I started blogging in fall 2009. The table shows how number of articles and word count vary from then till the end of 2019. The scattergraph shows data points representing all the word counts of each article from first to last. A thick swath between 400 and 600 words indicates my favored word-count range. The word-count graph with year labels is another way to view word-count densities.
Closer Look at Word Counts
The high-word count graph shows more year-to-year variation than low-word counts. (The average and median don't look veer from each other by much.)
Coincidentally, 2019's stats match high and low word counts. However, 2019's average (568.0) and median (540.5) run lower. Explanation? High amount of videos and pictures in the articles that year. Also, becoming more involved with videos that are not associated with articles. More details farther down.
Another word-count related graph shows 1000+ word-counts more in the last half of my blogging history.
Topic
A somewhat challenging task I slogged through in preparing for this article was assigning a topic type. I've had stages of writing about recipes, info, music, some how-tos. When I started assigning labels, I had a conflict on whether a food recipe was food or how-to. After I tallied items, I found "food" to be a huge bucket, so I separated them between food and food recipe. As for "misc", I didn't see how to call them anything else.
A couple of standout categories by year are "plantlife" for 2013 and "buglife" for 2017.
Of the 24 articles in 2013, my "plantlife" topic was composed of my 16-week series about a triplet of century plants. I took pix when I first spotted them, and returned weekly for subsequent pix until the last one's demise. (Start with "Century Plant Triplets--Stalk Starts".
Of the 24 articles in 2017, most "buglife" articles were about insects, spiders, and cicadas. I titled 16 of them with a "Leggy Bugs". Open the links at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window) for 2017 to view various buglife titles.
Graphics Type
Images show changing trends over time for topics, graphic type accompaniments. Word counts and number of blogs by the year might not be easy to infer. From 2014 on, I decided to publish twice a month, a pace of 24 annually. That quota contrasts with my annual output in 2010 (36), 2011 (12), and 2013 (32).
Initially had no or few images. Without giving much thought, I started providing images (some drawings, some stills), later providing videos. Several of my blogs include both images and video links.
My video toe-dipping year started in 2013 (1). I skipped doing any in 2014, and put out a paltry 3 in 2015. My 2016 and 2017 articles each included 9 video accompaniments. Although my articles for 2018 included only five video accompaniments, pix abounded aplenty.
Most Popular Article and Accompanying Video
My most popular article is "Stuck Blender Blade?", from October 2015, which might have cleared 4600 views by the end of 2019. Funny thing is that I created and uploaded the video, about three weeks later. By 2019 end, it was just 13 views shy of 24000. (It apparently cleared it late Jan 1 or sometime Jan 2.)
The Blogger stats for articles that match YT titles don't synchronize well for popularity—pretty much only the blender blade topic. Blogger views and YouTube view counts can vary wildly from each other.
More into YouTube
Last June, I started creating and uploading videos that didn't originally accompany articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets", totaling 13 by near the end of December. I did incorporate some of the snippets into article-associated videos. I'd consider most of the snippet videos topic buckets to be "deer", "buglife", or "plantlife". Links to each article are at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window.)
As part of looking back on 2019, I also cast a backward look toward my
entire blogging experience. More on the farther-back look (10+ years,
from September 2009 to 2019) in Looking Back for All-time Blogging".
The table shows stats for 2019 for each of the 24 articles (twice a
month)—word count, topic, and graphics type. Links to each article are
at the Blog Archive index (lower right side of blog window.)
Word Count
The Word Count column shows number of words for each of the articles in 2019.
My most-viewed topic was a toss-up between deer (5) and plantlife (5), followed closely by buglife (4). This was an extraordinary year for deer; I did not write at all about any in previous years. Maybe 2018's rains brought on all sorts of eatin's that attracted loads of deer and spawned fawns. The topic tally is as follows, from most to least:
Videos and pix accompanied more than half the articles. Shot lots of deer, plantlife, and buglife. Plants were various, indicating 2018's rains were good to them. Buglife included mostly cicadas, amazingly, a prolific year for them.
Last June, I started creating and uploading videos that didn't originally accompany articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets", totaling 13 by near the end of December. I did incorporate some of the snippets into article-associated videos.
I hadn't made a lemon meringue pie in, uh, lots of years. It tasted good, and looked mostly good before I started cutting into it. ("Wateriness" loomed large, which I'll discuss later.)
The driving force to make the pie was using up bottled lemon juice that I opened last month. (Used only 2 T with yellow cake batter for lemon cake variation.) During and after the pie project, pertinent thoughts popped up.
My main Google search term was “easy lemon meringue pie”. Most recipes I ran across called for 1/3 cup. One recipe that called for 1/2 cup of lemon juice was at allrecipes.com "Lemon Meringue Pie III". Pillsbury’s "Lemon Meringue Pie" also calls for ½ cup of lemon juice.
