do they feel?

•

I love this little vignette. Are they communicating? Yes. Are they aware of one another? Yes. Is each bird aware of itself? Yes. Do they care for each other? Yes. There’s a good chance they are siblings still hanging out together. 

Why do I even ask these silly questions? 

The French philosopher René Descartes believed that animals operated purely by instinct, like machines or mechanisms. They did not communicate, care or even think about the other animals around them. They didn’t use words, they didn’t feel but were mere automata. His views justified the notion that somehow we were separate from the rest of nature. Human beings were above it all and it was acceptable to be cruel to animals, to beat them, behead them or drop them into boiling water, because they simply do not feel.

As anyone who has taken care of wild animals or even had a dog knows Descartes was insensitive and WRONG.

You can tell that it is the 132nd day of my quarantine if I am starting to pick on long dead French philosophers. 

I love the above photograph sent to me by my friend Betty Thompson in Kansas. It’s three western kingbirds, a species I have never seen. Thank you Betty!

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click:  Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

• 

we need a dose of cute

•

So cute! Yes. Yesterday’s Instagram post possum babies were so cute. And according to an article appearing in last December’s Discover magazine that euphoric feeling that engulfs you when you see a baby of any sort including opossums brings out more than your care-giving nature. It also triggers a portion of your brain that fills you with a sense of well-being, empathy, sharing and community.

The article written by Gemma Tarlach goes on to cite several authorities studying cuteness and why it makes us feel intense empathy. Social psychologist Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes and her peers call it kama muta, a Sanskrit term because there is no words in Western language that describes the sudden intensification of communal sharing.  

Kumbaya!! If you are feeling blue, go find something cute to look at. 

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

• 

pappus for nesting

•

One of the great wonders of photography is that it captures a split second of time and freezes it forever. That split-second will never be seen again. Photography also stops motion. In front of me was a thistle seed head with a gentle breeze dispersing the tufts of plant down called pappus with the thistle seeds to float on the wind and land far away. And there’s one species of bird that depends on this plant down. 

The American goldfinch is the last species of bird in our area to start nesting in the calendar year, usually mid-May. They wait until the thistle seed heads start to open to disperse and display their fluffy pappus to the wind. This is what the female goldfinches line their nests with perhaps for extra softness. And goldfinches can have two broods a summer.

Goldfinch photo from Betty Thompson. Thank you!

Male goldfinch on chicory

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

why upright?

•

There are all kinds of flowers in bloom now, many shapes and sizes and colors all designed to be alluring to attract pollinators. But this one caught my eye. I had never seen it before. It didn’t look like the traditional composite meadow flower but more like a ballerina in a tutu. So, I paused to take a photo and asked, “why?” Nature is not only beautiful but logic. 

A traditional composite flower like a sunflower or daisy is made up of two parts: the outer ring of petals, also called ray florets and the center with the female and male parts called disc florets.

The above flower is an upright prairie coneflower. But the petals are smallish and dangle to the side while the disc is upright and hard to miss. 

Why?

This little nature mystery was perhaps solved by Nebraska naturalist Chris Helzer. He did an impromptu study and watched an upright taking photos of the various insects that happened to land on the disc. And as it turned out, probably because of its size and ease of landing, this species of coneflower is visited by a wide array of insects both big-bodied and small: beetles, bees, flies, katydids, crickets as well as butterflies. It has a very complex ecology surrounding it and that leads to its success of producing seeds. The ultimate goal of any flower. 

“Complexity leads to resilience because there are multiple species that can fill similar roles, “ writes Helzer.

And that is the “why” of this story especially important since National Geographic recently reported that in some places, up to 70% of the insects are now gone. 

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

• 

Great Smokies podcast

•

For the rest of the article and the podcast, click: 
Great Smokies podcast

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant, 

click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

Queen in her courtyard

•

Day 97: Still at home. Still safe but last night the royal subjects had a treat, proving that you do not have to travel far to find wonder.

Grandma Pearl Bales' Queen bloomed. That's her photo at the top with her Queen, circa 1960s.

The Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is a species of epiphyte and one of the most cultivated species in the genus. The Queen can be kept as a large house plant, inside in winter and out-of-doors in summer. She generally blooms yearly but only at night, and her flowers wilt before dawn. Sometimes referred to as a night-blooming cereus, this one is a direct descendent of my Grandma Pearl Bales’ plant.

The two blooms were completely open by 10 p.m. but by 4 a.m. the Queen's time in her courtyard in full bloom royal regalia was beginning to end. And her admirer went to bed. 

