100 Species Challenge #78

Dead man's fingers

Specimen #78

Deadman's fingers (or dead man's fingers)
Xylaria polymorpha

Xylaria = wood

Poly = many

Morpha = form

Deadman's fingers are black, knobby fingers that grow out of dead wood. They can be up to 4" tall and are white inside. See here for a look inside. This is a fairly common fungus that the kids and I have seen almost every time we go out in the woods.

The Queen's Elephant

Great view of the Des Moines River on the way to/from GC1YA0Y

The family and I have wanted to see a trail marker tree for a couple years now. Enter GC1YA0Y The Queen's Elephant. We combined a field trip to the Iowa Hindu Temple and Cultural Center with a hunt for this cache. (Look for a waymark soon!)

The location is interesting. We know that the tree is on Jester Park (county land) because of a comment left on the geocache page, yet on the way to the cache, we saw trees marked with USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) washers. Also, we saw this property marker. 

It says "Army Corps of Engineers." This is an example of resource sharing. We're guessing that 28E agreements are in place after reading the Jester Park Master Plan. Back to the subject of trail marker trees....

The main difference I can see between this tree and other trail marker tree photos is the location of the bend in our find. It bends higher than an adult. The gallery we've perused has many photos; only one bends at such a height. All other traits are there -- knob from a second tree and it's an oak.

Birding

Late winter and early spring are great times for birding. No scrubby underbrush, no leafy tree cover, no mosquitos.....

Ways for families to add birding to their nature study

• Supply food and water for birds outside your home
• Spend time watching birds (at home or maybe behind a bird blind like the one at Jester Park), potentially with the following options:
• sketching birds
• photographing birds
• observing with binoculars
• using a field guide or recordings

• Talk with an experienced birder (search for educational programs such as the one next week in Des Moines)
• Start a life list
• Read picture books about birds. Park packs are free and have great choices for titles.

The Iowa Ornithologists Union has a website where people give reviews of Iowa birding sites. I found a review for Raccoon River Park. The park was divided into habitats and the reviewer listed birds seen, and the potential for ones he did not see. You can double-check with the geocaching.com search box to find birding areas that are also geocaching sites -- it could be a two-for-one outing!

Naturally great

Our county is naturally great in outdoor resources.

I didn't get a photo of the event this evening -- the lighting was very dim. Here was the take-home, an autographed copy of _Capturing Iowa's Seasons_.

I've loved Ty Smedes' nature photos (and the Scarths' photos) for years. As a guest of the Polk County Conservation Board (PCCB) volunteer banquet (representing Troop 888), I got to meet him as a guest speaker. His last name is two syllables -- I've always said it with one! He gave backstories that showed discipline in seeking great nature photo-making.

Smedes also gave a preview of his next book (due on May), which tells the story of the bald eagle in Iowa. Did you know that it first nested here (after a 72 year absence) in 1977 in Allamakee County?

My husband and I sat with PCCB's Pat Spain, Carrie Spain (JPEC), and Dennis Parker, as well as two volunteers. As the Planning and Outreach Coordinator, Pat gave a lot of information during the award portion of the evening's program. I'll share some here with you for consideration.

• Over 600 volunteers gave over 9600 hours to PCCB in 2010. This is without three large events that were cancelled due to weather.
• The annual River Run Garbage Grab always collects over 20 TONS OF RIVER TRASH. Mr. Spain stated that you'd think the amount of trash would decrease over the years as awareness for the event grows, but it doesn't. This event covered the Des Moines River from Saylorville down to Yellow Banks Park in the past. This year, the Raccoon River will be included.
• About half of all volunteers and one third to one half of all volunteer-hours go to the Jester Park Equestrian Center.
• Between 15 - 20 Eagle Scout projects were completed at county parks in 2010.

Social Media and Nature POSTPONED

Yeah, it's postponed, but that's OK. March is just a difficult month.