Pie Shell Type (Scratch, Frozen, Refrigerated, Graham Cracker Crust)
I bought ("Pillsbury™ Pet-Ritz™ Regular Pie Crusts". (Convenient that it supplied a recipe for lemon meringue pie.) Although I’d made pies last year with scratch crust, I wasn’t in the mood this time. Scratch ingredients are cheap, and you know what goes into the shells. However, scratch shells are labor-intensive. View “Cherry Pie—Section 2 of 3, Pie Dough Preparation”, which also includes a link to the blog article.
I chose frozen instead of refrigerated for handling convenience. The frozen shells come preformed with own pans. As for graham cracker pie crusts, I’d not considered them, but I know of recipes to make them. Furthermore, they are available pre-made with shell in baking aisles.
Lemon Pie Filling Complexities
I felt intimidated when recently reading the “pudding” process from several sources. Measurements, sequence of items, constant stirring, stovetop monitoring are crucial. I myself have used cornstarch-as-thickener process numerous time for many years, including past lemon meringue pies. After the process, I decided it wasn’t so difficult after all (again).
Cream of Tartar in Meringue
Meringue is mainly egg whites with loads of sugar and air. When it’s ready to use, it resembles shaving cream. Some recipes I ran across omit cream of tartar, some bakers advocate it wholeheartedly as a bubble stabilizer. Never heard of or used cream of tartar? "What Is Cream of Tartar—and What Can I Substitute for It?"states that it's "a byproduct of wine production, the residue left on the barrels".
I use cream of tartar as a stabilizer in any recipe that calls for whipping egg whites, even when the recipe doesn’t call for it. I simply add 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar per cup of egg whites—or 1/4 teaspoon for every 4 egg whites—to the bowl with the egg whites before I begin whipping, and then proceed with the recipe as written. Some of my most respected colleagues use twice as much cream of tartar as I do, so you can choose how much to use.
Meringue Making
As a former newbie to meringue making, I was amazed at how much volume a few egg whites could expand to, with beating lots of air into them, and snowy white! It takes time! If you have a tilt-head mixer, that’s your friend to hold the beater up, and you need to add the sugar in spoonfuls for ensuring good sweetener distribution.
Several sites explain the process so you can see what ready meringue batches look like. Most bakers advocate spreading it onto poured pie filling while it’s warm or hot. At least one mentions a cool pie filling. They all stress spreading the meringue to the pie edge, totally sealing the filling.
Post-piebake Cooldown
Time ranges from one hour before cutting and serving to at least three. Some advice includes refrigeration. My lesson learned (sigh) is to be patient, wait long, and include a period of refrigeration before cutting. I had let it cool at room temperature for 2 ½ hours without refrigeration.
The Pillsbury frozen pie recipe states prep time of one hour, and total preparation time of five and a quarter hours. The cooling info says to cool completely; a subsequent sentence says to refrigerate about three hours, implying a room-temperature cooling time of 1 ¼ hours. Duh, I just noticed the online Pillsbury recipe "Lemon Meringue Pie" lists one hour for room temperature cooling.
Place the warm pie on a cooking rack for up to two hours. ... Refrigerate the pie for one hour if you prefer to serve it chilled. Make sure the pie has cooled to room temperature before refrigerating. Slice the pie in six or eight pieces with a sharp, thin-bladed knife. Make certain you cut all the way through the crust. If the lemon filling does not slice cleanly, you may need to cool your pie longer.
The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for the custard filling to set. It takes a few hours and is 100% worth it if you're hoping to get a nice slice.
Cool completely, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until filling is set, 3 hours.
From once upon a chef's "Lemon Meringue Pie": "Let the pie cool completely on a rack before serving, about 3 hours."
Pie Wateriness, Weepiness, Sogginess
The initial wateriness was from the pie filling not setting fully—temperature and time. Served up two slices and spooned excess fluid. Refrigerated overnight; saw new excess fluid at cut area. Served up another two slices and spooned excess fluid. Third day, more of the same condition—new excess fluid at cut area. A few hours later, researched and found info about covering pie with foil or wrap. Did that, after I dabbed some already-developing fluid. Day four—success! Minimal excess fluid.
Refrigeration makes meringue weep more quickly, so let the pie stand at room temperature in a draft-free spot before serving it. After a few hours, however, it will need to be refrigerated.
"Prevent Weeping Meringue" states "Weeping occurs as moisture begins to slowly seep out of the meringue layer and ruin both the look and therefore the appeal of this otherwise delightful creation."
Room for Improvement
A future pie by me is sure to be better with the following reminders, as long as I don’t forget or ignore other info I’ve written.
The filling color was less yellowy than I expected. I used bottled lemon juice and skipped putting in peel (aka zest), as many other recipes call for. I did run across a few sites that mention using a few drops of yellow food coloring into the filling.
The meringue was maybe too thin in a couple of areas near the crust edge. Next time I’ll be sure to slather the meringue and seal the edge thickly.
With so much time for the pie to cool and set, consider the pie to be a 6-hour process. Definitely need ensure the baked pie is cool, at least an hour, then place it in the fridge for 3 ¼ hours.
The overnight wateriness over three days surprised me. Each time after cutting into pie, I need to cover with plastic wrap, pressing out air from cut areas.
