Ecology- MMG

Home of groups, cadres, circles, teams, ...
Post Reply
guitarplayer
Posts: 1292
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by guitarplayer »

Last month we were cycling along a frozen canal to get free food from one place and saw a fox on the ice. I think it would have ran away had it been able to, but on ice running is tricky. So it just stood there looking at us passing and we looked at it. I want to believe we had a moment there, but the truth is probably that it really wanted to run off but couldn't!

I don't know if you have old canals in the US but in the UK there's plenty and the towing paths are often paved into cycling lanes. The unique environment of water and often greenery around creates habitat for many animals - canals are also actively promoted like so.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

icefish wrote:
Sun Jan 08, 2023 9:26 pm
... it was a flock of pelicans, flying proud-- but interspered among them were a tag-along bunch of ibises, half their size at best, taking advantage of the pelicans' much more powerful slipstreams to get an easier trip.
Welcome to the forum and really cool observation! Reminds me of Remora that attach themselves to sharks for a free ride and access to food. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remora

Break in the rain today, but it is snow, snow, snow up high. I found some racoon tracks between two black berry bushes on our regular walking route that were preserved in the snow when it was softer. A lot of crows hanging out around the neighborhood with the partly cloudy weather.

theanimal
Posts: 2622
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:05 pm
Location: AK
Contact:

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by theanimal »

The deer here are incredibly tame. 2 days ago I got within 5 feet of 8 different deer. And this morning I got within 3 feet of another. It finally took off as I took another step towards it. I see probably a dozen every day while walking. Supposedly, Native Americans would play games where they try to sneak up to prey and touch them without the animal noticing them. It's a good way to practice stalking skills and improve knowledge of animal behavior. I suppose I'm trying the same here, but it's far easier as the deer aren't as suspicious.

I'm in a very foreign environment and have the opportunity to learn all kinds of different trees and plants. It is largely a rainforest biome, meaning lots of ferns, shrubs, trees and moss. Green everywhere. There has been a tree that has caught my eye for the past week. It is a large deciduous tree, but the bark appears to self peel further up the trunk and on the branches. Today I learned it's name. Pacific Madrona.

User avatar
grundomatic
Posts: 411
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:04 am

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by grundomatic »

@mountainFrugal

Quite a bit of water came into the lagoon with the king tide, but there was a lot of capacity, so it was a long way from "overflowing", but it did come up past what I'll call the recent equilibrium level. Plants that were on "land" the day before several inches under water. At low tide I looked carefully and could see the water slowly trickling out toward sea, but at king tide debris and a rough surface showed water moving inland at a much faster rate. Another interesting observation was a cactus not too far from the water at all, and I wondered aloud "What are you doing there?".

macg
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:48 pm
Location: USA-FL

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by macg »

I forgot to post this last week. On the first day of the new year I was walking on the path along the river here, and noticed people gathering ahead. It was a pod of dolphins (I think a group of dolphins is called a pod) flitting about right next to the dock/path. I guess it's not totally unusual here (the city is approximately 20 miles inland on a major river), but it's the first time I've seen any wildlife other than birds in the river since I moved here in June.

Good way to start the year, I thought.

avalok
Posts: 277
Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2021 4:42 am
Location: West Midlands, UK; Walkscore 73

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by avalok »

@macg that's a big shift to go from no wildlife to a pod of dolphins. Hope it continues.
guitarplayer wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 3:44 pm
I don't know if you have old canals ... there's plenty and the towing paths are often paved into cycling lanes.
We also live in an area with plenty of canals, remnant of the industrialization period. I am fortunate enough to walk to work along one. This morning I managed to get unusually close to a heron perched under one of the bridges; it was too dark for me to make it out until I was on top of it, but I'm surprised it didn't see or hear me sooner. I noticed I saw none while the canal was frozen before Christmas; likely because all the food was locked up under ice.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

Fire season on the West coast is shaping up to be less and less of an issue this year as all this precip falls and builds in the snowpack across the Sierra and the Cascades for slow release into the warmer months. We have gotten 200% of average snowfall up high so far with all these tropical storms hitting California to my South. The storms are warm and wet and come down as snow as the weather system moves over the mountains and is pushed higher. Hopefully California and other Western drought states can effectively capture some of this excess moisture for use later in the year.

mooretrees
Posts: 762
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mooretrees »

mountainFrugal wrote:
Thu Jan 12, 2023 3:52 pm
Fire season on the West coast is shaping up to be less and less of an issue this year as all this precip falls and builds in the snowpack across the Sierra and the Cascades for slow release into the warmer months. We have gotten 200% of average snowfall up high so far with all these tropical storms hitting California to my South. The storms are warm and wet and come down as snow as the weather system moves over the mountains and is pushed higher. Hopefully California and other Western drought states can effectively capture some of this excess moisture for use later in the year.
I think I've thought this before, but if the snows melt early, then isn't it all for nothing? The key to a 'good' fire season is the snow pack remaining snow as long as possible, right? Am I missing something or not understanding things accurately?

