Magpie Mind

Magpie Moon


I have tried and failed to tame my mind, to stick to one thing but there is too much, all the bright shiny ideas...
I confine myself, yet it never sticks
 I'm no longer positive that I should try to be single minded
I seem to shut down when I do.
lately I've been letting my Magpie Mind go where it will
I fear, I hope
 it may fly away with me

Hoping for the Fungus

Rainy evening 

All the rain this spring has had a few delightful side effects.

The gardens have loved all the water, I got some worm poop out there, which gave them a nice burst of energy and things are rapidly filling in. I've been transplanting, dividing as needed and resetting the walls and terraces in the back border on the sunnier days. 

Practically Frothing!

The other effect is that the gypsy moths* may suffer sizable losses due to fungus that reacts to moisture and is one of the few things that can disrupt a cycle of sizable infestations.

I am all for a sizable losses in population. Infestations like last years are awful, it feels like a full on zombie attack. They just keep coming... chewing, pooping and GROWING. 

They hatch in masses of tiny caterpillars about a centimeter long and as thick as kitchen twine.

Not much happens at first, a week  or so later you begin to see a few holes in some seedlings...

Gypsy Moth*

Soon they are as thick as yarn, covered in pricklies and consuming some of the low growth, baby oaks are their favorite, stripped to twigs. 

It goes on for weeks.

Damage is widespread.

Rt 102, June 2016

At 3cm long  first the tops then whole oaks start to go, chewed to twigs and rags. 

If you stand still near the trees you will hear a light rainfall. Its the sound of chewing and the poop dropping onto everything below.  

Morning Walk, June 2016

Poop collects with a mass of leaf bits, they are sloppy as well as voracious. Other delightful qualities include: crawling all over the walls of houses and sheds to shelter during the day, a covering of stiff hairs that can cause a nasty rash and they squirt green goo when stomped on.

Poop

They keep growing until they are about 4 cm long then continue to swarm from tree to tree at night. After finishing the oaks they go on to the white pines, blueberry bushes and decorative stuff like our blue spruce.  

Damage, 2016

Then gestation and a huge swarm of moths that mate, lay more masses of eggs, and finally die. 

It was harrowing to me. I began to feel unhinged. I prefer the fungus.

GO FUNGUS!!

*gypsy moths are an introduced species in NA, They were brought here for commercial gain, got out, spread across the country, and now wreak havoc on the native flora and fauna.

That is a perfect definition of colonization.

My thoughts on this are that if they are going to have a name that is a slur they should be named after what they act like... so I think “White Settler Moths” would be more appropriate! 

  

Rainy Season

Friday afternoon

We have had many cool and rainy days here for the last month or so.
The garden LOVES it
Our lawn is our version of lush*
We are still having the fairer weather too some times both in the same day
But best of all it is having the same effect on the Gypsy moths** that hot and humid weather would and activating both a virus and a fungus that kills them. I'm really grateful that we won't see the extreme defoliation we saw last year.

* I like that word.
** This name is problematic, may I suggest a new name: European Colonist moth

Thanks Liz!

(I meant to publish this a week ago)
thank you Liz 
this little prayer flag is perfect

Fragments of life

Spring crocus

from this in April

to this in May

Precipitous

Apr 22, Science March, Providence RI 

Cataract surgery Left eye

Cataract surgery Right eye

Blossoming

True Blue

Peek A Blue

I've been in the garden  it has begun to stir so I must too, yesterday I found a bit of Blue

Tracking Time

I took a trip in the Wayback Machine (photo archive) to see if I could find the start of the
Crow/Moon/Magpie/Dance/Timepiece
I think this is the earliest photo, back in Feb 2011 its one of the experiments from jude's class
Time Flies