BTW, it's good that I used the Pillbury recipe rather than allrecipes one, which calls for a fourth egg and extra 1/3 cup of water. They would have overflowed the pie crust. The online Pillsbury pie recipe calls for refrigerated pie shell, but ingredients and process are the same.
Additional Helpful Sites
Food for the cool's "Lemon Meringue Pie & Tips for Beginners" has lengthy helpful info for beginners and remedials is a long read, but has gems worth noting. (I myself found the process more work than I'd want to do in the future.) One passage seems pretty important WRT filling temperature:
make sure your filling is piping hot, fresh from the saucepan, when you pour it into the shell and add the meringue!! The filling has to be hot because the steam will travel up through the egg whites and cook the meringue from the bottom. If the filling has cooled, when the pie goes in the oven, the heat will heat up the filling and the steam will get trapped between the filling and meringue, creating a watery layer that causes the top and filling to separate.
"highly recommend a stand mixer for this! If not, you can still beat it with a hand mixer, but your arm will be tired."
"Magic Lemon Meringue Pie | Food Network" is intriguing for ease and brevity. The pie crust is graham cracker crust. Video shows meringue consistency to emulate, which she makes before making the filling. The filling is condensed milk, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Interesting that the filling color is similar to mine--offwhite rather than yellowy.
"Easy Lemon Meringue Pie" shows an unusual filling. Best attraction is her showing the meringue consistency and spreading at the end.
Use a glass pie plate for your lemon meringue pie. A pie baked in a glass plate will absorb heat from the oven faster, which makes the pie bake more quickly, making it firm and preventing it from getting too soggy from the filling.
Place the pie in the bottom half of the oven so that the pie crust is closer to the direct heat of the oven. The faster the pie crust cooks, the less chance there will be of having a soggy crust.
In 2012, I wrote my previous blog articles WRT creating YouTube playlists with YT newbies in mind. (I'd been more of a newbie back then.) My newer method streamlines the process to minimal steps and window hopping.
Long ago, I set up playlists for music selections that reflect blog article topics. Keeping the playlists up-to-date have been problematic because of some owners removing videos or changing the public status to private. After having occasionally revisiting playlists and updating them, I no longer prioritize URL replacements.
What prompted me to revisit creating YT playlists? Two incentives: Replicating a set of cartoons on a VHS tape that didn't list the entire contents, and wanting to create recent thematic playlists for videos I'd created over time.
Scroll to near the end of this article for the playlist-creation procedure.
VHS-tape Cartoons
I had a VHS tape of cartoons ("Woody Woodpecker and Friends") that I wanted to be able to view without risking wearing out the VCR. The set info on the box is not very helpful; it lists only 12 of the 22 stories. I looked high and low on the web for the full listing. Neither VHS tape nor DVD version is available for sale. The closest info I found were both from WorldCat.org, which lists libraries that have them, no place close to home.
I finally resorted to playing the entire tape over two days, jotting down the titles, main characters, copyright year, in play order. I found all of the cartoons on YouTube. The playlist I created reflects the VHS tape's videos and order, but better quality. For two of the stories, I included links to additional versions because of quality issues—Robinhood Makes Good and Greedy Humpty Dumpty.
Thematic Playlists
Do you have a sizable collection of your own videos? Maybe some that are about similar topics? Create playlists with themes in mind. Set up the play order, and change them whenever you want.
This year, I started posting videos that did not correlate with same-name blog articles. I called them "Eye-caught Snippets" and put them into a playlist. More recently, I decided to create playlists for bugs , deer, and kitchen doings.
Creating the YouTube Playlist Really Fast
Assumptions are that you are familiar with YouTube and have a YouTube account.
Hint: Before starting the playlist process, first create a list that has columns for title and link. The list helps with easy navigation to the video and adding it to the playlist.
Log in to YouTube.
Navigate to a video.
Click the Save button. (You must be logged in so you can save.)
When the playlist window opens, click the playlist you want to save the selection to.
(If you don't have a playlist for this purpose yet, click "New playlist", and follow the prompts.)
Click the "X" at the upper right to complete the save process.
Open a second YouTube window, click the Playlist tab, and select the playlist you're working on.
Occasionally refresh the list to confirm the added item.
Repeat the actions for navigating to a video and saving it until you're done.
How short was the tracking? About 16 minutes and 1/4 mile of deer path. Followed a pack of deer and shot five clips on 11/23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
I found it amusing that the first clip showed decorative spider webbing among the foliage. That resident actually managed to remove it before Thanksgiving day. (I appreciated the web decoration serving as a visual cue for timeframe.)
During my deer pack follow, additional items of interest were a couple of balloon arrangements. One was a sitting turkey (on a straw cushion), another one was a group of smiling jack o'lanterns beside a sitting turkey.
Interestingly, the jack-o'lanterns were dual-purposed, having been around for Halloween and kept in place for Thanksgiving.
While I reviewed and edited items for creating my video for including the inflatable balloons, I decided to also work in a couple of deer images from just before Halloween. One pic has a fawn and doe seemingly playing peekaboo with each other, to the right of a Halloween skeleton.
