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Outdoor Quill

Valley Fog

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Monday September 18 2006

Though autumn has not officially arrived, signs of the season are appearing in many ways. Recent cool weather has produced morning fog in low areas, adding beauty to the late summer landscape. This photo, taken from the ridges of Konza Prairie near Manhattan, KS, is a fine example of valley fog, a type of radiation fog common when the cool earth loses heat to still, stable air above it. H... Read More

Hawk Migration

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Sunday September 17 2006

Swainson's are the most visible migrants of the hawk world. These large, open country raptors are familiar hunters over tractors working fields, and also in the smoky foreground of spring prairie burns. They prey on a variety of small animals, but unlike other large hawks, readily eat grasshoppers and large insects. Because of this, they are often seen on the ground in cut hay meadows or har... Read More

Porky Quills

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

I was driving down the road when a pack of friendly dogs suddenly blocked my way near the driveway of a backwoods house. It wasn't hard to figure out what they'd been up to – most of them had a face full of porcupine quills. Unknown to many, porcupines are fairly common in the Red Hills of southern Kansas where they feed on cottonwoods and elms among the area's numerous cedars. They don't s... Read More

Spiderlings

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

Spiderlings hatch from eggs protected by heavy silken egg sacs. Some species, such as the free-hunting wolf spiders, carry the egg sacs attached to their abdomens, further protecting their future young. But many species simply hang the sacs in an appropriate place and allow nature to take its course. This photo illustrates the latter. The egg sac was left in an overhang on the side of a house... Read More

Apple Feeder

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

The sun was setting as I wired my Cuddeback infrared scouting camera near an apple tree whose unripened fruit littered the ground. I'd seen raccoons munching the green apples, and deer tracks in soft dirt told the story of nighttime usage. The new camera, whose advanced technology made black-and-white pictures possible in darkness without a flash, was custom made for this kind of surveillance... Read More

Dodder

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

No, that's not spaghetti in the grass – it's dodder. This strange and unwelcome plant is a parasite on many kinds of native, broad-leaved vegetation, spreading its tentacles to more efficient greenery where it steals food. It is commonly seen in August fields and meadows. Dodder's yellow color is due to its lack of chlorophyll, an essential green pigment involved in plant photosynthesis.... Read More

Cicada Killer II

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

  Cicada killers are giant, colorful wasps that go largely unobserved, due to spending the majority of their time either in treetops or underground. Humans tend to be terrified of them, assuming by their large size that they're dangerous. But the danger is only to their prey – annual cicadas that injure trees and shrubs when they lay their eggs in twigs. The giant wasps are actu... Read More

Cicada Killer

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

Droning cicadas are a trademark of summer days. These thumb-sized insects fly among the treetops, singing lazy serenades that seem a perfect match for long, hot afternoons. Occasionally, the rhythm is marred by a drawn-out cicada screech. This means that giant wasps are on the hunt. Cicada killers are among the largest wasps, more than 1.5 inches long. Their size and bright coloration –... Read More

Shedding Velvet

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

Now is the time when male deer lose the soft velvet coverings that protect their antlers throughout the summer. "Stripping," as this is sometimes called, takes place when the soft-growing tissues of developing antlers harden into bone. The fuzzy outer covering that provides the blood system for this summer growth is no longer needed, and bucks rub the velvet off around the first of... Read More

Argiope

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

Now is the time when large and colorful garden spiders decorate the landscape with orb webs. These spiders, more correctly known as black and yellow argiopes, always hang head down in the center of their silken homes. Argiope webs have a signature band of heavy, zig-zagged silk. The webs are strong and the spiders powerful enough to catch large prey like butterflies, moths and dragonflies. W... Read More

Maypop

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

It's subtropical, so you've got to be south to see it. But purple passionflower, or maypop as it's sometimes called, is a beautiful and delicate flower that grows on vines in wild places. I've found these flowers in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma, but never farther north and west than this. It is common throughout the southern U.S. The maypop has large and intricate flowers... Read More

Injured Dog

Imported to:>Outdoor Quill , On: Saturday September 16 2006

I was sick when it happened. Last Thursday, Java, my chocolate Lab, was running to retrieve a dove when she suddenly yelped with pain. She swam across a pond channel and tried to climb the bank, but a hind leg gave way and she rolled down the incline. I was pretty sure she'd blown her knee, because I'd seen it before. Like humans, dogs have a relatively unstable ligament cushion between t... Read More