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

You are right that the snow needs to stick around, but the West Coast is looking very good for this point in the season so far:
Western US Watershed Snowpack Maps

New Mexico... not so much.

This may be a major consideration for the PCT hikers this year.

ffj
Posts: 376
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:57 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by ffj »

@mountain

Do you use the iNaturalist app? Or anybody else?

Been thinking about checking it out and it would be good to see if it's worth my time.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

ffj wrote:
Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:43 pm
Do you use the iNaturalist app? Or anybody else?
It is a great app! If the data you collect is corroborated by 2 other users, then it becomes research grade and will be used by biodiversity researchers. It has some pretty good basic functions to help you ID species too if you take photos. It uses the information on where you are located to narrow down the search of what species are likely to be there. There is also a cool little AI layer that uses image recognition to help you ID. They also gamify the IDs and you can become a local leader or overall leader in species observations. If there are local universities, they may have local biodiversity initiatives you can become a part of.

Highly recommended.

Edit: It could also be a way to map and visualize all the species you have on your property.

ffj
Posts: 376
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:57 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by ffj »

Thanks for the feedback. I'd like to try it out for the wild mushrooms in my area as so many are hard to identify.

Had about 80 Canadian Geese fly over my woods today while I worked. Not hard to spot as they are so noisy!

guitarplayer
Posts: 1292
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by guitarplayer »

ffj wrote:
Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:54 pm
I'd like to try it out for the wild mushrooms in my area as so many are hard to identify.
With the help of iNaturalist, DW and I ate mushrooms I would have never dreamed of before! Check out my entries in the Foraging log (before I started posting on urban foraging / scavenge economy foraging there).

Of course, do your own research as ultimately it is you eating them! We would first check our finds on iNaturalist, then do a more detailed analysis at home. Checking for key identifiers, the spore colour is a telling one in conjunction with other visuals (although you have to wait a few hours until the spores are released).

ffj
Posts: 376
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:57 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by ffj »

Well kiss my ass, how have I missed all of the mushroom adventures here all of this time? I think I must of thought the thread was about eating out of a dumpster or something along those lines haha. But thank you guitarplayer, I'll definitely check out the whole thread.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

I tracked a male (based on shoe size) and his dog in the fresh snow. His gait was very unique. The right foot angled out nearly 50 degrees laterally (outward). A more normal stride would have roughly equal distances between left and right foot prints. His Left to Right was about 1/3 longer than his Right to Left. Trying to recreate the pattern, my right leg was about at that angle laterally and was very stiff.

Any lurkers out there reading this thread? What is going on with nature in your area?

theanimal
Posts: 2622
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:05 pm
Location: AK
Contact:

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by theanimal »

Today @reepicheep and I met up and walked the beach. We saw some sea otters, various sea birds and a collection of interesting material that washed up on the beach such as parts of crab shells, bull kelp, and various seashells. We started at the peak of high tide, so had a good opportunity to see what was freshly showing with the receding waters.

Still seeing plenty of deer and have now started seeing some males, still with antlers. They are not as safe from predation as I thought, I heard coyotes on my street for the first time this past week.

I also saw an Araucarias tree while roaming around today, which is one of the most unique trees I have ever seen. Very cool!

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

Minor observation from the permaculture aspect: the past few days have been significantly more windy than usual. The wind is coming directly out of the North and our house is noticeably colder in the morning because of it despite the overall outside temps being average for this time of year. Normally we have Westerly winds in the winter and even on windier days, the neighbor's house just to the West of us is enough of a wind block that we do not notice any temperature differences. However, there is much less blocking any wind coming in from the North so it rolls on by taking our heat away more easily.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1117
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by mountainFrugal »

I went for a ski tour in the back-country with my Uncle-to-be last week. There was significant wind loading on the South side of features from the Northerly winds mentioned above. We saw avalanche debris from a small avalanche on a slope that was greater than 45 degrees that was likely from a cornice breaking off at the top of the ridge hitting the accumulated wind slab below. Maybe the day before? We skied out on a less than 30 degree slope on sun softened snow out of the avalanche path.

https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encyclo ... wind-slab/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cornice

Any lurkers out there reading this? Sign in and give us a quick view of what nature is doing around you in your part of the world with a few sentences. Say hello! :)

Previous contributors to the thread... What is going on in your neck of the woods?

NewBlood
Posts: 178
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2020 3:45 pm

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by NewBlood »

Hi, lurker here.
It's currently 61F, with a RealFeel temp of 65F. On Feb 10th. I'm in the mid Atlantic, and according to https://weatherspark.com/ this is quite a bit higher than the 90th percentile for the day of the year. Not great news I'm guessing. But a gorgeous day. All the trees around my apartment are still bare.

User avatar
grundomatic
Posts: 411
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:04 am

Re: Ecology- MMG

Post by grundomatic »

The chickadees are loving the oleander in my yard. There had to be at least 20 in there chirping loudly, at least 4 different days this week. They go quiet as I come near, then start again with the ruckus as I walk away.

Post Reply