The other pic is a composite of a buck. Lucky for me, I happened to have had my camera with me during this car trip. BTW, almost all my image captures are on foot. (Video clip frames vary slightly from the stills shown here.)
My video featuring the deer pack includes the following sections:
Web-strung foliage at a house, deer pack ambling away
A close deer trio moving from my left to right
Pack starting to cross street and apparently doubling back halfway
Pack deliberately trotting across street right to left
Pack ambling away
Halloween/Thanksgiving pic potpourri near 11/23 timeframe
The potpourri section includes a few Halloween and Thanksgiving images for timeframe reference. (I really wanted to include the timeframe-proximate regal buck and peekaboo deer.) For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.
Recently, we started participating in the community composting program. At the lead-off seminar, we received a specifically designed compostables pail for indoors. About a week or so later, outdoor carts arrived in the neighborhood. It took a few days to gingerly get with the program.
Although the seminar literature didn't help ease the ick apprehension, the Q and A session planted some ideas to "neaten" compostables. Actually implementing them was less messy than anticipated. Reduce ickiness possibilites by avoiding fouling both containers:
Use castoff food boxes to line the indoor pail, additionally helped if you initially use paper towels for spills/cleanups then toss into the boxes. Toss in items like egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit cores, post-meal wipes, etc.
Use newspaper to wrap food scraps, produce (fruits, veggies) trimmings, melon rinds.
Prepare the outdoor cart with a layer, maybe half-can full, of tree debris (leaves, small branches). Compress by pressing down with dustpan or similar item if you want.
When disposing of castoff food boxfuls and wrapped compostables, place them into the prepared cart instead of overturning the pail into the cart.
My video, less than 3 minutes, has four main sections with captions:
Cart for compostables, intro and prep
Pail for compostables, preparations and fill
Kitchen wrapping preparations (some examples of produce)
A few days ago on a morning walk, the sun was pretty bright out, making me think conditions wouldn't be good for using my camera. For about the first half hour, I spotted some deer here and there, but contrasts not good. Happily, a load of deer came into view in shade. Within six minutes, I snagged three separate clips within 500 feet that I thought interesting.
Baker's Dozen
So many deer came into view in my first clip, I wondered how many I recorded. Upon viewing the clip several times, I'm more than 90 percent sure I have 14. My title refers to baker's dozen. I don't believe the term is used much anymore, but I wanted to refresh my recollection of its meaning. From "baker's dozen:"
a group of 13; a dozen plus one: from the former practice among bakers and other tradespeople of giving 13 items to the dozen as a safeguard against penalties for short weights and measures.
One doe, which I feature in the second video segment, caught my eye for smudge-like markings on her flank and shoulder. In the third clip, five deer are prominent. At the very start, however, a faraway sixth one ambles at the extreme right part of the clip. Blink and you miss it!
During viewing and editing, I noticed these deer all had taupe coloration but some were smaller than others. When I "shot" deer earlier in the year, fawns were more tawny and had white spots. More on the spotting later.
Coloration
Taupe and tawny each have 5 letters, starting with "ta". I wanted to clarify the color distinctions.
From "Taupe Color":
intermediate shade between dark brown and gray, which shares similar attributes of both colors. However, taupe does not describe a single color, rather, it is used to describe a vast range of colors from dark tan to brownish gray.
A color adjective, tawny describes something that is a mix of yellow, orange, and brown colors. … Tawny comes from the Anglo-Norman word, taune, which means tanned.
It turns out that colors change during the year. In viewing some of my videos of deer from earlier in the year, does also look tawny. View deer/fawn segments at "Critter Shootin' Near Mid-June 2019" and "Fawnzies and Deering Does" (from July).
The whitetail's coat will change with the seasons, from reddish brown in the spring and summer when vegetation is growing to grayish brown in the winter. This helps the deer to stay camouflaged all year round. The change in color happens quickly, usually in 1 or 2 weeks.
Fawns maintain their white spots for 90 to 120 days after birth; quite useful for their survival. These spots eventually fade away from their body after that time frame. Once gone, a shiny brownish fur replaces it. A thicker coat replaces the previous coat of the fawn as the white spots slowly fade. The purpose of the thicker coat is for them to survive the winter.
Antler Starts
Another feature that piqued my interest with these clips was absence of antlers or forehead nubs. I wondered when male deer started developing them. From "Managing for Age in White-tailed Deer"
Male deer begin growing their first set of antlers at about one year of age. They will grow a new set of antlers yearly. With proper nutrition equal, antlers will get larger each year until about six years of age.
For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.
Jack O'Lanterns, skeletons, ghouls, ghosts, goblins, black cats, dragons, witches, oh, my! Additional ghastly, occasional cutie characters! The scenery owners seemed to have gotten into the spirit (grin). I fess up! These stills and clips from these 20 sites are from two weeks in October 2018. With so much nearby flora and fauna to pick from within a year's time, I kept kicking the 2018 Halloween blog-and-video can down the road. Stroll with me and view the Halloweeny sites/sights.
In mId -August, spotted couple of cicada-pertinent items--a cicada wasp and cicada wing, one day apart. Decided to save the cicada wasp topic till now. (The previous article and video is about the wing—"Cicada Wing Curiosity Piquer".
