This Rutishauser and colleagues have been tracking the blooming of flowers in Switzerland (can you think of a more delightful job as a scientist?). In a paper just published in GRL, they concluded that 2007 was a remarkable spring: Anomalously high temperatures led to a very early onset of plant phenological spring phases, including 98 …
Mom and Dad in the Bosque Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Went out to the woods by the river Sunday afternoon with Mom and Dad. The leaves are pretty much at their peak. It was lovely. And I see I wasn’t alone in my blog-flickr-journeying.
“I think it must be fall. The hummingbirds are tapering off. I haven’t seen one in a while.” – Lissa
bosque-pond Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. The picture’s a tease. It was taken last October, so think of it as a hint of things to come. But the hints were there aplenty this morning on my bike ride along the riverside trail – little sprinklings of single yellow leaves on the cottonwoods. We’re still in summer, …
2007 Iris Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Lissa’s front yard iris are in full flower.
Big Toe Monitoring Birds Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Inkstain Staff Ornithologist Big Toe spotted the first hummingbird of spring yesterday (May 1), so I had him go back through the records of first hummingbird sightings at Inkstain World Headquarters. This sighting appears to be substantially later than in 2004 (April 20) and 2005 (April 16). …
Blue iris 4-20 Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Our big iris bloom is getting underway – my favorite garden time of the year. And, based on previous phenology, right on schedule.
Harrison’s Rose Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Lissa’s Harrison’s rose is the product of some adventure. Our first try involved stealing a clipping from a certain prominent government building, all Tom Cruise Mission Impossible-like, swooping in like secret agents. But it never took root. Then Tim Berners-Lee invented the Internet, and she bought one on line. …
wisteria Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Nora pointed out the other day how nice it is riding her scooter and smelling the wisteria right now. It’s popping all over the neighborhood. This is from my bike ride this morning, one of the best specimens a block up the street from our house.
Cattails Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. By request, a picture of the cattails coming up in the backyard “pond”. If you look close, you can orange fish. And apparently cattails – Typha – are edible. Who knew?