Yellow Horned Bladderwort and sundew. Photo by Gary Lee.
You didn’t have to go extremely far to find flooding yesterday, July 14, as New York City and much of New Jersey got much more rain than they needed in one day. The city had over two inches in one hour and New Jersey had six inches which flooded most places where it fell. Two people were killed in this flooding. Back down in Texas where the flooding occurred last week killing 132 people and over 140 are still missing, they got 4 to 6 inches of rain. They had to suspend search efforts as the water in that area again rose to flood levels. Locally, this same storm system hit areas around Utica with a tornado, high winds, and rain killing three people in the area, including two children. The power was out in many areas for three days and more. We got enough rain to water the flowers and garden, but it came down hard in just a short time, up to an inch in most places.
The Dragon Bravo Wildfire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon started as a lightning strike and then it was being maintained as a control burn that got out of control. During firefighting efforts, there was a chlorine leak that prevented water drops to slow the fire’s progress in twenty to forty mile per hour wind. Then it grew to 5,000 acres, as of this July 15 writing, and consumed between 50 and 80 structures including the historic Lodge built on the north rim in 1937 and others including the National Park Service administrative buildings and visitor facilities. Another fire, the White Sage Fire, is also burning on the north rim, taking much of the firefighting forces to fight this 40,000-acre fire. The National Park Service reported that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed for the season.
My flowers are loving the passing rain showers we’ve had, and the woods are soaking up most of it as water stopped going out of my pond just yesterday. Last year, it stopped going out in May, but then the rain came quite often, and it flowed out of the pond for the rest of the summer. These hot days are sure warming area waters as most swimmers say the temperature is warm down more than six feet from the surface. I got into Woodhull Lake one day this week and never saw a Loon on the entire
lake. Talking with some camp owners there, they said they had heard them calling, but they had seen any adults with chicks.
Hollyhocks. Photo by Gary Lee.
I went from there down to Sand Lake to check on the Loons, and I had Loon calling from the far end of the lake before I ever got a boat in the water. I looked with my binoculars and saw that there was a chick about a week old with the calling adult. As I was checking to find the nest site and collect the eggshells, a big black cloud finally moved right overhead, and it started raining. I dragged the kayak up on shore and put it between two trees, making a shelter from the downpour. The loon mate showed up during the rainstorm and they went out into the big part of the lake. I got back on the water and found the nest site on an island they had never used before. There were some Tree Swallows feeding fledged young nearby as green drakes flies were hatching off the water, giving them a mouth full to feed their young. Some Cedar Waxwings were also bug-catching, as they flew out over the lake picking off the big flies. These birds are late nesters, usually doing it in August.
I checked for a Loon nest on some of the islands and found many carnivorous plants, such as sundew, yellow horned bladderworts, and pitcher plants. The sundew catches bugs if one lands on their shiny sticky leaves, the horned bladderworts catch bugs under the bog mat in bladders off their root system, and the pitcher plants consume bugs that fall into the liquid in their open-leaf pitcher bug trap.
The Annual Loon Census is this Saturday, July 19 from 8 to 9 a.m. and there are many lakes in the area that no one is watching that day. Some area lakes that have adults loons and chicks and are not yet being watched are Little Safford, Independence Lake, Cascade Lake, and Sagamore Lake, to name a few. According to the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation website, sign ups for the 2025 loon census have ended, but you can read more about the loon census here.
Annual Loon Census action, but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo at top: Yellow Horned Bladderwort and sundew. Photo by Gary Lee.
Spotting carnivorous plants while searching for loons between downpours
You didn’t have to go extremely far to find flooding yesterday, July 14, as New York City and much of New Jersey got much more rain than they needed in one day. The city had over two inches in one hour and New Jersey had six inches which flooded most places where it fell. Two people were killed in this flooding. Back down in Texas where the flooding occurred last week killing 132 people and over 140 are still missing, they got 4 to 6 inches of rain. They had to suspend search efforts as the water in that area again rose to flood levels. Locally, this same storm system hit areas around Utica with a tornado, high winds, and rain killing three people in the area, including two children. The power was out in many areas for three days and more. We got enough rain to water the flowers and garden, but it came down hard in just a short time, up to an inch in most places.
The Dragon Bravo Wildfire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon started as a lightning strike and then it was being maintained as a control burn that got out of control. During firefighting efforts, there was a chlorine leak that prevented water drops to slow the fire’s progress in twenty to forty mile per hour wind. Then it grew to 5,000 acres, as of this July 15 writing, and consumed between 50 and 80 structures including the historic Lodge built on the north rim in 1937 and others including the National Park Service administrative buildings and visitor facilities. Another fire, the White Sage Fire, is also burning on the north rim, taking much of the firefighting forces to fight this 40,000-acre fire. The National Park Service reported that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed for the season.
My flowers are loving the passing rain showers we’ve had, and the woods are soaking up most of it as water stopped going out of my pond just yesterday. Last year, it stopped going out in May, but then the rain came quite often, and it flowed out of the pond for the rest of the summer. These hot days are sure warming area waters as most swimmers say the temperature is warm down more than six feet from the surface. I got into Woodhull Lake one day this week and never saw a Loon on the entire
lake. Talking with some camp owners there, they said they had heard them calling, but they had seen any adults with chicks.
I went from there down to Sand Lake to check on the Loons, and I had Loon calling from the far end of the lake before I ever got a boat in the water. I looked with my binoculars and saw that there was a chick about a week old with the calling adult. As I was checking to find the nest site and collect the eggshells, a big black cloud finally moved right overhead, and it started raining. I dragged the kayak up on shore and put it between two trees, making a shelter from the downpour. The loon mate showed up during the rainstorm and they went out into the big part of the lake. I got back on the water and found the nest site on an island they had never used before. There were some Tree Swallows feeding fledged young nearby as green drakes flies were hatching off the water, giving them a mouth full to feed their young. Some Cedar Waxwings were also bug-catching, as they flew out over the lake picking off the big flies. These birds are late nesters, usually doing it in August.
I checked for a Loon nest on some of the islands and found many carnivorous plants, such as sundew, yellow horned bladderworts, and pitcher plants. The sundew catches bugs if one lands on their shiny sticky leaves, the horned bladderworts catch bugs under the bog mat in bladders off their root system, and the pitcher plants consume bugs that fall into the liquid in their open-leaf pitcher bug trap.
The Annual Loon Census is this Saturday, July 19 from 8 to 9 a.m. and there are many lakes in the area that no one is watching that day. Some area lakes that have adults loons and chicks and are not yet being watched are Little Safford, Independence Lake, Cascade Lake, and Sagamore Lake, to name a few. According to the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation website, sign ups for the 2025 loon census have ended, but you can read more about the loon census here.
Annual Loon Census action, but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo at top: Yellow Horned Bladderwort and sundew. Photo by Gary Lee.