As is often, the winged bug caught our eyes during a morning walk. Initially, thought might be a hornet. Took video and stills, one with a measuring tape body. Later, I estimated the insect at ~ 2”, using some kludgy composite means of measuring items. Easiest way to estimate the length would have been simply pull some of the measuring tape out, lock it, place the tab near one end the insect, and take a pic.
Anyway, I poked around on the web to narrow down the stinger suspect. Found an excellent Cicada Wasp Flickr image. Now armed with caption info, particularly "Cicada Killer Wasp (Crabroninae, Sphecius specimen)", I no longer, uh, flew blind trying to determine the insect.
"Crabronidae, the crabronid wasps, including the mud daubers and sand wasps" section of "Insect Identification Key" and "Genus Specius" section of BugGuide.net greatly helped my bug determination. BugGuide's Taxonomy tab shows the four species convallis (Pacific), grandis (Western), hogardii (Caribbean), and speciosus (Eastern).
In looking at the BugGuide's Sphecius genus images, the yellow markings of the images I have seem to best indicate the Eastern species. Look at a Pac-Man image, then look at killer wasp images I offer up. Do you also see Pac-Mannish faces? Contrast with markings of other species' examples—less Pac-Mannish, imho. (View my video for circling-around peering.)
I recalled I had blogged about a cicada wasp with cicada. Revisted "Wasp and Cicada Together". The pic of a neighbor and dead cicada wasp greatly resembles the Cicada Wasp Flickr image. For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).
Last month, we found a wing part inside the kitchen door. Wondered if someone tracked it in. Maybe a butterfly wing? Hmm, as I'd been preoccupied with cicadas this July and August, I immediately recognized it as a partial cicada wing. Decided to video-record it, turning it with tweezers, and also taking some stills.
Although seemingly transparent, the wing panes actually have "spikes". Poking around the web, I found articles about cicada wing research, mostly about antibacterial properties. (Google hits for cicada wing water repellency were fewer.)
Scientists have discovered that the wing surface of the Clanger cicada (Psaltoda claripennis) isn’t flat. Instead, it is covered with thousands of pillars that are about 200 nanometers tall (a nanometer is a billion times smaller than a meter). When certain types of disease causing bacteria land on a cicada’s wing, they are killed by the nanopillars.
On the surface of the clanger cicada there are tiny cone-like structures known as nanopillars. These are spaced out among the wing and protrude upward from the surface. … when a bacterial cell finds itself on the surface of the wing; as it settles in, the nanopillars push up against it causing the cell to somewhat mold around them. This shifting of shape causes stretching in the bacterial cell's membrane. With enough stretch, the surface eventually begins to split and tear.
The study, published in the journal Applied Materials and Interfaces, focused on the water-repelling ability of cicada wings. The research team of engineers and entomologists used high-speed microscopic photography to study the wings' ability to repel water.
"The property that allows a surface to repel water is called hydrophobicity and it causes water to bead up and roll away," Miljkovic said. "Superhydrophobicity is simply an extreme form of this property and cicada wings that have this feature have a rough nanotexture that creates open spaces around water droplets, allowing surface tension to force the droplets to jump off of the wings."
Researchers now find the design of their wings can cause filth to jump right off of them with the aid of dew, findings that might help lead to better artificial self-cleaning materials. … Scientists had known that cicada wings are super-water-repellent, or super-hydrophobic.
From Cicada Mania—"dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world". This site has menu links: News & Facts, Species, Sounds, Photos, FAQs, Merch(andise) 17-Year Cicadas. Oddly, the site doesn't provide info or links about scientific studies about cicada wings. For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).
I've seen some odd places that cicada nymphs chose to park their shells and extract themselves. My spotting of the recent trio and solo at odd places inspired me to find other oddball exuviae discard locations I'd taken pix of. FWIW, some places might not seem so odd; that a few nymphs chose the same place around the same time is. (My previous article is about the seven exuviae on my house in a recent three-week period.)
The First Trio
The first cicada exuviae (exoskeleton) trio was at a rain shutoff device, spotted Sunday 8/18 elevenish. I might not have considered it unusual for one exuviae. Three, however, made me chuckle because they were so close to each other. I thought about threesomes—Three Stooges, Three Amigos, Three Musketeers, Kingston Trio, ….
The Rest of the Exuviae Hangups
Coincidentally, only a few minutes later at another part of the yard, another exuviae caught our eyes. While trimming some branches, the other co-trimmer thought one limb end had a particularly ugly cut. Looking closer, it turns out an exuviae was hugging it. This one might have been hanging out for awhile; closer look shows dust and tree debris. (In contrast, the trio looked pretty "clean" and shiny.)
