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Through the Willow Portal

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artistatexit0, autumn, dead mouse, ecostory, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found art materials, melancholy, nature, nature story, outdoor art studio, photography, public art, sense of place, Styrofoam, willow leaves, willow tree on November 9, 2013| 14 Comments »

A gorgeous fall day with light that was almost impossibly bright. It’s autumn at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Small groups of migrating birds including various warblers, titmice, and kinglets are moving through the willow tops. Around each stand of willow trees, the ground is covered by yellowing leaves that have been recently dropped. There is a fresh, spicy, vegetative fragrance in the air as the more recently shed leaves give up their essence before curling up and turning brown. Although I have been to the Falls numerous times lately… it’s been a few months since I last visited my old outdoor atelier in the woods. Today seems as good a time to check out how my site has fared in my absence.

The wooden structure that once surrounded my cached materials remains collapsed. Some of the larger pieces of Styrofoam I had gathered from the river have been moved nearby. Stuff has been scattered around, but that is also part of the ongoing history and fate of this material. I may refer to this junk as “mine”, but I don’t feel a true sense of ownership. While this material remains out here…it belongs to all of us. We created, used, and then disposed of it, often carelessly. I don’t have a lot of time to spend out here on this particular day and so I got busy making “something” from this largess. I select a few chunks of polystyrene that will become my latest figure and before long I attract an audience of one.

This Gray Squirrel seemed very intent upon my activities. Perhaps he thought there might be food involved? I have to say that I was really amused by this little animal checking me out. He watched me for a minute or two and then headed deeper into the trees.

The figure I created was not very complex. It’s head was rather skull-like and so I added a found black and white swimming noodle and a pink nose that was the plastic handle to something to give it more “levity”. One of the first places I posed my latest was by the larger remains of former projects that were moved away from the other Styrofoam pieces I had assembled. It doesn’t appear that whomever moved this stuff…did anything else with it.

Coming across a late season mushroom, its whiteness and material consistency reminds me of the polystyrene I salvage to make art with. Both the mushroom and Styrofoam are made from extracted, spent life. The difference is the mushroom is alive and one day will also return to the earth to nourish other life. The Styrofoam on the other hand, is a dead material and probably won’t decompose easily for quite a long period of time. To move away from thoughts about decay and such…I move into the light and to be near the water.

It doesn’t take long before I find just the right location that will represent this figure and day to me in photographs. I rediscover an especially picturesque willow tree whose trunk and roots have been sculpted by time and the river to form a portal or window. This is where I decided to photograph and leave this figure.

Because the ground was muddy and soft…it was also easy to stand my figure upright. My attention wandered back and forth between the possibilities this novel view afforded. I imagined the figure looking back at me through the portal and other shifting points of view. Here’s how the figure looked set up on the other side where I once originally stood.

The day was getting late and it was time for me to move on. On the walk back I came across a recently deceased mouse in the willow leaves. Something about this season brings out the melancholy in me. All life, no matter how small, strikes me as being worthy of note. Using my fingers, I raked the willow leaves away from the mouse’s body and created this parting image. See you next time from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Three Flowers and Three Fish

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, unusual collection, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, creativity, ecological art, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fish, flowers, fossil beds, found objects, found toys, lucky finds, nature, photography, sense of place on September 23, 2013| 11 Comments »

This post is the last of this year’s summer posts and documents a walk I made at the Falls of the Ohio State Park one week before autumn officially began. As you can see by the pictures…it was a very beautiful day filled with all kinds of discoveries. There was a profusion of yellow-flowering plants of various species including goldenrod and sunflowers. Here is a detail, I think from the Woodland Sunflower? I wish I was as confident about plants as I am in identifying animals. When I break out my flower books, I realize it would aid identification greatly to have an example on hand. Collecting plants is not allowed within the park limits…so I try to take photos that might be of use in discerning the various closely related species. Besides, I don’t think pressing these plants flat would even work? I ask myself, what leaf shape does it have? Are the leaves serrated, smooth, or hairy and how many rays do the flower heads have and other such questions of concern to the botanist.

I suppose I’m more of an imaginative botanist at heart who also appreciates the beauty and variety the many flowers add to the temporal landscape. I do, however, stumble upon plants that I wonder if anyone else is noticing? I’ve posted about these anomalies before and as the seasons change, the parade of these “unnatural plants” and “faux flowers” continues. Consider these fresh blooms.

