The Daily R-r-r-ibbit

The Aeolus: wind in the holler never sounded like this!

Wow, I wonder what it would be like to have one of these in the holler? I have several wind chimes hanging on my porch. It's a treat just to sit there, feel the wind, and listen to how it interacts with each of the chimes -- sometimes one or two, sometimes all at once! I think it would be awesome to have some pipes out in the yard.

In 2007, artist Luke Jerram interviewed a Qanat desert well digger in Iran who told him about wells singing in the wind. This inspired Jerram to explore the acoustics of architecture further. The Aeolus is the result of his research.

Jerram's Aeolus website has a lot of info about the project, photos, an awesome recording of the Aeolus (without people voices) and other videos. The video below was interesting to me also because you can hear people talking about it as they experience the Aeolus.

Read the story at news.discovery.com

 

Canary Wharf is in London; the Aeolus will be there until May 10, 2012.

Big rain runoff rearranges a stream in the holler

Very exciting trip home from Oak Ridge yesterday. SOCM staffer Ann League was near my place in Campbell County and heading back to Knoxville a little bit before I left my meeting and started home. Here's a photo she took a little before 6pm:

TN 297, near the beginning of the narrow winding part [Photo credit: Ann League]

By the time I got to this spot around 7:30 pm, the flow had lessened quite a bit, but there were stretches with a lot of debris and significant streams of water still running across the road. A little further down I had to stop for about ten minutes while TDOT finished clearing a small landslide.

As I turned up Terry Creek I noted that it was out of its banks in places. There was a lot of standing water in the usual soggy places at the lower end of the lane. As I drove further the debris was mostly leaves, twigs and small branches that had been pushed onto the road from the ditches. The lane to my house had fresh deep ruts but I encountered no problem getting up the last hill on the driveway.

This morning I discovered more evidence that this had been a very significant storm event, and got some photos.

For comparison, this is a photo I took a few days ago (March 27th) of a short extension of the lane toward a crossing on Hudson branch:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

And this is how it looked this morning:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Now for two of the most amazing changes at this end of the holler: The first photo is from May 2010 after another significant rain. The second is a view in November of 2011 -- note the presence of another tree across the creek bed, just above the moss covered one. This one came down the creek after a beaver dam breach a couple of years ago, and had shifted a little bit further across the channel in subsequent high flows. The third photo is one I took today:

Hudson Branch, May 3, 2010 [Photo credit:Cathie Bird]

Hudson Branch, November 5, 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The creek flipped the upper log, exposing its double trunk, and moved it completely across the channel. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

The storm flow also scoured the dirt from roots of a standing tree. If you look closely you can see water flowing on the other side of the roots:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Here's the one that really blew me away. The first photo taken October 18, 2009,  shows two huge tree trunks that fell across the creek and have been there at least eight years, one of them longer than that. The second photo is what this intersection of Hudson Branch and its side channel looked like this morning:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Just a little bit of bark left on the near bank. Both tree trunks stretched down the side channel to the far bank of Hudson Branch [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I found most of this (former) large woody dam 50 to 70 yards downstream:

Difficult lighting, so I added an arrow. [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Here's at least part of the other log...used my telephoto so it's a little grainy:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

These little headwater streams are very dynamic! It will be interesting to watch what happens now. One of the things I'll be watching is how pools got shifted. The section of Hudson Branch where the logs used to be often dries up over the late summer and fall except for pools here and there. TWRA has found blackside dace (listed as "threatened" on the federal Endangered Species list) in this stretch. Such pools are important habitat for many aquatic species. I made a predictions this morning about where pools might be after this streambed reshuffling...I'll keep an eye out to see what actually happens.

I didn't get around to peek up the Frog Pond Hollow drainage -- will try to do that tomorrow.

 

Windows open in the holler today...

Buddy, Shadow and Celie hang out on a warm February afternoon in the holler. [Photo Credit: Cathie Bird]

Saw my first butterfly of 2012 today, and it looks like lady bugs are exiting the premisis! My cats and I are really enjoying having the window open for the first time this year as well.