In July 2017, a cicada molted and abandoned its shell at the front door step. The following other oddball spots were from July 2018:
On a sidewalk curb
On a car tire that faced the street (two different shells on two consecutive days)
On a sago plant (another trio)
Followup Visit to The First Trio
The other day, I saw that only one exuviae still hung out at the rain shutoff device—clinging to the wire. The other two shells apparently fell off. The remaining shell looks like a good example of a nymph having found a great item to clutch in preparation for self-extraction. It successfully implemented strategy that "Photo Essay: Cicada Nymph Molts into Adult" describes:
they find a place on a tree to grab hold and ‘affix’ themselves … Beginning around dusk the Cicada nymph crawls out of the ground and up a tree to affix itself to a sturdy part. This nymph circled this branch, feeling for a strong hold. Molting is quite a process and they’ll be there awhile, so they want to make sure not to fall during the process.
Nevertheless, I used a twig for positioning the two other exoskeletons and taking additional pix for the video. For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).
This year's been a huge year for cicadas. I wound up with images for seven different cicada exuviae that hung at the house between July 11 and August 1, a three-week period. I've differentiated them with phonetically alphabetishmonikers. (Oddly, no exuviae were at sides nor back of house, and none at the curb.)
Date
Name
Comment
July 11
Ayy
Upside down at the porch overhang, seemingly to hug it symmetrically while defying gravity—no "glue" involved.
July 21
Bea
At a vertical part of the porch, head toward the sky. (One pic, taken with the flash on, resulted in a coppertone face-like image.)
July 24, 25
Cee
Initially at a porch column corner, head angled skyward; July 25 pix shows profile and belly-up views (porch surface). Definitely see no "glue" residue.
July 27
Dee
At porch surface and brick wall intersection, but also featuring the cicada itself on porch surface.
July 31, Aug 1
Eee
At a brick wall edge, head skyward, with nearby ant and spider.
Aug 1
Eff
Upside down at porch overhang, similar to exuviae Ayy.
Aug 1
Gee
Similarly positioned as exuviae Cee, but at a different porch and near the overhang.
The video shows more and closer details of these "visitors".
My first exposure to cicada exuviae, was in 2016, when I posted a pic (a beaut!) to LinkedIn requesting ID help. Shortly thereafter, I posted "Closeup of Molted Cicada Exoskeleton (and More Info)". A cicada exuviae (exoskeleton), imho, is fascinating for its split-back opening that displays much of the inside of the abandoned shell and inside-out "appendages". View a great, 34-second time-lapse video of a cicada emerging and vacating its shell.
One commonality of most exuviae I've spotted was the skyward position of the head. For some other exuviae, I thought it odd that they hung upside down parallel to the ground. I wondered if cicada nymphs applied some type of glue before attempting self-extraction. "Photo Essay: Cicada Nymph Molts into Adult" explains cicada nymphs' strategy for attaching their exoskeletons onto something before shellbreak:
they find a place on a tree to grab hold and ‘affix’ themselves … Beginning around dusk the Cicada nymph crawls out of the ground and up a tree to affix itself to a sturdy part. This nymph circled this branch, feeling for a strong hold. Molting is quite a process and they’ll be there awhile, so they want to make sure not to fall during the process.
Note a pic on its website and accompanying caption: "a cicada attached itself to another cicada nymph who was about to emerge."
"Bug of the Week: Cicada Nymph" complements the Photo Essay site for emphasis on the nymph stage. It also might shed light about those "appendages" I mentioned earlier.
In the back where the skin has split you can often see tiny white threads. Those are the reminants [sic] of the cicadas breathing tubes, called trachae.
My most fascinating cicada/exuviae experience was spotting a cicada emerging from its exoskeleton—"Molting Cicada Visitor at My Doorstep". It was a periodic monitoring of pic-taking and videorecording that spanned several hours. (So proud of the video I created!) For more articles about cicadas, enter "cicada" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "cicada" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).
At a city park in June, I noticed a conical item high on a Texas Black Walnut tree. I took some pix and a zoom-in/out video. Although details weren't great, the item looked "aerated". Returned with someone else who brought a monopod and higher-resolution camera. Over about a week, posted some images and zoom-out video to LinkedIn for gathering opinions on what the item could be. Speculations: Web belonging to webworms, tent worms, gypsy moths, silkworms. Responses included advice to destroy the web/nest.
Someone mentioned tent worms and their affinity for pecan trees. However, someone else mentioned webworms and provided "Fall Webworm", which nudged me towards webworms.
Caterpillars (larvae) of the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) feed on over 100 different species of deciduous trees. Walnut, hickory, pecan, persimmon, sweetgum, ash, maple, oak, poplar, redbud, and willow are commonly damaged.
Tent caterpillars like to feed on crabapple, hawthorn, mountain ash, flowering cherry, and other trees and shrubs in the rose family. … Fall webworm feeds on over 120 different species of deciduous trees including crabapple, ash, oak, elm, maple, hickory, sweet gum, and black walnut.
"Webworms feeding in a tree near you this fall" from Aug 2016 differentiates the two worm types as does the Illinois site: "Not to be confused with the Eastern tent caterpillar, which shows up in the early spring, the fall webworm is prevalent in late summer through the fall."
