Author: clamorea

4/16/17

Easter break. Finally home. I thought I would take a picture of these violets, because I’ve never seen these in Texas. They grow all over my backyard, especially covering this hill. Up close they are really quite pretty, but I wanted to take this from this angle to show how common they are. They are fitting for the Easter season. I’m glad they came out because DC had a strange winter/spring transition this year. There was a warm front that caused all the cherry blossoms to bloom about a month and a half early, only to be frozen by freezing rain and snow a week or so later. However, that didn’t stop a lot of flowers from blooming at their regular times even though it did confuse many. I’ve also included a couple of pictures from my mom’s garden. Azalea bushes are quite common where I live, and they are just gorgeous. My mom also planted some Lilly of the Valley. Even though I know these plants were planted on purpose and wouldn’t occur naturally, I still wanted to include them because they aren’t something you see every day in Austin.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5756904

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5676337

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5676343

 

4/6/17

This is from another day studying at the table I like so much by the Wet Pond. This little orange guy is on my friend’s hand. I loved the way he walked. I wish I could post it as a video, but the way his legs moved was so interesting. This guy was identified as a juvenile assassin bug. For something so small, the name “assassin” is almost laughable. I also had no idea what an assassin bug was. I was surprised to learn they get the name “assassin” from being a part of the Reduviidae family. This family of bugs is almost exclusively predatory. They are blood-sucking ectoparasites, which means they live outside the skin. I soon realized these folks are not to be messed with. Adults can bite humans, usually near the lips, which is why they are also known as kissing bugs.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5593690

4/3/17

One of the reasons I love going to school in Austin is that I can study outside most days. There’s a table by the St. Edward’s Wet Pond under a large gnarled oak tree that is perhaps my favorite spot to do work. It’s quiet, and there’s a great view. I’d recommend studying there to anyone. One catch: there’s a lot of bugs. I really don’t mind when bugs crawl over my books or over me. There isn’t an overwhelming amount, and none of them are harmful (although I do try to stay as far away as I can from red ants). Anyways, on this day there were so many of these bugs. They were so cute, but I had no idea what they were! When this was identified as a ladybug, I thought, “No way!” That couldn’t be right. This led me to do some research. These little guys were ladybug larvae. I had no idea they looked so different from adult ladybugs. I was thrilled to learn about the ladybug life cycle. This made me appreciate this project. I wouldn’t have come across this information in any of my Econ classes. This is a really fun, interactive way to learn about the science I run into on a day-to-day basis.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5558817

3/27/17

I’ve never seen these birds up close before because they fly so quickly and take so many turns, it’s hard to catch them still. The only way I know they are swallows are because of their distinct wingspan. Their wings curve inward, like a U. However, I see these birds pretty frequently. They nest above the door of one of my best friend’s neighbors. I think they fit the definition of lovebirds perfectly. Lately, they have been nesting more and more. I hope to see some little swallows soon! This picture gathered the most attention out of all of my iNaturalist posts so far. I love the way they are facing each other. They look like they could be door decorations. Actually, that’s exactly what I thought they were at first. They are also hard to capture by camera. They fly away as soon as you get super close. I was lucky to get this picture.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5485312

3/23/17

“What’s the Story Morning Glory?” is one of my favorite albums by the British band Oasis. You probably have heard their song Wonderwall. Again, I did not know what morning glories actually looked like until someone else identified these flowers. I never noticed how many references to nature pop culture makes to nature that I have never bothered to look up. I really like how these flowers grow a bit like vines. Even though I know they are weeds, I like the way they border the bleachers.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5450602

Even though I read To Kill a Mockingbird in eighth grade and that story has stayed with me for the past eight years of my life, I never knew what a mockingbird looked like until this day. I am not sure why I never bothered to look this up. Perhaps because I was never forced to for any class or anything, I only familiarized myself with cardinals, grackles, gold finches, doves, and house wrens. I found this mockingbird walking towards the soccer field from the grotto. I had seen these birds around campus before, but I didn’t know they were mockingbirds. I tried to hear its call, but it wasn’t making any noise at the time. It was also difficult to capture this bird in a picture. It kept hopping from branch to branch. I quickly snapped this as it jumped to the ground before it flew away.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434171

3/23/17

I couldn’t determine the exact type of rose I found on this bush. I found this rose bush right beside the Lourdes grotto on campus. Roses are often associated with the Virgin Mary, an ode to her appearance to Juan Diego in Guadalupe, Mexico. I think documenting this picture is a casual way that science and religion interact with one another on a daily basis. I’m 99% sure the reason these roses were planted is due to the grotto. Roses are frequently used in religious imagery, especially in Catholic religious imagery. Any Catholic ceremony that specifically honors Mary almost always incorporates roses. I’m not sure I’m aware of other rose bushes on campus. The grotto is something that many people walk by, but never really stop and see what’s there. Many students are unaware that it exists in the first place. Even more are unaware that it mirrors the Lourdes grotto at the University of Norte Dame, our better-known Holy Cross counterpart. These roses are gorgeous, but because they are a bit hidden, they are also one of St. Ed’s best-kept secrets.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434170

 

I don’t consider myself an expert on trees, but I probably know more than most people considering my mother’s insistence that I know the names of her favorite trees and my trips to the National Arboretum growing up. One of the things we noticed (and my mother complained about) were what felt like a lack of trees in this state. The trees in Texas are different than the trees on the East Coast. For one thing, they are a lot smaller, so it feels like there are fewer of them. I grew up in an area called Rock Creek Forest (which is exactly what it sounds like), so I am used to being surrounded by tall trees that make me feel small. All of this said, I was very pleased to find this was a type of Oak tree. Something my mom complained about Texas was that there were “only those ugly gnarled oak trees.” Not true, Mom! I tried to look up the type of oak this was in one of the plant books that were provided to us, but this proved difficult as it looked like it could be multiple possibilities. I’m grateful someone on iNaturalist identified this tree.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434013

This isn’t the best picture, I’m aware. However, I never knew how difficult it was to capture a picture of a bird. I stalked this bird for at least a few minutes before I was able to get an angle where it was even in the frame. I followed its coos to the Bur Oak in the following post. When I was younger, I always thought the coos of morning doves came from owls. Morning doves are everywhere. There are many back where I live in Maryland outside Washington, D.C. as well. I liked these birds until I started driving, and they left their presence all over my car. However, despite the havoc they wreck, I think there is something elegant and beautiful about morning doves. I associate them with the smell of early morning, slight humidity, walking through morning dew, and the peace that comes in with the start of a new day that hasn’t really begun yet.

 

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434001

3/23/17

I found this plant outside the JBWS building, close to the side of the Carter auditorium. It was my first iNaturalist post, so it took me a few times to get it right. The shape of this plant reminds me of the clovers from Horton Hears a Who. I’ve studied by this spot many times before, but I had never noticed these plants before. When I saw it, I searched for one of those signs in the ground that would designate what type of plant this is. I then remembered that despite the fact these plants are located in an educational setting, our school gardens are not botanical gardens. However, I think signs below plants at school would be helpful in terms of informally educating students about botany. There aren’t many people who get to take a class to learn the difference between a maple and an oak tree. It’s something that would be nice for people to walk past and think about. I think there are a few of these already in the herb gardens by JBWS. It would be a neat project for a class to figure out all of the different plants on campus and label them for fellow students.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5433888