I have a gazillion or so more tree blossom photos to get up here - which needs to be done post haste, given that bloom time is well past at this point! - but I wanted to get these random shots out of the way first. They won't be all that exciting to you, I'm guessing, but I want them up for myself. The nature of blogging is rather self-centered, so that's alright by me. Without further ado:
Pear tree with kaolin application
Same as above, from a distance
Yes, I know. More grape vine stuff.
And more!
Reflection
Up the hill, west entomology block
Down the hill to the lab
Cedar-apple rust lesion
And another. Alien-looking, aren't they?
Looking out to the north 40
Alrighty, then. Those are some of the random photos I'm getting out of the way before I end up publishing spring photos in September. I'm already way behind; my camera is full of more current stuff.
First off, I want to apologize if I've gotten way too personal for you readers of late. I'm not taking down anything I've written, because it adds to the whole of the text, so to speak, but I'll try not to go there again. I know I've already said this, but I wanted to reiterate. My aim wasn't to denigrate M., it was to support myself. That doesn't need to be done online, necessarily, so - I'm sorry.
In other news... there really isn't any. Work is very busy, as usual, and school starts on Monday. The highlight of my day thus far was watching three pairs of birds (grackle, starling, and mockingbird) verbally harrass and take swoopy dives at a pair of crows. The noise level was astonishing - and somehow really fun to hear - and the attacks made me laugh. I know it's serious business for the smaller birds, given the crows' tendency toward nest-raiding... but such things make me smile anyway. The crows were finally driven off, after much ado. It was a wonderful drama to behold. Well, on that note... I'm signing off for now. I probably won't have time to write again till Monday, so - happy weekends to you all! Ta.
2 comments:
Holy Cow! What's a cedar-apple rust lesion? Does that stuff grow on an apple and kill it? It's kind of pretty in a very scary way, if it's destructive.
If you check back in, Suze...
Cedar-apple rust is a fungus that infects both cedar and apple; it alternates between these two hosts with regard to its life cycle. It's very destuctive to fruit trees, though there are good fungicide regimes that can eliminate or curb it. It is pretty, and a little bit creepy looking! As a gall in early spring, it reminds me of a brain in its shape and contours... then, the moment it rains, tentacle-like extensions come shooting out of the lesion, long and bright orange and jelly-like (which is what you see in the photos). This is when it is infective to apple trees (and others in that family). The size of these things ranges from thumbnail to about tennis ball.
We kind of cultivate them here since we're a research orchard.
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