Beetles, please!

Call for submissions: I will be hosting the next "An Inordinate Fondness" carnival here in a few days. Please send me your best beetle posts from the last month before the morning of the 16th.

(I do hope someone out there has seen beetles; it seems that they aren't quite ready to wake up this spring yet. Even Ted, at Beetles in the Bush has gone over a week without one. Here, the only one to turn up so far this year is a singularly uncooperative carpet beetle. He refuses to sit still, has no interest in anything I try to distract him with, and if I cool him down ever so slightly, goes into a sulk.)

Sulking carpet beetle. Slightly more interesting upside-down.

Warming carpet beetle. Running already.

Send your posts to me, at wanderinweeta AT gmail, and that's DOT com.

Rainy day carnivals

The wind is howling in the back yard, tossing branches and stripping the petals off my London Pride. It's been raining off and on, and will probably keep it up for a couple of days; they're promising us thundershowers. It's a good time to stay inside and read some good blogging. Good thing my favourite carnivals are up:

I and the Bird #125 is on Twin Cities Naturalist. Kirk reads the latitude numbers and leads us from 37° South, in Australia, to 50° North, in Germany. (I'm there, at 49° North.)

The Moth and Me #11.  Ted, of Beetles in the Bush, brings us fifteen beautiful moths. Well, thirteen, and two bag moths. None of mine, unfortunately; the moths just aren't showing up around here yet. Except for the tiny Indian Meal moths that I'm feeding to a spider.

House of Herps #6, appropriately on Philly Herping. Snakes, turtles, lizards, mudpuppies, and did I mention snakes? Rattlers!

And the newest of the carnivals; An Inordinate Fondness #4. A road trip, searching for beetles, Jason driving.

Thousands of miles and ...

"Did everyone go to the bathroom? I don’t want to have to stop in fifteen minutes."

... only three bathroom breaks. And no time for lunch. The beetles were fun, though.

Let it rain!

Better than Rio; three carnivals!

I and the Bird # 119 is up, Somewhere in NJ.  Read it twice; once for the essay, the second time round checking the (almost hidden) links.

And the first edition of the beetle carnival, An Inordinate Fondness, has been posted. Yay! A great start, crawling with beetles. I never imagined that a carrion beetle could be so beautiful.

And House of Herps #3 takes us on a ride in a time machine. If you don't mind a bit of an overshoot at first, before Jason figures out the controls. (I didn't have anything for this one; it'll be months before I get to see a snake around here. Does the time machine run forward, too, Jason?)

The Moth and Me; Call for submissions

Yikes! I just noticed the date. It's almost the middle of the month!

I am scheduled to host The Moth and Me around the 15th. I only have one submission so far. Please send me your "mothy" posts by this Sunday, the 15th.

My email address is wanderinweeta A T gmail DOT com.

Thanks!

Rock Flipping Day, 2009: Mark your calendars

We're in September already, and it's time for the Annual Rock Flipping Day. This year, I will be trying my hand at co-ordinating it.

Rock Flipping Day was started by Dave Bonta and Bev Wigney in 2007. The idea is simple; in Dave's words,

we pick a day for everybody to go outside — go as far as you have to — and flip over a rock (or two, or three). We could bring our cameras and take photos, film, sketch, paint, or write descriptions of whatever we find. It could be fun for the whole family!

37 bloggers joined in that first September.

On 9/2/2007, people flipped rocks on four continents on sites ranging from mountaintops to urban centers to the floors of shallow seas. Rock-flippers found frogs, snakes, and invertebrates of every description, as well as fossils and other cool stuff.

And someone, I remember, too busy to get away, flipped over a rock on her desk, and showed us the bottom. (Or was that in 2008?)

Possible rock-flipping subjects. Cougar Creek.

So here we are in September, 2009. Dave isn't able to co-ordinate this year, and I came to the table too late, so we won't be going with the first Sunday in September this time. Let's make it the third, September 20th. Mark that day on your calendar!

If you're joining in for the first time, here's a quick rundown of the procedure:

• On or about September 20th, find your rock and flip it over.
• Record what you find. "Any and all forms of documentation are welcome: still photos, video, sketches, prose, or poetry."
• Replace the rock as you found it; it's someone's home.*
• Post on your blog, or load your photos to the Flickr group.
• Send me a link. My e-mail address is in my profile, or you can add a comment to any IRFD post.
• I will collect the links, e-mail participants the list, and post it for any and all to copy to your own blogs. (Maybe we can Tweet it, too, this year. Use the hashtag #rockflip.)

There is a handy badge available for your blog, here.

Prizes? Dave handed out purely imaginary prizes in previous years. I'll have to think about that.

And a caution from Dave:

One thing I forgot to do in the initial post is to caution people about flipping rocks in poisonous snake or scorpion habitat. In that case, I’d suggest wearing gloves and/or using a pry bar — or simply finding somewhere else to do your flipping. Please do not disturb any known rattlesnake shelters if you don’t plan on replacing the rocks exactly as you found them. Timber rattlesnakes, like many other adult herps, are very site-loyal, and can die if their homes are destroyed. Also, don’t play with spiders. If you disturb an adjacent hornet nest (hey, it’s possible), run like hell. But be sure to have someone standing by to get it all on film!

I'll post updates as we go. Keep checking back.

And most of all, have fun!

*Update: from David Steen, in a comment on The Obligate Scientist,

A reminder to all rock flippers that they should be flipped back into place. If there are critters underneath, don't place the rock back on top of them, move the animals to the side, replace the rock and let them scurry back.

