Turtle Season

Cloudy and warm.

During early summer you can catch turtles out and about, looking for love.  On a five mile run a couple weeks ago, I spotted (and almost touched!) a snapping turtle that had at least a 10" diameter carapace.  All dark and spiky, the shell looked wet, as if the turtle had climbed right out of the stream a hundred yards away.  (I know I should use metric...)

Here is a picture of some painted turtles I caught sunning themselves on a branch overhanging Perfume Pond in Easthampton, MA. 

Ravenel's Stinkhorn

This is the second summer in a row that I have found these beauties outside of the Bartley Center on the Holyoke Community College campus.  Stinkhorns are named for their shape and have a characteristic odor.  Some say the odor is of rotting flesh, others say it smells like semen.  To me, it's a toss up.  They just reek!

[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Phallus ravenelii"][/caption]

Here is the emerging stinkhorn.  Caught in the act!!

Keepin' up with the rain

High 75.  Cloudy and rainy.

I don't complain about the weather.  This is because my father, a rugged yet sensitive guy with Canadian heritage, always told me not to complain about things you can't fix.  We all have to live with the weather, and there's nothing we can do to change it, so I might as well just move on with my life.

That said, this has been a rainy June.  So much so that I am starting to get concerned about the tomatoes and basil I am expecting in August.  And what makes me even more concerned is that my farmers are disheartened by the weather.  Farmers!

Nevertheless, between rain drops I went down to the Manhan River trails and saw a lovely belted kingfisher (female)!

Pictures

[caption id="attachment_61" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Columbines"][/caption]

And the visitors...

[caption id="attachment_62" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Racoons!"][/caption]

Revival

High 74 (expected), Cloudy!

Summer is upon us!  This past spring, I taught Zoology for the first time and loved every minute of it.  Well, not the minutes that were filled with the smells of the preserved animals.  Some of those really stunk!  But it was a pleasure to learn and teach about the animal kingdom.  I am currently teaching an Anatomy and Physiology lab (during the first summer session for the college), and I am having a great time with it.  The course is challenging for the students since it is an upper level Biology course, but the students are dedicated and strong.  Their patience, enthusiasm, and dedication never cease to surprise me.  I get to teach some real good people.

Out of doors, I have been coaxing my garden to bloom.  I had an amazing bunch of huge columbines, fragrant lilacs, vibrant tulips and fluffy apple blossoms (in no particular order).  As I look out my office window, I see the salvia, astilbes and feverfew all in bloom at the moment.  The yellow aster-like flowers of lovage are on their way. 

Although I haven't been hiking much this summer due to the rain and other distractions, I have seen some fantastic wildlife!  Cardinals and catbirds are plentiful this spring.  I saw an oriole in Monson, and a few woodpeckers around the house in Easthampton.  On my way to work yesterday, I saw a bear in Holyoke !  Maybe that's what inspired me to get back into writing this blog!  It was a young bear, and it seemed confused that it had found its way out of the woods and onto Jarvis Street.  This morning I was visited by a family of racoons.  Two young racoons pushed their way through my fence gate, followed soon after by their mother.  I got a couple  pictures of the babies, but of course my camera died when the mama came through.  She hissed at me for disturbing her morning stroll.

Pictures will be up shortly!