I call this one the “Surprising Poinsettia” because it comes shockingly red and completely unexpected. Its sepals are rather fabric-like and its stem is grafted upon this sunflower by some unknown means. The next plant is more subtle.

This is “Orangey-tickseed” and at first blush, one might be tempted to pass over it. I had to do a double-take on this one, however, my instincts told me something was not quite right here. Indeed the orange-colored flowers are not at all like the yellow plant it is cohabiting with. Again, the texture is very much like plastic. One final plant before moving on to other interesting discoveries.

I found this beautiful flower growing near the river in the sand and I have designated it the “Pink Sand Lily” because I’m not sure what else to call it? It is for the most part, a low growing plant and the “flower” appears at the terminal end of a wiry green stalk about four inches tall or so. The flower petals are composed of a string-like fiber while the stamens are hard and have pseudo-pollen on them. These unusual plants were not my only discoveries on this fine day. I nearly always find some doll or doll part that the river has washed into here and today was no exception. I spotted a form in the wood chips and bark bits and went in for a closer look. Dusting off the form revealed this doll body.

This was quite unlike any other doll “body” I’ve found before at the river. The material was obviously made from a foam-like material, but it had the flexibility of rubber. Nearby, I also discovered an unusual serpent.

Approximately a foot long, this red plush snake had large black eyes and had just a bit of its tongue sticking out. This is the first of one of these objects that I have come across . The river was flowing nearby and I walked over to the edge of the riverbank. The water level has finally leveled off to more of its seasonal pool and the fossil banks on the Kentucky side were exposed for the first time this year. Looking along the water’s edge, I came across this Freshwater Drum that an angler caught and released. Unfortunately, for the fish…it did not survive being captured. Here is its final portrait.

The Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) is a widespread fish and common in the Ohio River. It has several molar-like teeth in its mouth that it uses to crush and eat snails and small clams. The drum is not considered a desirable food species around here. Here’s another fish I found on this walk that is also inedible.

The second “fish” I came across was this plastic bottle. I’m guessing that the bottle may have contained shampoo for children? Regardless, I was struck by the level of abstraction occurring here. The tail is minimally represented and the gills are indicated by two lines near the eyes, but there is enough here to suggest a fish. My next find is mid way between the drum and the plastic bottle being closer to the latter than the former. Here are two views of it.

This is a Silvergill which is closely related to the Iron Gill (which I have posted about previously). Differences between the two species include size (this fish is smaller) and some of the fins are not the same shape or in the same position. The Silvergill is much more rarely encountered than its larger cousin. It is found in water of average to poor quality and often associated with coal and coal dust. It is omnivorous and eats aquatic insect larvae and algae which it grazes off of rocks. I’m assuming that it washed up here a victim (like the Freshwater Drum) of an angler looking to catch something more worthwhile. I took a few photos and then moved on. The fossil beds were beckoning and I could see the resident flock of Black Vultures congregating on the rocks. No doubt they had discovered a fish or two on their own. Until next time from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Life in a Bucket

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, ecosytem, environmental art, nature, nature photography, tagged Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, found material art, life, nature, nature story, photography, recycled art, repurposed art, willow tree on September 14, 2013| 12 Comments »

The Orangeman was really excited to see me and asked me breathlessly, “Where have you been lately?” I filled him in about my busy life and work and then turned the table by asking my friend what all the hubbub was about? He knows that if I could I would spend most of my time down by the river and probably go completely native and become a river rat in the process. He also knows that if there is something not to be missed down by the Falls of the Ohio…that I would do my best not to miss it! The Orangeman explained that he had several things he wanted to show me beginning with a monumental discovery he came across in a discarded plastic five gallon bucket. This would be Exhibit A.

The slightly sun-faded blue bucket or pail was sitting on an angle in the sand…just as the river had left it. River mud and dirt more than filled the bucket up passed the midway point. Orangeman walked me over to the bucket and said “Peek inside and tell me what you see.” I did as he asked and more than a little perplexed I replied…”Well, I see a few small plants and vines growing in the dirt.” Orangeman groaned…”That part is obvious, however, the deeper meaning lies in how resilient life is and even within the confines of a plastic bucket…life wants to grow and express itself.” I had to admit that the Orangeman was making an interesting point here. At home, I keep flowers and plants in flower pots and other containers made for the purpose and get pleasure from seeing them thrive and be beautiful. What I hadn’t considered was the idea that any container also acts as a barrier. Life wants to join with life and be a part of the interconnected whole. The roots of these bucket plants were only going to be able to spread so far. Still, as the Orangeman explained…”The will to live and grow is strong even if there are limitations present. There was more to see and the Orangeman walked me over to Exhibit B.

