"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
“It is a century now since Darwin gave us the first glimpse of the origin of species. We know now what was unknown to all the preceding caravan of generations: that men are only fellow-voyagers with other creatures in the odyssey of evolution. This new knowledge should have given us, by this time, a sense of kinship with fellow-creatures; a wish to live and let live; a sense of wonder over the magnitude and duration of the biotic enterprise.”
-Aldo Leopold-
“Fellow Voyagers”
I don’t have much to say today, I just thought I’d share a few random Trumpeter images taken recently. My best wishes to anyone paying a visit during the holidays.
“Flyby”
“Beating Traffic”
“Warm Friends”
I have been coming to a realization lately that although it is nice to try and continue to know, understand and discover ourselves, it may be of detriment to actually try and define ourselves. We as humans love the definition. It puts a nice bow on the subject at hand and we can then go on to define the next potentially scary or perplexing item. However, if we hang a much to determinate definition on ourselves then it doesn’t leave too much room for change or growth. By definition we become somewhat of a fixed, static entity. As fond as I am of Tolkein’s Middle Earth stories, I am becoming less and less engaged in stories of black and white, good or evil. As time goes on I am finding myself far more interested in stories with characters of the in-between. One recent example is the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George Martin, but there are other better ones. Any suggestions?
“Black and White Warbler, Autumn 2012”
Magnolia Warblers can be a blast to watch as they migrate through the St. Louis region. Searching almost nonstop for tasty prey hidden on the undersides of leaves on shrubs and short trees, they will sometimes hover as well as take short looping flights following insects that have been flushed.
“Magnolia Warbler, Autumn 2012”
Located in the south-central Missouri Ozarks, Bryant Creek drains approximately 600 square miles, nearly half of which is comprised of high quality pine and deciduous timberland. As is much of this part of Missouri, the remainder of this geography has been clear cut for use as cattle ground. Bryant Creek is a fascinating little waterway and makes a great companion to the North Fork of the White River, its nearby companion to which it ultimately feeds. I have not seen nearly enough of Bryant Creek or this section of the White River. Both Ozark streams provide homes for river otters and the critically endangered Ozark Hellbender population. Considered a losing stream, Bryant Creek is robbed of its limited water supply by the karst topography and several sections are often dry. Reversely, major flash floods can be a threat during heavy rains and this stream is often sought out by lovers of white water. During our autumn vacation, this view was along the roadside not too far from Hodgson Mill.
One of the major sources of water into Bryant Creek and later, the North Fork comes from the discharge of the Hodgson Spring. Listed in the top 20 most productive Missouri springs, this spring powered the restored grist mill pictured here. Although no longer a working mill, its likeness is still used to sell stone ground, whole grain flours under the name Hodgson Mill.
The Oven Bird
THERE is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.
-Robert Frost-
“Ovenbird, Autumn 2012”
“How many mouths Nature has to fill, how many neighbors we have, how little we know about them and how seldom we get in each other’s way! Then to think of the infinite numbers of smaller fellow mortals, invisibly small, compared with which the smallest ants are as mastodons.”
-John Muir-
“Red-shouldered Hawk Nest, SNR 2012”
“…wildlife once fed us and shaped our culture. It still yields us pleasure for leisure hours, but we try to reap that pleasure by modern machinery and thus destroy part of its value. Reaping it by modern mentality would yield not only pleasure, but wisdom as well.”
-Aldo Leopold-
“Sedge Wren, Autumn 2012”
Did you know…?
The breeding range of the Common Yellowthroat is the most widespread of the American Wood Warblers.
“Common Yellowthroat, Autumn 2012”
Along the Glade Top Trail looking southward at what I believe are the northern hills of the Boston Mountains. I look forward to exploring more of Arkansas one day.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 