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Archive for the ‘Absurd’ Category

A Unique Predator

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam on May 22, 2010| 4 Comments »

Extraordinary images from a remotely placed camera-trap yield glimpses of a rare mammal.  Long thought to be gone from the Falls of the Ohio, it appears the Feralocitor is recovering parts of its former range.  The Feralocitor is a carnivorous animal about the size of a very large house cat.  Genetically, a Feralocitor’s closest living relative is the Fossa from Madagascar which is that island’s largest and rarest native predator.  Both share a relentless drive to pursue prey and are especially adept at catching birds and small mammals in trees.  Like the Fossa, the Feralocitor has a long tail which it uses to balance itself as it runs and jumps from branch to branch in its arboreal home.  Pictures of the Feralocitor at the Falls of the Ohio came as a shock to the park’s naturalists who remain mute about its existence here although there have been long-standing rumors.

The image above shows what the Feralocitor is especially good at which is stalking its prey.  Noiselessly, this predator can get low to the ground (or log in this case) and approach within striking distance of its formidable claws and teeth.  Once a Feralocitor has a hold of its intended victim, there is no escape.  In addition to stalking, some Feralocitors (especially older or injured individuals) are excellent at hunting by ambush.  The original inhabitants of this land have an almost supernatural reverence for this animal and their name for it roughly translates to “…ghost-spirit of the trees”.  This reverence, however, wasn’t shared by the farmers who settled this area and saw the Feralocitor as another predator who killed and ate their smaller livestock.  It was shot on sight, poisoned, and trapped until it became so scarce that it was rarely seen and believed gone from these parts.  Today, the role of random predator is played by domestic dogs that have gone feral and occasionally run in packs causing fear and damage.  Such dogs exist at the Falls of the Ohio and here are a few images of them.

The feral dogs in this area are a motley crew of mixed breed dogs.  I recently came across two of them while bird watching and I was so intent on looking up, that I didn’t notice that these dogs had walked quite close to me.  In far western Kentucky, I recall an experience of being out in the woods and being surrounded by five wild dogs!  It was a tense moment because dogs in this situation can be dangerous.  I remember yelling at them and throwing rocks in their direction to chase them away.  Once there was a thriving sheep industry in the western part of the state that was decimated by feral dogs.  An old biology professor at Murray State University told me that one.  The dog in this second picture doesn’t seem particularly glad to have run into me and I’m probably interrupting his attempt at a meal from a nearby dumpster.  They seem always hungry and will take nearly anything that crosses their path.  There is a shortage of ground nesting birds in the park because there are just too many predators on the prowl and not enough cover.  World-wide, feral dogs are a resilient and growing problem and rabies is also on the rise.

I decided to camp out in an area where a Feralocitor was last seen.  After several days of nothing, I was rewarded with two separate  images of a hunting Feralocitor.  In this case, the prey animal (the Ohio Valley Rail) is also rare and endangered.  The first hunt I observed was successful, however, the Feralocitor was so efficient and quick at the kill that it was over and gone before I could get obtain another picture.  It waited until the bird’s head was down before launching its fatal attack.

In this second photo, the Feralocitor was unsuccessful when the bird sensed something was wrong and flew away.  By listening to its instincts, this rail lived to experience another day.  It is great seeing an animal that once existed in this area recovering some of its former range.  Similar stories exist from the recent past.  Once black bears were rumored in the eastern section of  Kentucky.  This was proven, they became studied, protected,  and  now there is a limited hunting season on them.  The same could be true of the mountain lion.  Persistent claims that they too are re-entering  their former territories will probably pan out as young lions move eastward pursuing the ever burgeoning deer population.  As for the Feralocitor, time will tell.  It isn’t an animal likely to be prized by hunters.

The last image is of the Feralocitor in progress.  It’s made of found Styrofoam, wood, nuts (for eyes), rubber, and plastic and was constructed on location during a light rain.  The sculpture was held together with sharpened wooden stakes and pins.  With the exception of the Feralocitor and the Ohio Valley Rail, other mentions in this post are factual.

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Echostains Spotlight

Posted in Absurd, Art, collecting art, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged , , , , , , on May 20, 2010| 3 Comments »

Guess what everybody!  An interview I did with one of my favorite blogs was recently published and I’m honored to be placed in the spotlight.  If you get the chance check out the interview and scroll through some of Lynda’s stories.  If you like art, poetry, popular culture and more…than you will find her blog worth the visit!