I must admit that I was impressed by the second example that my friend the Orangeman showed me. In a shattered plastic drum, various grasses and so-called weeds were sprouting through a large hole in the top of the container. Years ago, dirt and sand filled the barrel through the actions of river water and wind rendering it too heavy to pick up and move. Different plant seeds found their way into the barrel and discovering this small niche…set out to colonize and thrive as best they could. Perhaps these grasses will find enough of what they need to move through their life cycle and produce seed for another generation? Or perhaps they won’t due to all kinds of other variables, but the point remains that life will take that chance.

I hadn’t seen the Orangeman in such a didactic mood before and I was impressed with his earnestness. Previously, he had struck me as a happy-go-lucky guy and not especially bothered by all the serious stuff in the world. I certainly was seeing a different side of my friend that I hadn’t seen before. We walked and talked together and before long reached the last sight he wanted me to see. We might as well designate this as Exhibit C of the day.

The Orangeman stopped next to an old discarded tire and with a flourish of his arms and hands and said, “Here it is!” The “it” part was a small willow tree that was growing through the center of the tire. I didn’t tell my friend this but, I already knew about this particular tree and another one I had discovered very similar to it in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. I had even photographed this very tree on several occasions. This is how it looked in late spring.

We had a relatively cool spring and it seemed to my eye that the plants at the Falls got off to a slow start. The willow-in-the-tire took its time ‘leafing out”, but eventually it did. Now I must say that a tree growing through the middle of a tire is a remarkable thing, however, there is more to admire about this particular tree. The Orangeman invited me to make a closer inspection.

Amazingly, this willow tree was growing through the holes in the metal wheel that were still in the tire! The tiny, wispy seeds from a willow tree must have passed through one of the holes and taken root in the mud and soil beneath the tire. Hungry and thirsty for light, the various branches moved through the holes. I told the Orangeman that this was indeed an amazing example of life making do in very unpromising circumstances.

I’m going to monitor this tree with the Orangeman’s help because I’m curious to see if it can continue to thrive and grow. Will it eventually lift the tire into the air like some perverse hula-hoop as the trunk thickens and becomes more pronounced? Or, will the holes in the metal prove too restrictive and choke the life out these branches? Or, will something else out of the blue change the situation? The river usually gets the last word and flooding could easily send a flotilla of battering logs the willow tree’s way. The Orangeman and I parted company, but not before I thanked him for his time. Indeed, he had given me much to mull over. The idea that life is very resilient and will find a way to endure was comforting to me…especially as the physical world continues to change around us.

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The Camelope and Other Wildlife

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, recycled art, tagged Art, art and nature, artist at exit 0, creativity, ecostory, ecosystem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Falls of the Ohio State Park, fantasy, nature, nature story, newly discovered animals, photography, Styrofoam art on September 2, 2013| 13 Comments »

The Falls of the Ohio is a special place in the history of life. From the ancient marine creatures whose remains are preserved in limestone dating back more than 370 million years a go to the contemporary creatures that inhabit the park today…it is my goal to celebrate life here in all its diversity. I’m going to use this post to present images of recent finds. I was exploring the western side of this state park recently and saw this spider’s web high off the ground catching the early morning light. I’m sure its architect would prefer a buggy meal over the photons it has snared instead! Looking at this web image, I’m struck by how similar this looks to the cross-section of a tree. Can you see that too with the outermost silk rings resembling a tree’s growth rings? In the Purple Loosestrife stands, butterflies were having a nectar feast and I presented many images of them in a previous post. Here’s one more to add to that portfolio. I have seen this butterfly species wind up on the spider’s menu before.

This is the Dog Face Butterfly (Colias cestonia ). It is often difficult to photograph this butterfly in the wild with its wings open because this species prefers to feed with its wings held together. Through the strong light passing through the forewings, you can get the suggestion of a dog’s head in profile. Imagine the black rimmed spot as the “dog’s eye” with its muzzle pointing down. When open, the dark interior margins of the wings are a warm black color. I was exploring the interstitial sandy zone between the river and the willow woods…when I came across this interesting amphibian.

