Naturally
Acorns fell. Several missed me.
Sweet corn continues to make my taste buds dance the Argentine Tango.
It’s the time of the asters, goldenrods and sunflowers. Fall’s tip of the spear.
Wild cucumber is a native, aggressive annual vine characterized by star-shaped leaves, fragrant greenish-white star-shaped flowers, and spiny, bladder-like seed pods. Its branching stems grow to 25 feet long using tendrils to climb shrubs and trees in an attempt to cover the world.
White snakeroot blooms in shady areas throughout much of Minnesota. The plants are up to 4 feet tall with clusters of small white flowers and serrated leaves tapering to a point. This native perennial is toxic to cattle, horses, goats, sheep and pigs if they eat the plants. It’s believed that Abraham Lincoln's mother died of milk sickness or “the slows” from drinking milk from a cow that had fed on white snakeroot. Commercial milk is diluted with the milk from countless cows before going on sale to consumers, making milk sickness uncommon today.
Curly dock is a common perennial, also known as curled, yellow or sour dock, with tall flower stalks that turn a rusty-brown color as they mature and are noticeable in road ditches. They resemble well-used pipe cleaners.
I’d been cracking nuts on the deck. They were tasty. A chipmunk watched me from what he thought was a secret location. I tossed my least favorite of the mix, a Brazil nut, its way. It scared the chipmunk. It squeaked and made a getaway, but soon returned, picked up the big nut, sniffed it, nibbled on the shell, and tossed it aside.
An osprey's slitted nostril is unusual as most birds of prey have round nostrils. Osprey nostrils close during underwater dives so water doesn't enter the nasal cavities—acting like nose plugs. Ospreys have white feet with black talons.
Higgly, piggly, poo. No bird is more beautiful than you. Two eastern screech owls took baths in our birdbath during the night. They hunted from a perch on a shepherd’s hook, snapping flying moths from the air, and diving into foliage to pluck insects.
Q&A
“You pointed out some hover flies at Hofmann Apiaries. How can I tell them from wasps or bees?” Syrphid flies (aka hover flies, flower flies, corn flies, helicopter flies, and incorrectly called sweat bees) resemble bees and wasps with yellow, orange and black markings. They are often seen around flowers. Syrphid flies can hover; bees and wasps cannot. Flies have one pair of wings, while bees and wasps have two pairs. As a boy, I heard “two wings fun, four wings run.” Syrphid flies have short antennae, while bees and wasps have longer, elbowed antennae. Hover flies have enormous eyes that take up much of their heads. Wasps and bees have much smaller eyes. Hover flies are attracted to us because of the water from sweat, and the salt on our skin. Hover flies are underrated pollinators. Bees and wasps can sting, flies cannot, but that’s not the best way to decide an identity.
“Are sycamore trees native to Minnesota?” American sycamores aren’t native to Minnesota but can be planted and found growing here. It’s native to the southeastern two-thirds of Iowa.
“How can I tell Canada thistle from bull thistle?” Neither thistle is native. Canada thistle is a rhizomatous perennial that reproduces at the rhizome nodes and via seed dispersal in the wind. Bull thistle is a biennial that spends its first year as a basal rosette, followed by a second-year reproductive phase. It reproduces via windblown seed dispersal. Canada thistle has smooth, spineless and grooved stems, whereas the meaner-looking bull thistle features heavy, hairy stems with prominent, spiny green "wings" on them.
“What are sea mice?” A sea mouse is any of a genus of marine worms of the class Polychaeta, named for their mouselike appearance. The harlequin duck is a brilliantly marked sea duck, nicknamed "sea mouse" because of its mouselike squeaks.
“When are raccoons born and how long do the kits stay with their mothers? If I live-trap them once they become independent, what could I use for bait?” They (2 to 6 of them) are born in April-June. President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge kept a pet raccoon named Rebecca that had been sent to the White House in 1926 from Mississippi, intended to be slaughtered and served for the presidential Thanksgiving dinner. The raccoon received a presidential pardon and lived as a pampered pet. The trash-talking trash pandas are suckers for sardines and marshmallows.
Thanks for stopping by
“Experiencing the present purely is being emptied and hollow; you catch grace as a man fills his cup under a waterfall.”—Annie Dillard.
“Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.”—Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2026
It has been suggested that dreaming of bluebirds represents happiness, joy, fulfillment, hope, prosperity, good luck and a life free of foot cramps. I suggested the cramps part. The eastern bluebird is the state bird in Missouri and New York. Their feathers aren’t blue. Structures in the feathers scatter light, making them look blue. Its population dropped by nearly 90% during the mid-20th century due to invasive species, habitat changes and pesticide use. Photo by Al Batt.