Here’s the link to the Echostains blog, http://echostains.wordpress.com/

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The Birds and the Trees

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , on May 19, 2010| 3 Comments »

I love this photo!  This Swainson’s Thrush seems so happy sitting on its berries.  At the Falls the migrant birds are around and our trees are flowering or fruiting.  I have been doing my best to come up with some nice bird photos in between other river activities like making art.  Most of the warblers are proving to be tough subjects.  The difference between getting a nice image and nothing is a thousandth of a second.  Warblers are very small and constantly moving.  There is a lot of thrush and catbird activity around the sweet mulberries and squabbles are frequent.

These pink and red mulberries will be ripe when they turn dark and black.  That’s when the wildlife particularly go for them.  This is a prolific tree and seems to be on the rise.

This bird atop a willow tree is a bit of a head scratcher for me.  I like that I was able to get such a relatively clear shot among the foliage, but what species of bird is this?  When I first took the photo, I thought I was photographing one of the seasonal vireos.  However, there is a suggestion of light-colored wing bars and perhaps a slightly streaked breast too which is an unusual combination.  That’s what I like about bird watching…it can be challenging even when you think you have a good image.

Wafting through the air were the tiny, cottony seeds of these black willow trees.  Many of these will land upon the sand and germinate.  Only the fittest can thrive in this tortured soil and manage the periodic flooding that helps define this place.

There were birds that I was able to photograph and identify like this pair of Mallard Ducks.  They were away from the river and more than likely have a nest nearby.  This Mourning Dove is showing a little of the iridescence on its neck that comes with the breeding season.  It’s hard to believe now that Audubon’s first drawing of the extinct Passenger Pigeon was made at the Falls of the Ohio.  That is certainly a bird I would have loved to add to my list of living species in the park.

I was able to add a new bird to my list on this trip and it’s an unusual one!  It’s called the Ohio Valley Rail and is usually heard more than it is seen.  It is not typical to run into one during the daylight hours.  So, when I came across this female near the river…I got real excited!

This bird is in transit to the marsh habitats that exist around the lakes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Since the Ohio Valley Rail is believed to travel at night…it is a mystery why this one isn’t sleeping in a secluded spot.  Originally discovered and named within the river valley by early 19th Century naturalists, it would be many years before it’s true northern haunts would be known to science.  The males are slightly smaller but have more developed plumage which they use to their fullest glory when they leap and dance into the air trying to win the favors of a female.  Successful dancers will pair up producing a clutch of two eggs usually in a nest located on the ground and made from cane leaves.  One last image of this rarely seen oddity with the big head and bright red bill.  Bon voyage!

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Mr. Easter Island Man’s Day at the Falls

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , on May 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Wow, what an incredible day yesterday was!  The weather was just perfect and I had the park to myself and I took full advantage of it.  The river is still a little higher than usual, but not as high as when Julia and I visited here last trip.  I made four Styrofoam figures and took a ton of pictures that I will show you over the course of the week.  Let’s start by me introducing Mr. Easter Island Man who has graciously agreed to share his day with us.  He was in town taking a break from being a tourist attraction and was himself on vacation in the river city.  Here’s something to help set the context.

Two recent events have shaped the environment at the park.  The first is all the rain we had that led to flooding and depositing massive amounts of driftwood and junk at the Falls.  The other is that Spring has more than taken a hold and you can feel Summer coming around the corner.  Everything is green, growing, and starting to feel jungle-like in places.

Skirting the driftwood mounds, I moved down to the river by the willow habitat.   Wisps of willow fuzz gently wafted on the air currents and small drifts were forming in the nooks and crannies of the driftwood.  Butterflies were on the wing. The trees were home to several warbler species and I was challenged to create a few good photos of them.  Punctuating the landscape were the occasional blue plastic barrels.  It seemed  a particularly strong color note in amongst the natural organic hues and tones.

We also see barrels and drums that are all white or all black every once in a while.  Ran into a guy not too long a go that collected a few of these plastic drums and he said he was going to make a raft from them.  I wonder if he was successful?  Hopefully, he didn’t try to take a float trip with the river as high as it was.  It’s dangerous to get caught in the wake from a massive coal barge cruising down river in a craft you can’t manuever very well.