If this American Toad ( Bufo americanus ) had not moved…I doubt I would have seen it. It’s coloration is wonderfully cryptic easily blending into the sand. The toad was busy hunting among the debris and driftwood for any insects and invertebrates it could find. I don’t encounter many amphibians out here…so finding a common toad is a noteworthy event. Let’s move up the evolutionary ladder a bit. I was busy working on one of my Styrofoam sculptures at my outdoor studio when I felt I was being watched. When I lifted my eyes up from my artwork…I found myself looking eye to eye with this critter.

This is the common Groundhog or Woodchuck ( Marmota monax ). As its scientific name suggests, this large rodent is a member of the marmot family. Woodchucks are successfully established at the Falls and I encounter them often. They are fast diggers and live in an extensive system of burrows. Woodchucks usually don’t stray too far away from the entrances to their burrows. Succulent greens are the preferred foods. This particular woodchuck regarding me is a young individual and may be seeking territory of its own? Usually, I don’t see them this close to the river. I did have an interesting recent encounter with a very different animal in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Have you ever heard of an animal called the Camelope, (Antilocapra fallsei )? It is very rarely seen. The flora and fauna at the Falls can be roughly divided between forms that are “natural” and “unnatural”. The spider, butterfly, toad, and woodchuck fit in the natural fauna category, while the Camelope is definitely on the unnatural fauna side of life and may represent evolution at an accelerated pace? The many stresses to the environment and its myriad ecosystems have required a dramatic response and creatures like the Camelope may be nature’s way of responding to these changes? I’m not a trained scientist, but that is my educated guess. Discovering and documenting these recent life forms has become a passion of mine. Anyway, let’s look at a Camelope. Let’s start with an image of its head.

It’s called a Camelope because its head generally resembles that of a camel’s. This is a browsing animal and accepts a wide range of vegetation growing along the river. It has dark eyes that are always nervously looking around for potential predators. This park is also home to Feralocitors that prey upon Camelopes. This particular species also has an acute sense of smell.

I came across this Camelope in a more isolated section of the park. It was hiding among the stands of loosestrife and drinking water from the springs that flow downhill and into the river. It is ever alert and very nimble with quick feet and seemingly at home climbing on rocks or navigating through dense vegetation. Their bodies resemble that of deer or antelopes…hence Camelope.

Since it is a relatively new animal…not very much is known about it. I was able to conceal my presence long enough to manage these images. I either moved or the wind shifted, but anyway my presence was detected and with a quick bound, the Camelope disappeared into the brush. I hope I may come across it again and learn more about its secretive life. Regardless, I will keep my eyes open and my camera at the ready for any new “unnatural” life forms I discover. It occurred to me on my way home that my Falls of the Ohio Project is now officially ten years old! I started exploring this fascinating park as the Artist at Exit 0 in August 2003 when the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was being celebrated. Reading early 19th century accounts of the natural abundance of our country and this place in particular made me wistful for a world that no longer exists. Two hundred years later…that process continues and no doubt will two hundred years from now. I have often thought of this riverblog as a historical document as relevant today as Lewis and Clark’s notebooks and journals were back when this country was first being described. I hope this park and its remarkable history will continue to inspire people for a very long time. In closing, I would like to present an image of Canada Geese on the water near the fossil beds. Their coloration gives them in my mind’s eye a formal quality and lends dignity to the landscape. Until next time…from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Journey to Loosestrife Land

Posted in Absurd, Art, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature, nature photography, recycled art, watershed, tagged Art, artificial flowers, artistatexit0, driftwood, ecological story, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, nature, Ohio River, photography, plastic plants and flowers, trumpet creeper vine, wild flowers, Wild Potato-Vine on August 10, 2013| 1 Comment »

Resolved to stay away from my old atelier under the willow trees for a while, I decided to explore the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. It was just the most beautiful day and residents of our area have remarked on how unusually nice it’s been of late. The air today has wonderful clarity and although it’s summer and the sun is shining…we are many degrees below our usual temps. I feel the western part of the Falls of the Ohio begins once you cross the creek at the end of the Woodland Loop Trail. This is an area that receives fewer visitors and I’m happy just to wander with nothing on my mind. As I walk the narrow strip of land that is the riverbank, on my left are sounds from the river and on my right are various bird songs originating under the tree canopy. I see the formerly high river has deposited driftwood here in new configurations along with the usual plastic junk. My eyes are open and ready for anything. I doesn’t take very long before I make the first of several discoveries new to me in and around a patch of Wild Potato-Vines.

