.

Now, my windows look out on a pond.

My new location is another former farm field that became a neighborhood. Fortunately, the wetland was preserved. It includes a pond surrounded by wildflowers, grasses, reeds, and a few trees.

I am pleased to observe and enjoy these places for birds, critters, and plants of central Minnesota.

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7/09/2023

spiderwort

6/16/2023

killdeer