Every wonder what those Easter Island sculptures look like below their giant heads?  Buried beneath the sand is an equally blocky body.  We walked around some more to see what had changed since our last visit?

 

Near the dam, you could find examples of how high the river got this time around.  Mr. Easter Island Man came across this staircase that became lodged in a willow.  In surrounding trees, plastic trash bags, and loose tree limbs were stranded in other branches.  The mud in this area was very soft and it was easy to sink down to your ankles in it.  You needed to plot your course in advance and take advantage of walking on the tops of the beached  logs.  This way, you also left fewer tracks behind.

Small waves were still slapping the shoreline and fresh junk was arriving by the second.  In a few days, the Ohio River will go down some more and another layer will have been deposited.  Mr. Easter Island Man was collecting beat-up fishing lures and bobbers.  He spotted a blue plastic crate in the surf zone, but when he checked it out, it was already broken. 

Not to far ahead, something else colorful had caught his eye.  It was a yellow and blue foam glider that rode in on the waves and was now drying out with the driftwood.  Something like this is too cool to just leave lying around and Mr. Easter Island Man collected it and made it his own.

Examining the soft airplane, it appeared to be undamaged.  Lifting the toy he cocked his arm and said before he threw it…now let’s see what this baby can do!  More from the Falls later this week including a rare sighting of the enigmatic riverine predator…the Feralocitor.

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4 Images at Oldham County

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2010| 5 Comments »

Just four quick photographs this time plucked from various adventures years ago.  These images are all featured in the exhibit I have at the Oldham County History Center and augment my display of sculptures and the fake food I’ve collected from the banks of the Ohio River.  When I make a figure from Styrofoam and other found materials…I’m actually more interested in the resulting photograph than I am the sculptural model itself.  It’s the context of where this stuff is made that I find important.  This piece was entitled “Moon Maid at Sun Set” and was as large as a person and eventually washed away by the river.

In most cases, the photographs are the only document I have that these things existed in the first place.  The sculptures have a way of eventually disappearing.  The image above records three different figures made at different times that have come together for just this shot.  The figure that has fallen over…I can recall the title I had for that one, it was…”My Hand Grenade of a Heart” and did feature a plastic hand grenade I found and embedded in this figure’s chest.  I guess it eventually exploded.

Ah…”Orange-Eyes” made during a blistering hot summer day on the exposed fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio.  Funny how you remember certain things!  The eyes are foam fishing bobbers and the mouth was made from the outer hull of a walnut.  I recall liking how the root from the stump this figure is posed against created the sensation of an extra upturned arm.  All these images in this post were made during my analog days.  There’s nothing tricky about the photography.  Just snapshot photos taken to the drug store and printed on a 4″ x 6″  inch format.  The photos were an extension of the idea that this was something anybody could do that didn’t require great technical knowledge or mastery.  In the current exhibition, these drug store prints were scanned by a friend of mine, digitized and blown up to approximately 30″ x 40″ inches.  My friend was in the business of creating courtroom displays that were used as supporting evidence.  Seemed appropriate to what I was doing and I had a small grant through the Kentucky Arts Council to do this.

The “Dog Playing with a Ball” was originally accompanied by an old woman figure I made.  She was wearing a fancy hat made from a Styrofoam bait bucket I found.  Both the woman and her dog were playing near the banks of the river.  Eventually, my 35mm SLR camera gave up the ghost and I was thrust into the digital age.  The bulk of the Falls projects I have made are still from the analog world and in their own way document a transition that occurred with technology.  Of late, I have also become intrigued by the correspondence I think exists between a bead of polystyrene and a pixel.  The internet has become a substitute river where images become tumbled and changed as they bump along electronically from place to place.  You just never know where this stuff might surface on the web and what might happen to it in the interim.

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Bottled Notes on Earth Day

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, watershed, tagged , , , , on May 10, 2010| 3 Comments »

Continuing a streak of good luck, I was able to catch up with video artist Julia Oldham and show her a little of my stretch of the river.  I first became acquainted with Julia’s work through Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest’s Connect event from last summer.  Several of her videos were being projected outdoors and I was frozen in my tracks by them.  I later learned she would become an artist in residence at Bernheim during the months of April and May of this year. We “cyber-met”  through each other’s blogs, leaving occasional post comments back and forth.  With considerable interest,  I anticipated meeting her in person for the first time.  Julia was kind enough to give me a sneak peek of the work she is creating at Bernheim and will formally “unveil” at the arboretum later this month.  Her newest works are as she is…smart, funny, and engaging.  I looked forward to sharing a river adventure together.