This is Goldstein’s False Mum which is named after the resident naturalist at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. This is another in a series of very odd flowers while being organic by definition have little in common with the other plants that grow along side of them. In general, plastic-like blooms and foliage characterize these botanical rarities. None of these plants (which form a new order of their own called Artificialia ) are capable of photosynthesis despite the appearance of green leaves. Goldstein’s False Mum is a summer plant that produces a hard, yellow, frilly blossom that appears on the terminal end of a woody stem. It prefers sandy, disturbed soils or decaying wood and is usually seen in the company of traditional flowering plants. It produces no scent and no insects were observed being attentive to the false mum. Now the Wild Potato-Vine is also an interesting plant. It is a member of the Morning Glory family and its bloom is primarily white with a purplish maroon throat. I have seen large bumble bees pollinating this flower. What sets this plant apart is under the ground. The Wild Potato-Vine produces a large tuber that had food value for the indigenous people. Here is a another specimen of Goldstein’s False Mum growing out of a soft, decaying log also in the presence of Wild Potato-Vines.

Not too far away and also in association with the Wild Potato-Vines is another type of plastic-like plant and here is its portrait.

The Log Weed is a saprophytic plant. Lacking chlorophyll it relies on decaying matter for its sustenance. The Log Weed is characterized by a corolla of hard plastic-like petals and never has what we would describe as leaves coming off its woody stem. No one is quite sure how it propagates? Its blossoms appear in mid summer and seem to hang around forever.

These are tubular flowers from the Trumpet Creeper vine which is a native and natural sight at the Falls of the Ohio. This is a climbing, spreading vine and wood ants seem to love them. If you look closely at the above photo…you can see several ants crawling on the Trumpet Creeper’s attractive blooms. I was admiring this vine when I noticed that there was something not quite right about it and this is what I discovered.

Notice the yellow orb to the upper right of the Trumpet Creeper blossoms? Thus far, the yellow fruit with its accompanying leaf remain unclassified. It is, however, grafted to the woody stem of the vine. Amazingly, it even has a false stem to deceive. Could it be parasitic? One hypothesis why this plant with the odd fruit appears with Trumpet Creeper might be the protection it receives from the vine’s wood ants? The fruit and leaf are also very polymer-like and may indeed be plastic. More and more we are learning how ubiquitous plastic is in the environment. I heard a report about the Great Lakes the other day saying that there is a considerable amount of micro plastic in these large bodies of fresh water. Upon examination, much of this plastic takes the form of tiny balls that are blended into deodorants and toothpaste to make the product flow more evenly. These beads are so small that they pass through the finest screens at the waste water treatment plants and into the lakes. I think Nature is metabolizing this plastic and recombining the hydrocarbons in novel ways, but that is just my theory.

I paid my favorite cottonwood tree a visit and it’s been a while since I took shelter under its large, exposed roots. People, especially the locals, like hanging out here and I witnessed much less trash since my last visit which is a good thing. One big “improvement” has been made with the addition of a red, upholstered couch and I took a moment to rest here before moving on.

The couch is very comfortable and I’m amazed that people actually dragged this piece of furniture down here. Eventually, it will be reclaimed by the river. Here’s another view from under the tree.

For those who prefer their comforts a bit more on the rustic side…there is another bench for seating and it’s made from a slab of wood balanced on short logs.

I rested, had a snack and drank some water before moving on. I’ve designated my intended destination as “Loosestrife Land” for the abundance of these non-native flowers that have taken over moist areas in the western section of the park. I’m going there seeking something else which will be the subject of my next post. I’ll catch up with you soon but for now…so long and happy trails to you.

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Duck Talk

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artistatexit0, duck story, earth art, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Mallard ducks, nature, nature story, photography, recycled art, repurposed materials on July 27, 2013| 11 Comments »

The Ohio River has remained high and muddy the last couple of weeks. It’s summer, past mid July when we usually find the river retreated to its summer pool. This approaches the time when the fossil beds on the Kentucky side of the river would be exposed. The little bit of flooding that occurred has displaced more than random logs and debris. I was investigating the riverbank under the railroad bridge and came across an interesting mix of ducks.

Joining the wild, female Mallards with their iridescent blue-violet speculum on their wings was a small group of domesticated ducks. More than likely the river overwhelmed a farm pond somewhere which was the opportunity the domesticated ducks needed to swim away and explore the larger world.

