Tag: nature journaling

Meleagris gallopavo domesticus

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I didn’t know that turkeys made gentle squeaks or clucks until I spent some time observing a group of them today. I just watched a video on turkey vocalisations, and learned that this is a general communication sound used to get attention or signal that everything is normal. They have at least 8 other vocalizations besides the famous gobble-gobble. Learn something new every day!

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

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At the State Park the other day, I amazed and delighted a group of toddlers by pointing out the cliff swallow nests under the eaves of the restrooms.

The cliff swallow is among North America’s most social landbirds. They often nest in large colonies, with a single site sometimes hosting several thousand active nests. Their nests are made from sticky clay, which can endure for years, and the birds’ tier-stacking building technique helps support them. Swallows from the same colony cooperate in nest building: they gather mud together in small areas and then return to their nests carrying clumps in their bills. They preen, feed, drink, and bathe in groups, and they continue sticking together in large flocks during migration and on their wintering grounds. 

thigmotropism

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Thigmotropism occurs due to unilateral growth inhibition. In twining and tendrilled plants, the growth rate on the side which is being touched is slower than on the side opposite the touch. The resultant growth pattern is to curl around the object which is touching the plant.

Roots also rely on touch to navigate their way through the soil. Generally, roots have a negative touch response, meaning when they feel an object, they grow away from it. This allows the roots to go through the soil with minimum resistance. Because of this behavior, roots are said to be negatively thigmotropic.

I’m tucking this new word into my vocabulary pocket for a future scrabble game.

cute(icle)

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Excuse me while I wax lyrical about plants: carnauba wax is obtained from the fronds of the carnauba palm (Copernicia prunifera) of Brazil. Valued for its hardness and high melting temperature, carnauba wax is employed as a vegan food-grade polish and as a hardening or gelling agent in a number of products. Despite the widespread adoption of cheaper synthetics, it is still common as a component of certain furniture, leather, car, and shoe polishes and is used in cosmetics such as lipsticks. It is also used as a polish for candies and medicinal pills, as a thickener for solvents and oils, and as a hardener for printing inks.

P.S. So fun to actually see stomata with my microscope. They’re not just simple holes! They have guard cells that open and close the holes. Very cool.