We arrived at the Falls in time to celebrate Earth Day…sort of.  It was two weeks late, windy, cool, and the muddy-colored Ohio River was still very high but receding.  The park was full of cars and people participating in the festivities.  Evidence of the high water was all along the shoreline and to be truthful, I felt dismayed by the sheer amount of crap present.  Happy Earth Day everybody…let’s celebrate this liquid landfill we call a river!

Pretty much all the spots I like to inhabit were still underwater or inaccessible and muddy.  I wondered how much of a bad impression this was making on Julia?  Quietly, it affected my mood and I tried to distract myself by making a quick sculpture from this junk.  But it fell apart and I didn’t manage to even get a picture of it!  The sight of so much river born garbage was repellent and I felt like a rubber-necker at the scene of an accident.  This is also part of the fascination that I have with this place, but rarely have I seen it this bad.  Where we could, we touched base with the river.  In places, there were immense logs and washed away trees driven against the bank.  Who knows what I will find once the river returns to a more normal pool?  Definitely, there won’t be a shortage of art making materials…maybe for years.

We visited the Interpretive Center and Julia was able to see some of the displays.  I have wanted the chance to photograph the large replica of the Permian Age amphibian among the ginkgo leaves and here it is.  I got down on my belly to get eye to eye with it!  From this angle it looks like a big frog, but it is a four-legged giant salamander-like critter and lived in the swamps that millions of years later became coal deposits.  It was maybe 3 1/2 feet long in life.  I wondered if it had a long tongue?

Several birds of prey were on hand as part of a raptors rehab program in our area.  We talked birds and I photographed this really pretty male American Kestrel.  I see wild and free kestrels in the park all the time.  This small falcon is our most colorful bird of prey.  I once observed a kestrel catching a Killdeer plover on the fossil beds.  The hunt was over in seconds.

Julia and I hiked around the park where we could and then we returned to my vehicle.  I had brought with me four clean, glass pint bottles I had found earlier at the Falls as well as materials to write notes or make drawings.  After sharing a Blue Dog peanut butter cookie and a couple of pears…we set to work.

I’m frequently asked if I have ever found a note in a bottle and I have to disappoint by saying no.  The ones I would make along with Julia are in fact the first notes I have ever put into bottles.  I have, however, been interested in doing this for some time and this seemed as good a moment as any.  The notes are written with permanent ink on Tyvek and paper.

I have no idea what Julia wrote in her notes and she doesn’t know what I put in mine.  We did, however, include some contact information just in case by some stroke of luck someone should find one of these bottles.  I hope that someone does.  It would be cool to see where it went!  I placed small fishing bobbers in each bottle to give it some more visual “pick me up” appeal and then Julia and I took photographs of them in front of the skyline of Louisville.  Since the river at the Falls wasn’t conducive for launching our bottles…we drove to nearby New Albany, Indiana.  In August, Julia will be having a solo show at the Carnegie Art and History Center and I thought Julia would like to see the space.  After a few beers at the New Albanian it was time to launch our bottled notes.  We went down to New Albany’s expansive waterfront and while Julia videotaped, I threw the bottles as far as I could and they landed with a splash to begin their journeys to destinations unknown.  The setting sun reflected on the glass of the floating bottles and I lost sight of them as they drifted towards the center of the Ohio River and points west.

The day went by so quickly and then it was time to go home.  We talked about our very different experiences in the art world, but in the end, felt like we had much in common.  The following morning, I opened the local paper and was surprised to discover an article about Julia in the art section.  It was a nice way to continue our first meeting.  If you are interested in seeing Julia’s work, her blog ” Bee Sting Brose” is on my blogroll.  A click there will take you to several links featuring her videos and articles written about her and her art.

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Derby Day at the Falls

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birding, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , on May 3, 2010| 3 Comments »

The Kentucky Derby happened 24 hours a go, but the bigger regional story was all the rain we received.  I’ve said this before in this blog, the gentle spring rains of yesteryear seem like a thing from the past.  Now every storm is charged with energy and abundant water.  In the Louisville area totals for the last two days are 5 to 7 inches ( 12 to 17.75 cms).  In Nashville, TN there is wide spread flooding.  There was one period of a few hours on Saturday that things were just misty.  That was as good as our luck ran this weekend.  I took that opportunity to get my river fix and it was good for my peace of mind!

