Ruby meadowhawk

 

Dragonfly or damselfly? Until I took a picture of this ruby meadowhawk and hit the Web seeking to learn more about my subject, I had thought that dragonflies and damselflies were simply different names for the same flying insect. I was wrong.

Dragonfly adults have robust bodies, and perch with wings held out to the side. The eyes are huge and may meet at the top of the head. The bodies of damselfly adults, on the other hand, are slender, and most damselflies fold the wings together over the abdomen when resting. 

Damselfly eyes are very large and are set to the side of the head rather than dominating the front as with dragonflies. The two even look different when in flight. Dragonflies have a smooth flight path while damselflies flutter.

The meadowhawks are skimmers. Why these dragonflies are called skimmers is a good question. It certainly is not because of how they catch their prey. Meadowhawks perch on twig and rocks, sit quietly and scan the immediate area for flying insects. The ruby meadowhawk in my photo is seeking a meal on the wing.

Efficient helicopter cropdusting

When I first saw the helicopter it was twisting about just a short distance from the highway. I feared I was about to see a crash. But the helicopter completed the twisting manoeuvre, flattened out and disappeared in a white cloud. It was a crop duster.

I've learned that the small fields in the area, filled with obstacles and surrounded by busy highways and suburban home are best served by helicopter crop dusters. For dusting big, open fields, the airplane excels but not here.

Helicopters are more expensive to operate and maintain than airplanes. Helicopters carry smaller payloads and fly at slower airspeeds than the fixed wind competition. But an experienced helicopter pilot can completely dust a small field very efficiently. One of the efficiencies is the the pilot's skill at smartly flipping his aircraft around at the end of field and making the next pass almost immediately.

The pilot I saw seemed to be  very efficient.

Round bales superior to rectangular

 

Hay bales were rectangular and much, much smaller when I was a boy. I've often wondered what the advantages the big, cylindrical bales offer over the older, smaller rectangular bales. It turns out that a lot of city folk ask this question.

• More hay is stored in a cylindrical bale. Cylindrical bales can weigh up to 1500 lbs. The older, smaller, rectangular bales topped out at about fifty or sixty lbs.
• Because of the great difference in weight, it can much longer to transport, stack and store the smaller rectangular bales.
• Large bales are not as prone to mold and rot. This makes them a healthier food choice for a farmer's animals.
• Hay is dried alfalfa and assorted grasses that is fed to cattle and horse during the winter. A big operation, with a large herd of cattle, can feed far more animals with one bale when it is a large, cylindrical one and not one of the older rectangular bales.

And there you have it. The technology making the large, cylindrical bales possible is a big improvement over the older system. Storing bales used to be a job for three or four people. Today, it is a one-person job.

Wild turkeys moving into town

 

Decades ago over-hunting eliminated (extirpated - made locally extinct) the wild turkey in Ontario. Reintroduced to southern Ontario in 1984, wild turkeys are now found everywhere, even in the city. This one was sighted strolling about the court on which I live in London, Ontario.

Coneflowers are native to North America

 

 

Coneflowers originated in North America. Then the English discovered these wild-growing New World flowers and took them back to England where the coneflower fared very nicely in English gardens. After a little over a century on the island, Lewis and Clark sent specimens back to the United States to the attention of President Jefferson.

But it was the Germans during the flower power era of the 1960s who finally gave the coneflower the attention it deserves. The German plant breeders cross bred various coneflower species to create an improved range of colours, forms and growing habits. By the 1980s American plant breeders had picked up the work. Today there are possibly 100 hybrids and cultivated varieties of coneflower available.

Bootleg fire in Oregon cause of red sun in London

 

The Bootleg fire in Oregon in the American northwest is the largest fire burning in the U.S. at present and it is immense. It has burned nearly 400,000 acres. The smoke from the Oregon fire is drifting right across the continent resulting in hazy red sunsets in London, Ontario, Canada, 2500 miles away.

The New York Times reported that New York City residents are now awakening to a hazy red sun thanks to the smoke from the west coast forest fire. Some experts estimate that the Bootleg fire, which at this point is still growing, may not be under control until sometime in November!

Yard Sail: not my spelling

Is this homemade poster advertising a yard sale really a child's work? Why do I wonder? The spelling of yard sale as "yard sail". It seems a little too cute. It is posted in a good location. A location where it should get lots of attention. It is stuck to the children's playground monkey bars installation.