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Yesterday we spent low tide on Cobble Beach at Yaquina Park, in Newport. You never know what you will find. This post will be mostly about some of the various kelp and other algae that we found. It was a “high” low tide, so none of the tidal pools were accessible. We are working atContinue reading “Oregon – low tide discoveries”

Yesterday there were several news reports on a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 discovered in South Africa. The new strain is B.1.1.529. Last week in South Africa numbers rose from 200 cases a day to almost 2500 yesterday. Travelers have already spread it to Botswana and Hong Kong. I am sure that the WHO (which alreadyContinue reading “Oregon birds (part-1) and the latest on Covid”

I am sitting on Thanksgiving morning writing about our adventures yesterday. I hope that everybody is having a great start to the day. Now, on to ferns and lichens. Licorice fern on a moss-covered tree limb. Western sword fern, a common understory plant. Now, some lichens. Without any references (we packed light for the plane),Continue reading “Oregon – lichens and more”

Despite having some 30+ years experience with dragonflies, most of the photos of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) that I took in Panama are still unidentified. I still enjoyed them, even not knowing what they were. This damselfly looked quite similar to the American rubyspot. An interesting Hemiptera species. These are Urania moths. An interesting, andContinue reading “Panama – some insects”

Toucans in a distant tree. Just above the right-most bird is a mealy parrot. Groove-billed Ani on the left. Greater Ani on the right. Yellow-hooded Blackbird Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. Green Ibis photographed from a motorized canoe. Rufous-tailed Jacamars. Greater Potoo. Gray-headed Tanager eating an emerald cicada. Royal Flycatcher More tomorrow…

This morning we had breakfast with Mike and Linda. Mike with with me in Panama. Now on to some animals. I love sloths. On this trip we saw two species – 2-toed and 3-toed. I’ll admit I never tired of photographing them. We also saw a nice variety of frogs. Like poison dart frogs, treeContinue reading “Panama – animals and more”

There is currently a surge in both infections and deaths in the United States. This is especially true for the state of Michigan. The virus is heavily impacting unvaccinated people, especially along the western half of the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. If the above graphic doesn’t scare you, it should, unless of courseContinue reading “The pandemic and some bones”

I have several references for North American spiders, but nothing to help with spiders south of the US. Therefore, I have relied on information on the Internet and iNaturalist, which is an excellent reference for all plants and animals. This green spider took advantage of a hole in the leaf, almost like a trap-door. ThisContinue reading “Panama – spiders”

When I was in Panama in 2019 I saw a great number of insects, some of which I could identify. Others, like the above beetle is still waiting for identification. The above weevil was not only attractive, but also fairly large for a weevil. The above hieroglyphic moth was a species that I have lookedContinue reading “Panama – insects”

When I was in Panama in 2019 I saw quite a diverse group of plants, such as the fern pictured above. It was, quite frankly overwhelming, especially since I did not have any good references for them. Ferns, whether terrestrial or arboreal were especially interesting. But with over 900 ferns and relatives it is quiteContinue reading “Panama – a few plants”