Since I fully expected the rain to just pound me at any moment, I kept my eyes open as I moved along the river.  I had the place nearly to myself which helped make the Falls seem larger.  The willow trees were in bloom and there were even a few nice birds around.  I quickly made a figure from available Styrofoam and sticks and I will now turn the narrative over to him.

Yeah…we moved as fast as my beaver-chewed willow legs would carry me over the wet and packed sand.  We checked out the various debris fields near the river and took pictures of the things that caught our attention.  We came across a lost arm lying next to a plastic bottle and I wondered who would lose an arm and not miss it?  I picked it up and examined it.

It’s a perfectly good arm, but I don’t want to carry it around and so I left it where it was found.  If I find out later that I have a need for it…I think I can remember where this spot is provided the river doesn’t rise and rearrange things again.  Certainly looks a lot greener now than the last time I dropped by.

Of late, I’ve taken an interest in the remains of old fires and camp sites.  It’s a test of observation and I like to learn what I can from the charcoal and ashes, but this one has been hit hard by the rain and we learn little.

A colorful, but ruined soccer ball lay before us. The leading edge of the river usually has a few balls of one kind or another in the mix.  We stopped for a few snapshots than went our merry way.  There were more things we could see laying on the sand a head of us that looked worth checking out.

I traded the blue ring around my neck for a larger one I could wear around my waist.  It could be used as a flotation device if necessary!  Walking the shoreline we came across this vignette…a still life of tulips.  It’s a partially buried plastic watering can and the river has revealed this picture for us!

Oh man!  We found that awful jar of baloney again.  Even the river doesn’t want this thing and keeps casting it back upon the shore.  The thought crosses my mind that this might make good catfish bait if I could stomach running a hook through this mystery meat.  I wonder if that giant bug-thing is around?

Like I mentioned earlier…we saw a few birds too!  Some of our warmer weather birds have returned.  I thought we had some better pictures, but I guess there was just too much water in the air.  We did come across a pair of Canada Geese with three goslings doing the same thing we were…namely investigating the riverbank.  Their young are very cute!

And, we saw three of our favorite bird species!  The Yellow Warblers have returned and we tried like crazy to get a decent shot of this bird singing away, but the images were kind of gray.  Also saw a Spotted Sandpiper (but missing its spots) heading north.  We will see those spots upon its return migration from near the Arctic circle.  Indigo Buntings seem plentiful and we were fortunate to watch Baltimore Orioles chasing one another through the trees.  Here’s a picture of a male oriole who was watching a female among the branches and not intent on us. 

With hope, the Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks will be passing through soon.  I decided to hang out longer while that artist-guy went home.  I’ll be right here, unless someone else finds me first.

Well, that’s how our Derby Day went.  The rain stayed away long enough for the race to be run and by all reports the festival was an overall success.  I’m glad people had a good time, but I’m getting a little event weary and feeling the need to be more contemplative…and dry!

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Didactic Kiddie Plastic

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , on April 29, 2010| 2 Comments »

I am always photographing the junk I find at the Falls of the Ohio.  Looking through my newer images I was amazed by all the toys I have come across recently.  Now these are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  All time, this would be an immense category on its own.  When I’m doing my usual posts, I’ll throw in an odd find if I think it contributes to the story.  Otherwise, this stuff just gets buried in my computer.  Maybe when I’m an old man, I’ll come back and revisit this stuff.  By then, a lot of this junk will appear dated and nostalgic.  I’ll probably look that way too!

All the stuff I’m about to present is made of plastic, which is made from resins derived mostly from crude oil.  I remember seeing a picture of a middle class American home with all its plastic contents arranged in the front yard.  It looked like just about everything this house contained was made from plastic and it was shocking!

I have been following the news lately about that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and it has me feeling very anxious.  I don’t know why more people aren’t getting freaked out about this?  Essentially, you have a hole drilled deep into the ocean’s floor that’s hemorrhaging oil and the attempts to plug this hole haven’t worked.  The slick is already hundreds of miles long and will soon come into contact with the Gulf Coast’s rich estuaries.  A couple of years a go, my family vacationed in Gulf Shores, Alabama and it was fun and beautiful.  I don’t want to imagine those white beaches fouled with oil.