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Weekend sampler

Every day, no matter how hectic, has its little moment of delight. These are some from this week, in no particular order.

He was inside, and I carried him out. He clutched his dinner tightly all the way.

The legs are bristly, but the abdomen is soft and furry, almost pettable.

Checkered periwinkle on rockweed.

Wasp nest, with young. At Alaksen National Wildlife Research Centre.

Digger wasp. The roadside at Alasken was riddled with little holes, the nests of these green-eyed wasps.

They dig down and are lost to sight in a few seconds.

Yes, it was an Orange-striped green anemone. It's grown up a bit, in just a few days.

I see a pug-nosed dog on this stone. What do you see?

And this one's for Hugh's collection. The family pet, abandoned in the park. Strathcona.

Painted ship upon a painted ocean. Semiahmoo Bay, from White Rock beach.

A Skywatch post. Since I'm naming memes, it's also a Friday Ark post.

And, don't forget; the next Circus of the Spineless is coming up this weekend, here. Send your submissions to me by Sunday, please. (wanderinweeta AT gmail DOT com)

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A little bit of link love

April showers; it's raining cats and dogs. And a world of other beasties, too:

GrrrlScientist has posted the latest Circus of the Spineless. I submitted one of my posts, and other people submitted three more. Grrl included them all in this Circus! Thanks, all!

The next issue of CotS will be up on May 4th. Send submissions before then to Amber Coakley at The Birder's Lounge.

Kevin posted the latest Carnival of the Blue at Deep Sea News in an abbreviated poetry format. Every line is a link, all of them interesting. The next host will be Ken, at Sea Notes. I think the appropriate address is kpeterson AT mbayaq DOT org.

Adrian, at Evolving Complexity posts a weekly list: My Sunday Best. He has included my posts three times; what a boost to my spirits that is!

I and the Bird #97 is up at Great Auk - or Greatest Auk. Or not. Pinguinus apologizes for the lack, since her co-editors (Charles Darwin and Edgar Allan Poe) faded out on her. All that's left is the (pretty substantial) ghost of a post.

The next edition of IatB will be at Biological Ramblings. Send your submissions to pagophila at gmail dot com by April 14th.

Friday Ark #237. That's 237 weekly issues! The cats and dogs are here.

Happy Face. Crescent Beach.

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A tasty stew

I promised you stone soup. Blog-style stone soup.

Years back, my parents travelled the US and Canada in an UltraVan. Periodically, they met with other UltraVan owners at rallying points. (The rallies are still ongoing.) One of the traditions was that on the final evening, each Van owner contributed his/her/their canned goods to the UltraVan Stew. Soup, meat, veg, chili, beans, spices: it all went in one pot. Stone Soup, in other words. Mom said it was always good. (I might not be so positive, but at least it was nutritious.)

So, for today, I'll contribute my stone and a veg,

Rose weevil, last summer.

... and then stir in these goodies from the web:

First: the carnivals, posted, and to come.

The Other 95%: Circus of the Spineless #35: Regeneration, Renewal, Reinvigoration It's back! At long last, we have a host, Kevin Zelnio! And the first installment of the reborn CotS is a winner. Thanks, Kevin.

Festival of the Trees is up at Treeblog. A poetic post, with a bark rubbing, to boot. As well as all the great links.

I and the Bird will be up in a couple of days at Vickie Henderson Art. (You still have a few hours to get a post in to her; today's the final day for submissions.)

I have posts in those three, but not in the next ones. Maybe another time.

Ecstathy: Carnival Of the Elitist Bastards IX: Keepin' yer wits about ye Pirate edition. This one's just plain fun. As well as being dead serious.

Carnival of the Blue #21 « The Oyster’s Garter In verse. Or doggerel. (Sorry, Miriam.) Good ocean-related links. I liked the cuttlefish story and poem.

Great Backyard Bird Count — Great Backyard Bird Count And this is coming up in less than two weeks; February 13 -16. Are you in? I am.

Then there's Blogroll Amnesty Day; the idea is to link to 5 smaller blogs. I don't know about size, so here are 5 that I've found recently, and added to my GoogleReader:

Jehuite This one is in Spanish. The wild vegetation of Mexico. Beautiful photography, some "exotic" plants, some old familiar ones.

The ScienceBlogs Book Club : Bonk, by Mary Roach: Friday Weird Science has found its Patron Saint A two-fer. The Book Club blog, and the link to this book. I have read Stiff, by Mary Roach, and loved it, so this is on my list of must-buys. A warning, though; it is not to the taste of many people. If dead bodies make you squeamish, give it a pass.

The Book of Barely Imagined Beings. Science, with great photos, and interesting posts. Like "Earthworms save planet".

MMmmm…That’s Good Grub* « Drawing The Motmot An artists climbs to the top of the Amazon rainforest to paint, in this post.

Tyto Tony. "Life in a tropical Queensland wetlands". Beautiful bird photography.

And 6: (I can't count.) Wild Light. Photography using only natural light. Astoundingly gorgeous!

And even more goodies for the soup:

A natural history of Runswick Bay: Lugworms. For Wren.

Sunrise, sunset, daylight in a graph. I posted this a year ago, and it keeps turning up in my Sitemeter. I am surprised every time.

And because it was Groundhog's Day yesterday, and I missed it, here's Hugh's story: Momma Vole.

And a last bit of greenery (and reddery):

The weevil again, delicately tiptoeing through a thornfield.

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