Desk Experiment 3: Someone to watch over me...

 

My computer desk and one of the harvestmen spiders in my screenssaver file. [Photo by Cathie Bird]

See Desk Experiment 1: No, we're not in Kansas anymore, and Desk experiment 2: Caught in the fade at my photo blog.

Buddy and George

All of my animals seemed especially frisky on our holler walk Saturday...I think we were all enjoying the cooler weather...first time I've worn a jacket since spring. I thought my cats looked especially wild and handsome as they took a break out of Shadow's reach at our neighbors' barn:

Buddy, the lynx-point Siamese, 1 October 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

George, 1 October 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

 

The wild and amazing chicory

I hadn't seen chicory growing at this end of the holler until this year. Though the State of Tennessee lists it as an "invasive exotic pest plant" of "lesser threat" I think it's kind of cool. Chicory (Cichorium intybus) tends to grow in disturbed areas, so I'm not surprised I found plants close to the lane. In previous years I got all my pictures of chicory near the Pioneer spring or along Highway 63, but my 2011 photos of it will be from here in the holler.

Chicory, 17 September 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

If you are a coffee or herbal tea drinker you have probably heard of chicory and even had some. I was living near Boulder, Colorado about the time Celestial Seasonings got its start. Always curious about what's in stuff I'm eating, I read the labels of their teas and noted that many of the blends used roasted chicory (likely another variety, Cichorium intybus var. sativum).

Chicory has also been used widely by various cultures as an herbal medicine. People of the Cherokee Nation used an infusion of chicory root as a tonic for nerves. The Iroquois used a root decoction in a wash or poultice for chancres and fever blisters. Chicory is known to be toxic to intestinal parasites, and there is evidence that livestock eating chicory or chicory supplements may have fewer intestinal worms. In Europe it's been used as a tonic, and for treatment of such conditions as gallstones, gastroenteritis, and bruises.

A chicory plant amidst blooming goldenrod in a wild, living bouquet in the holler. 17 September 2011 [Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

Like other members of the Aster Family, chicory is a rich source of inulin, a polysaccharide with a variety of modern uses. It is used as a sweetener in many processed foods, and as an ingredient in yogurt because it stimulates growth and activity of friendly digestive system bacteria.

Wild chicory is a close relative of Cichorium endivia, or endive, a common salad green. Wild chicory leaves can be eaten, too, but because they are bitter compared to cultivated endive (also called chicory), most cooks recommend draining the water off before eating or mixing with other ingredients. Several traditional dishes from Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey make use of wild chicory leaves.

Awesome Arrowshaped Micrathena

I found a very awesome spider down in the holler a couple of days ago. The first pictures I got were not that great because it was early in the morning and breezy. Yesterday I did the holler walk a little later in the day, and found her in the same place. The photos came out a little better.

After a long search, I located this species on BugGuide -- my go-to identification resource for insects -- and determined that it was one of the Orb Weavers, the Arrowshaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata).

This species builds its webs in open woods of the eastern United States and west to Texas and Nebraska. The females are about twice the size of males (Female 8-9mm, Male 4-5mm) and do not have spines on the abdomen. I believe this one is a female (compare to an identified female at BugGuide). I saw a couple of images that appeared to have spines in the center of the abdomen, but they were not identified by gender.

Here are some views from different angles:

 

 

 

This species is one of my new finds for 2011. Hurray for biodiversity!

 

Buddy and the Red-spotted Purple

While I was hanging halfway out my office window to photograph a large sulfer butterfly on Saturday, a wonderful red-spotted purple butterfly landed on my arm. It came back several times during the morning.

I took this photo quickly just to see if I could capture the butterfly buzzing Buddy's head:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

I got a couple of shots in after the butterfly landed next to Buddy:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

After Buddy jumped down from the windowsill, I got these of the butterfly by himself:

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]

[Photo credit: Cathie Bird]