I debate with myself about whether something like this event can be considered a “natural disaster”?  Granted it probably doesn’t fit the usual definition, however, haven’t we (as a species of animal) that originated here make us “natural” as well?  Isn’t a big part of the problem that we have successfully convinced ourselves that we are on some other plane and that life’s rules don’t apply to us?  Aren’t all man-made disasters in effect natural disasters?

Often it seems more convenient to bury our heads in the sand and pretend events like this oil spill have no long-term effects.  Where is the outrage and our will to do the right thing?

Life is interconnected to life and it is ridiculous to think our mistakes don’t affect other organisms that have a right to exist in their own right.

Everywhere life is under pressure from the global scale of our activities.

The sad truth is unless we find ways to reconnect and revere nature…we will eventually will be  hammered by it.  One thing I see over and over at the Falls is that life is indifferent and doesn’t play favorites.  Will we be the architects of our own undoing?

If crude oil is a disappearing resource, doesn’t it make sense to use it for things that really matter?  Do we truly need to lock so much of it up in uses that are this disposable and forgettable?

Often it seems to me that we are in a big rush to go nowhere as fast as we can.  Why the big hurry?  Life is short enough and consuming everything we come into contact with isn’t going to make the experience more meaningful.  It’s past time to slow down and rearrange our priorities.

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Drains to River

Posted in Absurd, Art, birding, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, nature photography, Ohio River, watershed, tagged , , , on April 27, 2010| 4 Comments »

It doesn’t happen very often, but this was as close to a shut-out as I have experienced here at the Falls.  On this trip I didn’t make any sculptures and the resulting images weren’t as memorable.  Granted I didn’t give myself any time out here to speak of and there were other frustrations.  For one, I could barely get out of my neighborhood because of two simultaneous Derby festival events.  In a relatively tight area you could watch 15,000 runners go by or attend an arts and crafts fair.  Over the years the running thing is getting out of control and a different course needs to be constructed that goes around the city instead of paralyzing it.  You should have seen all the plastic bottles left by the side of the road and the hundreds that were discarded on the Second Street Bridge.  Many of these bottles were blown into the river by a steady wind.  Oh, and an hour after arriving at the park it rained really, really hard.  Sorry to be so down, especially when the sign above says “NO DUMPING”! 

I knew it would be a hassle with the festival activity and potential bad weather, but I went for it anyway.  It’s migratory bird season and I reasoned that if there was just one bird that I hadn’t seen before or if I made any other memorable sightings than it would be worth it!  At least the iris flowers looked nice by the Interpretive Center.

I decided to take the Woodland Trail that goes through a variety of habitats and see what was around.  I came across a small flock of White-throated Sparrows, but that was today’s avian highlight.  The sky was overcast and had that quality that makes everything seem backlit and tough to photograph.  I will say there was one thing happening that was absolutely delicious and a joy to partake in.

The lovely fragrance of honeysuckle vines and blooming honey locust trees hung in the humid air.  Their combined scents created a heavy, sweet perfume that it made it easier to appreciate the day for what it was.  On the walk back, I checked out the river and did find one interesting item.  It’s nature’s template cast off after use!  This is how oaks and tulips came to be.

I have been planning a drawing project and so this is a serendipitous find.  I definitely will put this template to work.  As I was walking along the river the little bit of mist became a monsoon.  There was a single huge flash of lightning and the resulting thunder could be heard bouncing around the valley.  I guess even Earth Day must take back seat to the Kentucky Derby Festival because the park moved their observance from the official day of April 22 to May 8! That’s one way to make any day, Earth Day!

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Genus Polystyrenus

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2010| 9 Comments »

Dodging snakes and collecting washed up cigarette lighters with my friend Jeff was not the only action we had on this excursion to the Falls of the Ohio.  By now, I should not be surprised by what turns up at this remarkable location…because it happens with such regularity.  For me, the thrill of discovery has become addictive and interwoven into my creative process.  Recalling events, I believe it was my friend Jeff who stumbled upon this revolting artifact and so I will begin this story here.

It’s a very large jar of bologna.  The contents have more than settled, in fact they have decayed to the point of becoming cream of bologna.  I know, this is completely disgusting, but bear with me for the real point of the story follows this discovery.  It was a short distance from this jar that we encountered another remarkable member of the Genus Polystyrenus.

