Today was Connor’s 13th birthday and also the day my grandpa would have turned 97 (if I’m remembering correctly that he was born in 1917 Update: he was born in 1918, so he would have been 96).
I wanted to follow up on some ground dogwood (Cornus sp) leaf mine observations, so we went out to the Forest and Muskeg Trail and walked up a short distance. Connor and Rowan helped me find additional leaf mines in salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and large-leaf avens (Geum macrophyllum) as well as the dogwoods I had already noticed.
Along the way back, two Steller’s Jays showed up and seemed at least a little bit curious about them. We tried imitating their calls that were something like “tshhhh tshhhh tshhhh ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch”. Really, we were mostly just trying for the rhythm and feel, as I’m not sure how to produce the actual sound of their voice. In any case, that seemed to arouse their curiosity even more, and they spent several minutes in the trees near where we were.
This afternoon we spent some time celebrating Connor’s birthday at Whale Park. The water seems to have lost the green color it had earlier this summer. Connor and Rowan had fun running around on the slope looking after squirrels and picking huckleberries. Rowan also found a ghost moth (Gazoryctra sp) resting on part of the railing.
