Sunday, September 12, 2010

"Mongoose poop"? International Rock Flipping Day, 2010

It's a rainy Sunday here, and I'm sitting at my desk watching the drizzle as reports come in from drier climes. It's Rock Flipping Day 2010. International Rock Flipping Day, that is; the very first post came in from South Africa, the next from Pennsylvania.


And here are the first of the intrepid* flippers! I'll add more as the posts come in.

*See Lynda, below; just stepping outside the door where she is defines "intrepid" for me!
  •  Lynda, at mainlymongoose, starts off the day appropriately with a rock monitor.
    "As I peered into this crevice, diligently hunting for mongoose poop, I was startled to see an eye."
    And claws, too.
  • Kordite uploaded his photos to the Flickr group; he found a startling polka-dot handful, and more. 
  • Bill Murphy at Fertanish Chatter, tells of the long-term results of last year's Rock Flip. What will he start collecting this year? I vote for the red-eyed boxelder bug.
  • Malia, in New York City, finds a green, secluded creek. And sleepy centipedes.
  • Rebecca lives on "an island made entirely of sand". But she found her rocks, anyway. She explains, "'Rip rap' is a technical term for 'chunks of rock.'"
  • Dave Bonta found a poem under his fifth rock.
  • Paul forgot. But it's never too late; he went out with flashlight and camera. Tomorrow he'll post what he found (maybe not under rocks, but in the dark, who's to know?)
  • I was cautious, and flipped early. And late. Riprap on Saturday.
  • Kate St. John in Pittsburgh on the relative merits of old vs. new birdbaths.
  • And Dave is back with a full report on those five rocks. And much more, including a veritable orange dragon.
  • Ontario Wanderer logs onto Flickr with a small slug, and a book: Robert Gannon's "What's Under a Rock?" He adds,
    "There is a lot more to see under rocks. Gannon spent 122 pages writing about life under rocks. I have more to learn."
    I've ordered the book; a nice theme book for IRFD, maybe.
  • JayLeigh and her four kids find a thriving community in their own yard in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Fred Schueler is on a fascinating journey*, and in the course of it turned over rocks** in Bev Wigney's new place in Nova Scotia. He sent me a Google document, here, with a detailed description.
    * Must-see blog: Thirty Years Later.
    Biologist/artist team Fred Schueler and Aleta Karstad revisit the landscapes they have traveled over the past 20 to 40 years, checking the condition of ecological communities and populations of plants and animals, some of them now Species At Risk.
    ** Well, bricks, stacked dinner plates, rotten lumber, etc. And some rocks.
  • Who's next? I'll add you as soon as your e-mail arrives.
I'm wondering; do we include Hugh, at Rock, Paper, Lizard? He at least posted a photo of a rock. Unflipped, though. No excuse given.

I'll keep on adding to the list as the stragglers come in. One of them will be me, with the rocks I flipped on Sunday. Feel free to copy the list to your own blogs.

I'll do a wrap-up tonight (Tuesday evening).



2 comments:

  1. Bill Parker10:37 am

    Perhaps you should change Rock Flipping Day to August. Read about how grizzilies in Yellowstone get 20,000 caleries per day by flipping rocks at http://www.suite101.com/content/a-bears-mountainside-treat-a30851

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a fascinating article! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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