Hidden just out of sight among the debris line was this very large and aggressive looking insect.  I estimate that this impressive creature was about two feet long.  It would be an under estimation to say that both Jeff and I were taken aback (how we both avoided voiding our bladders upon our persons, I will never know).  After what seemed a very long length of time, the amateur naturalist in me took over and I began taking photographs and making observations.  Here’s a detail of its head and impressive jaws.  It’s small antennae were wiggling back and forth.

Looking at the mandibles, I’m guessing that this creature had adapted to eating meat or carrion, both of which are found at the Falls.  It emitted a sickly sweet odor.  I think our large bug friend had discovered the bologna jar before we did and we may have interrupted its meal?  Because this ant-wasp, (seems to have characteristics of both) did not defend its bologna bode well for Jeff and I.  In fact, we did learn that despite its fearsome appearance our bug friend was retiring and unaggressive.  I decided to tag along and learn what I could about this amazing one of a kind animal.

From a short distance away, I was able to observe some behaviors that I recorded with my camera.  I believe that my assumption about it’s being a scavenger is on target.  I watched our insect “friend” actively investigating an old bone it had come across.  The bone was rolled around in its jaws as though our bug was tasting it?  Finding no meat, it simply dropped the bone.  I also noted that this creature has vestigial wings that have atrophied to a yellow flap found attached to the rear of its thorax and ironically has the appearance of a fly swatter.  Perhaps its large size makes flight an impossibility and the wings have shrunk to the present size?

Near the tree line, and keeping a respectful distance away, I observed Polystyrenus investigating a large plastic pipe mostly buried in the sand.  It did attempt to dig away the sand blocking the entrance to the pipe, but soon abandoned this effort.  I don’t want to assume too much, but I was intuiting at the time that it was looking for a burrow in which to hide, etc…  I did make a discreet effort to determine its gender, but was unsuccessful.  Here’s my last picture of it.

Amazingly, our bug was making short work from what was once a large barge cable that was originally as thick as a stout man’s forearm.  It’s jaws easily shredded the nylon strands.  Why it was doing this…will require more research.  Shortly after this image was taken, the sound of loud, boorish people coming down the riverbank spooked our insect and it took off with surprising speed over the sandy surface of the Falls.  Perhaps it understood that Jeff and I posed no threat, but it couldn’t be certain of the strangers?  During the short amount of time I was studying this creature I also noted that it didn’t have claws to speak of and didn’t possess a stinger.  Perhaps I will encounter this insect or other large insect species again because this is not the only time I have come across similar giants.  Take a look at these specimens for which the genus Polystyrenus was originally named. 

This has been classified as Polystyrenus ichthyphagia, based in part on this remarkable photograph of it feeding on a non-native, dead fish.  I made this discovery several years a go…in fact, it is with some regret that I collected (euphemism for killed) this specimen and one other that turned out to be a male and female.  This was done of course in the name of science.  The one feeding on the fish is the female.  Note the flute-like ovipositor and vestigial wings which made a raspy sound.  The mouth parts on P. icthyphagia have adapted for sucking.  Why these large insects have appeared at the Falls is inconclusive.  But I believe this is evolution at work.  The more we change our environment, the more we affect not only ourselves but all the other creatures that call this place home.  It can’t help to release tons of fireworks chemicals into the atmosphere and what we do with the water in general is a crime.  I will leave my soap box for the moment.  I suppose the reason that these giant insects have evaded previous detection is that they so strongly imitate garbage and detritus that they can elude most people’s notice.  Here’s a photograph of the dried and preserved male and female P. ichthyphagia with its egg case.  There is some sexual dimorphism with the male being considerably smaller than the female.  These specimens are in separate collections now.  The name Polystyrenus was chosen because the exoskeletons of these amazing insects so strongly resembles polystyrene, also generically known as Styrofoam.  The largest bug here is over three feet long.

As a kid, I fell in love with one particular story that appeared in an old Natural Geographic entitled “Giant Insects of the Amazon”.  Its author, Paul Zahl must have had the best job in the world to be able to travel to exotic places to study rare and unusual animals.  I suppose, I’m doing something similar, but I’m not traveling far from home and making my own giants.  Here’s the last picture of how I began the latest Polystyrenus receiving inspiration from the materials I find on location.  Although I didn’t use all the stuff here…it provided a template of sorts. 

I dedicate this post to Julia Oldham, bug lover and current artist in residence at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in nearby Clermont, Kentucky.

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