Joan and I have visited Dawes Arboretum several times in the last year, but I've documented only one such. Today's omnibus post catches up with three other occasions.
Wind Sculptures - 9/04/20
In 2020 over sixty wind-driven Lyman Whitaker wind sculptures were installed at the arboretum. Joan and I visited it on a sunny September day. (Click on any image to enlarge.)
Static photos of a kinetic sculpture make no sense, so here's a video clip of several of them (not all sixty!).
We also saw this dragonfly, a slaty skimmer.
The south end of the arboretum grounds holds a large pond.
I have few other photos, so it's time to move on.
Frog Sculptures - 07/30/21
The focus of this trip was "Ribbit the Exhibit," a collection of twenty-four frog sculptures placed around the grounds, none too far from the parking area. They delightfully speak for themselves, but first, two non-amphibian photos. First, a tiger swallowtail.
Then a dragonfly, a female eastern amberwing.
And on to a few frogs ... the focus of this visit ...
Walking the dog.
Riding a bike.
A croaking good concert.
Taking a break.
Watering the garden ... lower right.
Shhh.
Yippee ki-yay!
East Side - 9/03/21
This Friday we decided to return to the east side of the arboretum, much wilder than the main grounds, and reached by a tunnel under State Highway 13. En route to the tunnel, Joan and I stopped to admire an eruption of garden spiders on one of the witch hazel specimens.
The females are many times larger than the males, and there were many of the same size, spinning webs within feet of each other -- siblings?
Those white zigzags are not an accident, but part of the design of the web. The supposition is that the benefit of preventing bird collisions with the web outweighs the detriment of alerting insect prey.
Beyond the tunnel but before entering the woods, we saw butterflies and thistles.
The environment in the forest was much different, of course. At one point we heard a chainsaw, and soon encountered a crew clearing the trail where a tree had fallen across it. Joan and I stopped for a chat.
Fresh "Ghost plant/Indian pipes," or monotropa uniflora.
The woods had their own, more circumspect, orb weavers. I took this photo just as the builder plunged out of sight on a silken thread. I'd gotten too close!
This nut of the American beech caught our eye, too.
Dawes Arboretum is a gem, and it's only 40 minutes or less from our house!
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Static photos of a kinetic sculpture make no sense, so here's a video clip of several of them (not all sixty!).
I have few other photos, so it's time to move on. 
Then a dragonfly, a female eastern amberwing.
And on to a few frogs ... the focus of this visit ...
The females are many times larger than the males, and there were many of the same size, spinning webs within feet of each other -- siblings?
Those white zigzags are not an accident, but part of the design of the web. The supposition is that the benefit of preventing bird collisions with the web outweighs the detriment of alerting insect prey.
Beyond the tunnel but before entering the woods, we saw butterflies and thistles.
The environment in the forest was much different, of course. At one point we heard a chainsaw, and soon encountered a crew clearing the trail where a tree had fallen across it. Joan and I stopped for a chat.
The woods had their own, more circumspect, orb weavers. I took this photo just as the builder plunged out of sight on a silken thread. I'd gotten too close!
This nut of the American beech caught our eye, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments may not appear immediately as they are moderated by the author to eliminate spam.