Passing by RaBAMB.
To Palo Verde
Having ‘finished’ candidacy exams, I’m in San Jose and will be traveling to Palo Verde tomorrow morning with Boa. From what I’ve heard, the wetland at Palo Verde is relatively low for this time of year (it should be nearly double what it is currently [waist height]) and is full of thick vegetation. I hope I’m physically prepared to chop through 6 km of wetland vegetation tomorrow afternoon…
This photograph was taken soon after the wetland started filling. I will try to get a similar photo for comparison…
Mogadore Reservoir
Picture this
Staying calm by picturing serene landscapes such as this. I’ll be back there in just 2 weeks.
Frakin’ tomatoes
I think this is an alien Solanaceae that I found in Kent bog. Another Solananaceae I discovered was in Palo Verde and was covered in spines. It inhabited nearly the entire wetland area while the wetland was dry and, when the first rains came, the plants quickly grew, flowered and set fruit. As the wetland became inundated, the plants died and their fruits and spines were dispersed. These spines eventually forced me to abandon my tennis shoes while wading in favor of hot, rubber waders.
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Vaccinium
Some cool, soft colors.
Tarantula
Someone asked if I saw large spiders in Palo Verde the other day. Yes. I did.
The were a fair number of them emerging from burrows during one week, presumably because it was breeding time. I found 3 individuals in the lab one morning, one of which had decided to rest on the light switch.
There were two distinct species (unless they were actually different sexes); pictured here was the larger one. Paul decided to pit them together one night and the larger of the two killed and deflated the smaller.
Before the flash
Check out that tiny insect on the right-edge of the emerging, fungal fruiting body.
Captured prey
A pitcher plant captures its prey.
A fractal of lower plants
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The fall colors are beginning to come out in the micro-climates of the local bogs.