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

a new visit with Buzzy

•

Who, me?

Day 96: Still safe. Still at home unless I am in the woods or a masked man in a grocery store.

Goodness. It has been almost two weeks since we checked in on Buzzy, the orphaned black vulture that fell out of its cliff nest in Newport in late April. She is now being raised by wildlife rehabilitator Lynne McCoy. Buzzy was again proud to show off her maturing wing feathers. And wouldn't you?

To compare her to last time, click: Last Visit.

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

good samaritans

•

Albert Einstein said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

That brings us to hummingbirds. Almost everything about their lives is a miracle. 

Janet and Steve were on a walk through their neighborhood yesterday morning when Janet spotted something "fuzzy" on the street in the middle of the white line. It was the white line that made the fuzz noticeable. She could have accidentally stepped on it but instead she leaned over to look at the puff ball and realized it was a baby hummingbird.

Being Good Samaritans, they picked it up and took it home to give it aid and comfort. The foundling seemed healthy, even perky. It would flap its wings but it just wasn't old enough to fly. Using a cotton swab, they fed it sugar-water and it ate. 

After a few hours, they called Sharon at Ijams and Sharon called me and I called them. Should I rescue it and take it to a wildlife rehabilitator? I called Lynne McCoy and we chatted. Because the young one seemed so perky and healthy, we decided the best course of action was let Mama be Mama, if at all possible. 

I called Janet and Steve back advising them to place the young one in a small box and return it as close as possible to where they had rescued it from the street and place the box as high as they could above the ground and pray that Mama would find it. They were even able to place a feeder nearby. 

This morning when they checked on the box, Mama buzzed them as if to say, "Thank you. But it is my job from here on!"

It is hard to explain little miracles like this other than simply say, "Hand of God."

Being fed sugar water 

Nestling in box waiting for Mom

Box on tree to left

UPDATE: Monday, June 15, 11 A.M.

And 48 hours after it was found on the street, the mother of the baby hummingbird is still feeding it!


UPDATE: Tuesday, June 16, 10:00 A.M.

And today, our story ends with a last text from Janet, "Yesterday, our baby hummingbird was found on the ground and we put him back in the box and today he's flying around with mama. But both are camera shy."

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

oh my gosh, cohosh

•

Still at home. Still playing it safe.

But, if you walk slowly through the woods behind my house, over the sandstone ridge and down into the hollow to the wetland where it is cool and shady and the soil is heavy and damp you'll discover that black cohosh is beginning to bloom. That means it is June.

The roots and rhizomes of black cohosh was part of the Native American medicinal herb kits. That practice was carried on by the Europeans that came along later. It is still available in health-food stores. 

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

the flamboyant Luna

•

Still at home. Still playing it safe, but look what came to visit a couple of nights ago. I was on the front porch and he dropped in for a visit. Can there be anything more beautiful patrolling my house at night? I live in the woods but rarely get more than one or two visits like this per year.  

Moths are nocturnal. Many are small, clothed in drab browns and grays because they do not rely on bright colors to find a mate but rather scent. Males are attracted to the females in the dark by their pheromones. So how do you explain the ostentatiousness, the flamboyance of the chartreuse and purple, as big as your hand Luna Moth? 

According to the fossil record, moths were on earth long before the active in the daylight butterflies. Are lunas and the other large brightly colored giant silk moths the link between the two groups of Lepidopterans?

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•

a community of pink millipedes

•

Keeping it safe. Staying at home. But look at what I found in my woodpile. 

It has probably been a while since you thought about millipedes, so let me do it for you. 

And no fear, millipedes are vegetarians, more specific, as a rule they are detritivores that eat the detritus or all the organic material that falls to the ground such as leaves. 

I found this interesting colony feeding with their young in a pile of rotting wood near my driveway. It is a social millipede, probably Brachycybe lecontii or at least that's the best educated guess of my favorite local naturalist Nick Stahlman. They are also known as feather millipedes and it has been documented that the males "man-up" to protect the eggs, we assume while the females trundle about to lay additional clutches.

You do not think of an invertebrate as being caring and protective, but here you are. Ta-da!  

This millipede species also feeds on fungi growing on rotting wood making them fungivores, a comfortable niche since most things wouldn't bother.

Millipedes are one of the oldest groups of land living animals on Earth with a lineage that goes back over 350 million years and it is somewhat reassuring to know that good parenting skills have been around for some time.

Thank you, Nick!

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

•