Coincidentally, a friend blogger (Steve Schwartzman) posted an item very recently about webworms "A world all its own" and cited the same scientific name—Hyphantria cunea, linked to its entry in Wikipedia. As Steve's photo is of a raindrop-covered webworm web and bears no resemblance to my "airy" cone, Wikipedia's pic of a webworm nest looks similar to my images.
As for maybe silk worms, floated by another commenter, "What to do When Your Trees Are Full of Silk Worms" states, "true silkworms feed solely on the leaves of white mulberry trees. If you have a few in your yard that are covered in webs, silkworms are the culprits."
Bugged out? Ready to battle? A possible difficulty in destroying the nest I spotted, besides it being on city property, might be the height. I estimated the height to be about 40'. View my short video, which might provide idea of distance relative to height.
Some Timely Resources (within the Last Couple of Months)
Monitor mulberry, oak, pecan, poplar and willow trees for webworms. Heavy infestations over several years can weaken trees as the caterpillars feast on the foliage. If the egg masses on the leaves are accessible, simply remove and destroy them. Tear open the webs so natural predators can access the larvae. If the webs are growing, rip them open and spray the foliage, top and bottom, with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis).
Webworms — or Fall webworms or Hyphantria cunea — are young moths who live out their time as caterpillars in silken enclosures they spin in plants. … Webworms start off as eggs, and when they hatch, they begin spinning their silken webs.
If you want to get rid of webworms, [entomologist Wizzie] Brown said that a good option is simply opening up the web to allow for lizards, wasps, or birds to get in and eat them. You can also prune the infested parts of the tree away or use a high-pressure water spray to get holes in the web.
The article includes embedded link to YouTube video "Webworms are hanging out in Central Texas trees this year in greater numbers than usual".
Additional Resources in IDing and Battling Webworms and their Web Nests
"Everything that You Need to Know About Webworms" from July 2018 contains info, with excellent video that differentiates webworms,bag worms, tent caterpillars, and bag worms, and controlling these pests, including those in high trees.
These webworms make a webbed nest in the hardwoods of the deciduous tree limbs (mostly alder, willow, cottonwood, elm, walnut, apple and peach trees). Webworms can be further classified into Web worms, and Eastern Tent Caterpillars.
"How to Deal with Webworms in Your Trees" from Oct 2018 advises "If possible, open up hole(s) in the nest with a stick, pole saw, or high-pressure nozzle. Then use appropriate insecticide."
"Creepy-looking web sacks are popping up all over Georgia" from August 2017 states, "trees are covered with what look like huge spider webs". The site includes a video with close-in views of web and caterpillars, and UGA agricultural agent breaking open a web bag.
"CATERPILLAR NEST REMOVAL IN PECAN TREE 9-14-12" shows one person's method for getting rid of a webworm nest that was about 40' above the ground, but with different logistical considerations than the one in my images.
"How to Control Webworms High in a Tree" from Aug 2018 is a short and sweet video, with text and narration. Although it has very little imagery. The emphasis on text and narration is good for reinforcing other sites' how-to info.
It took only about half an hour to capture does and fawns one morning (June 23). Two does and their twin fawns were two separate families. One of the does of twins had a Sharpie-pen-like horizontal mark at its left flank. One additional doe had a single fawn near it. One snippet showed two fawnless does. This season, I have rarely missed spotting deer during neighborhood strolls (multiple times weekly.)
Feed Me!
A previous video I'd uploaded included a clip of a doe standing one hind hooves to reach some tree leaves (~5 minute mark). In this blog's video, I managed to capture a mom feeding her young'uns. Or maybe it's more like the young'uns insisting to Mom, "Feed me! Feed me!"
An interesting way to obtain fawn info is entering a curiosity question about them in Google, such as "how much do fawns weigh at birth". Google displays loads of questions and answers.
One evening in 2005, I'd spotted a fawn lying among jasmine. Hadn't thought of any other time to work the pic into previous article. Not likely it is still around.
"Whitetail Deer Facts & Trivia, Information & Photos" says, "Few whitetail deer live more than 5 years in the wild. Some whitetails have been found to be up to 11 years old in the wild, and domesticated deer have lived up to 20 years."
More recently than way back then, I spotted, recorded, and blogged about a buck we spotted New Year's Day. It had several points on its antler; was older than a juvenile. For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.
Previously, I blogged "Lotsa Bloomin' Mid-May Near Mid-year 2019", regarding a neighborhood stroll—flora and fauna images from May 16, 17, 18. This neighborhood stroll video includes only animals; the walk took less than an hour. What a collection of critters!
Cooper's Hawk and mockingbird
Doe and two fawns
Red June bug
Doe and two fawns (Initially unsure if a second family or the same one.)
Caterpillar (June bug larva)
The Cooper's Hawk perched atop a foliage-free branch group. A mockingbird kept dive-bombing it. Trying to keep the camera steady at the distance and zoom challenged me.
I wasn't sure that the doe and fawns were the same family until reviewing the video clips. In the second footage of deer, they were much more energetic than in the first footage.
The June bug might have already been dead; I didn't want to prod it to find out. Incidentally, I'd uploaded the bug to LinkedIn with request for ID. The color and pose didn't resemble any of the three olivy green/brown June bugs I pic'd last year ("So How Cute ARE June Bugs?"). Maybe I should have ensured the reddish bug had its total back upward.
