In the books - insect field guides

It was the perfect morning. We were a little late so the traffic in and out of the park was a bit of a hazard. But we braved a race across the street discovered the baseball fields empty and the soccer fields anthills of activity.

We met a few people on our way. One couple was heading west as we headed east. Our eyes were blinded by the angle of the sunlight, but we managed to see them and move out of the way. [I prefer people think the dogs are somewhat dangerous. I doubt I convince many as I fake sooth them - "It's OK. Steady now. Let these folks walk by."]

We tried to head down the dirt road without witnesses but the undergrowth has died back and we were often in clear view of the soccer crowds. Ah, well, most people were not interested in us anyways as we could tell from the noise of the crowd that the games were exciting on this crisp fall day.

My goal was to check and see if the liatris is blooming. It is not-not here anyway. A friend has already taken photos of some around the lake where he walks his dogs.

I was surprised to find the yellow, orange and maroon cone flowers are blooming again. Then there were white and yellow aster-like blooms under the grasses, ragweed (we knew we would find it - our allergies have been raging for weeks) and and the ever faithful wild verbena continuing its purple blooms. We looked up to see a sunflower bush - full of flowers facing the brilliant early morning sun.

Most prolific were the grasses. No one has mowed and the grass stands almost chest high in the meadows and along the road. This morning the grass was bent, seed heads weighted down by the dew. It created almost a tunnel over the track as the pups walked through. They came out shiny with the dew and sprinkled with grass seed. I remembered all those science classes when we learned how wild seeds are scattered by wind and birds and animals.

I know I am late to gather wild seeds, but I tried to identify a few I wanted. I just dropped all the seeds and seed heads in my back pocket as I walked along - wild mint, cone flower, wafer ash, and maybe some gaillardia (I may have missed them all, but this dried puff looked like it might have been that brilliant firewheel earlier in the summer). I also found a few of the purple leather flower ready and a dozen or more still green - late bloomers encouraged by our late rains. I will watch these until they are ready to drop. I have already left plenty for next year's blooms.

When we doubled back and passed the wafer ash saplings I have watched all summer I noticed some weird discoloration on the ends of a few slight branches. What? There were a half dozen large caterpillar-like creatures (and me with no camera). I tried to memorize the shape and coloration and size for a search through the guidebooks at home.

As we left the road I spied another caterpillar - we called these "woolly worms" when we were kids. I seem to remember that some of these guys sting so I left them alone.

Pockets filled with seeds, I encouraged the pups to stop stalling - we have much to do today. We greeted one last fellow wanderer today. Our neighbor jogged by and we had 10 feet of conversation before he was out of range for a chat.

I left the pups panting in the yard and started emptying my pockets in the kitchen. Creatures started moving between my fingers and seeds spilled on the floor. Three large (almost an inch) flying ants were dispatched as soon as I could get Hobbes away from them. Some seeds made it to a dish and I saw at least one spider crawling around in it.

I suspect my harvesting will be more cautious in the future as I continue to feel creepy crawlies even though I suspect "I got them all."

I have also promised myself that I will locate the camera for tomorrow's walk. It is around here somewhere.

Identification of caterpillars:

Giant swallowtail (I think) on the wafer ash
Woolly worm is probably Tiger moth.