The caterpillar resembled several that I'd shot in April. The undulation movement intrigued me, as well as its prolegs. It took some poking around Google images to find some that resemble my "capture"; I finally found enough info to declare the critter a June bug larva. "Life Cycle Process of a June Bug" shows a basic diagram. "Turfgrass - May/June Beetle Grubs" links to a January-through-December image. Grubs don't sound good to have around. "How To: Get Rid of June Bugs", section "PREVENT DAMAGE FROM GRUBS" has a large image with caution and recommendation: "grubs that will get your grass. Lose the larvae …". Another anti-grub resource: "Grub Worm Identification and Treatment".
This year has been very good for abundant blooms, new-growth plants, and wildlife. View some via the index. Also, I'll be posting more strolling image items to share.
For more articles about deer, enter "deer" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "deer" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section). BTW, additional deer videos are available at my YouTube channel.
This year, May has been an especially eye-popping year for blooms. This blog and accompanying video represent sightings simply from short walks in and near the neighborhood on May 16, 17, and 18. (Includes coupla non-bloom subjects.)
While strolling in the 'hood one day,
In this kinda wet month of May,
Many blooms, so picturesque,
E'en a non-bloom piqued me, yes,
I meandered and pic'd another couple of days!
During a short walk on Sunday, May 5, I took a few pix of some small clutches of Mexican hat flowers. (I hadn't actually thought of the date coincidence as a Mexican theme.) Two days later, I had hoped to show them to someone else. ¡Ay caramba! They were nowhere in sight! Where'd they go? Did someone pluck them? To take inside? To take them somewhere else? To throw them away? Eh, I wasn't going to be brave enough to knock on the homeowner's door to ask.
Separate places in the past (May last year, May 2014) bloomed wildly with Mexican hats, but nada on the 5th or 7th this year. Fortunately for me, more recently, I did manage to spot additional crops of Mexican hats and took pix and video. My compilation videos (bee'd and beeless include Mexican hats from four different areas (shot May 5, 16, 17, and 23). Hope you yourself spot such striking cute blooms where you live, work, play, or wander!
"Ratibida columnifera" lists "Mexican Hat, Red-spike Mexican Hat, Upright Prairie Coneflower, Prairie Coneflower, Long-headed Coneflower, Thimbleflower" as common names. The website has more extensive information and a link to almost 200 images.
"Wildflowers of Texas", besides providing its image of Mexican hats and short description, also includes similar thumbnail info on other Texas wildflowers. (Note: Because of inconsistency in vertical placements of images near flowers' descriptions, it helps if you already know some of these specimens.)
Mexican hat (Ratibida columnaris)—Blooms May to July, later with favorable weather. Common throughout most of state. Named for its resemblance to the traditional high-crowned, broad-brimmed Mexican sombrero.
Seeing both "Ratibida columnifera" and "Ratibida columnaris" terms confused me. I've not been able to find much to clarify the difference. "Ratibida columnifera" shows up a lot more in hits, even when searching for "columnaris". "Mexican Hat / Ratibida columnaris / 500+ Seeds Perennial" indicates both terms are acceptable. (Prices look a lot more economical than some other sites that sell seeds and plants!)
During this morning's walk, we spotted a pair of birds flying
overhead. Companion speculated swans. A nearby homeowner who also
spotted them declared they were blue herons. I had figured "swans" was
not feasible. "They don't fly," I thought. Or do they?
A few years ago, when some relatives visited, we walked into a hotel that had swans in a pond area. View "Embassy Suites Austin TX - Arboretum",
starting about 2:10 to see some swans in the lobby. A nearby sign
mentions something about feeding (or not). My recollection was seeing a
sign that said they swam only and did not fly. (I'm not making a special
trip to the hotel to confirm no-fly swan zone.)
Swan Flights
From "Swan Facts for Kids", "swans can actually fly. They are among the largest flying birds out there and need about 30 yards to become airborne". "Flight Profiles and Take Off" describes flight and communication methodologies among trumpeter and tundra swan flocks.
"Swan Migration" provides details about migration of trumpeter and tundra swans.
Two swan species are native to North America. In summer,
both migrate to the Arctic for breeding and nesting. Male trumpeter
swans, one of the world's largest water birds, can weigh up to 28
pounds, with females a few pounds lighter; tundra swans are less than
two-thirds that size. … trumpeters have all-black bills, while most
tundra swans have a yellow patch on theirs.
12 Days of Christmas, Swans, and Additional Birds
During my mind meandering about swans, I thought about "12 Days of
Christmas" and the line about seven swans a-swimming. Then I recalled
several gift references to different bird types. Yet, how many younger
people know what these birds are? Partridge? Turtle doves? French hens?
Calling birds?
My profession had been technical writer/editor. Through TheWriteJob clublet (blog at http://thewritejob.blogspot.com), I have been exploring my inner creative writing, which includes mostly language enlightenment, entertainment, and a-muse-meant. Over time, I have become more active with images and my YouTube channel.