They landed at the Falls of the Ohio and are sharing a vacation together. White and piebald (a mix of black and white) are the colors of domestication. These farm ducks are also much larger than their wilder cousins.

The Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is our most common species of duck and can be found at the Falls throughout the year. I once stumbled upon a Mallard nest that was built inside a hollow log. When the mother-to-be flushed out of the log, the surprise took a few years off my lifespan! They are members of the duck family known as “dabblers”. Mallards hang out near the zone where water and land meet. They have specialized bills for feeding in shallow water. Mallards prefer small grass and sedge seeds for food, but will also strain the water and mud for small organisms. I have come across other ducks at the Falls of the Ohio that are hybrids of Mallards and domesticated ducks. Many duck species must be closely related to one another because other inter-species hybrids have been documented.

I have also recently photographed an unusual duck for the Falls of the Ohio. On a recent foray to the river I came across this Blue-ringed Dabbler ( Anas azurcephalos) plying its trade at the water’s edge. This diminutive duck is native to the western part of North America and rarely strays east of the Mississippi River. Perhaps it found its way here because of the recent storms that have tracked west to east across the country? Domesticated ducks are not the only birds affected by severe weather.

The Blue-ringed Dabbler is an unusual duck in that it nests in trees or more specifically, in the holes created and abandoned by larger woodpeckers. This formerly rare duck is now on the increase because conservationists have taken advantage of this breeding preference by setting out nest boxes which the Blue-ringed Dabbler will accept. A similar program helped the colorful Wood Duck to recoup its former population numbers.

This is a female Blue-ringed Dabbler identified by its browner coloration and lack of iridescent color on the wings. The dabbler regarded me for a while before swimming off to a deeper part of the river where I lost track of it. I returned the next day to see if I could find this duck again, but it was gone. I get a big kick out of recording bird species that are not a part of the official bird checklist distributed by the Falls of the Ohio State Park. I love bringing these rarities to the attention of hard-core birders who will only accept as evidence good photographic proof or multiple sightings recorded by multiple birders. They can be a suspicious lot and highly competitive. Often bird watchers present themselves as being more interested in what number a particular bird represents on a life list than in the bird itself which seems to me to miss the whole point of watching birds.

Although I never saw the Blue-ringed Dabbler again, I did however, locate a couple of the domesticated ducks I had seen the previous week. They were investigating the waterline in a particularly muddy area. I was shocked to discover the dead fish in the foreground upon downloading my images. I certainly don’t remember seeing this when I snapped this picture. I doubt these ducks will ever find their way to the farm again, but for now…they seem content. I’ll end today’s post with one other image of the Blue-ringed Dabbler that I came across on the internet. It shows a bird in the hand of a conservationist. So long for now!

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Muddy Catfish

Posted in Absurd, animals, art and environment, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged Art, artistatexito, catfish, Falls of the Ohio, fishing, flathead catfish, found materials, nature, Ohio River, photography, recycled materials, sense of place, site specific art, Styrofoam on July 21, 2013| 4 Comments »

With the sun spotlighting this little patch of sand…my newest Styro-figure proudly stood upright. He’s the first persona created in the reconfigured studio. I found a rare piece of “black Styrofoam” on today’s walk. It’s part of what passes for car bumpers these days. This material has a rubberized compound mixed throughout the foam which makes it harder to cut or pierce.

After making new friends it’s time to venture out into the world. The leafy green complete with bird song is complimented by the creaky willows that sway with the occasional breeze. There is another sound, however, that your feet are hearing and you walk in the direction of its source.

The mighty Ohio River has been running muddy for more that a week now. Although it’s hot and humid today, thus far, this summer has been wetter and cooler than average. As a result of all the rain, the river has been higher than usual. What I like about the Falls of the Ohio is that in such a relatively intimate space the park can take on all kinds of different looks depending on the weather and season. Small waves break upon the heightened shoreline and there is a family nearby fishing and playing by the river.

Seeing that they were having some luck catching fish, I gestured if it was all right to take their pictures. The family didn’t speak English and I’m guessing that they are recent immigrants from Southeast Asia? Regardless, both adults and children were having a ball in the river. I wondered if they came from someplace like this since they seemed so comfortable and natural by the water? After receiving the okay signal I recorded these images of people interacting with the river.

This little guy was cute and really determined that I should take his picture in what I’m assuming is a martial arts pose? I obliged him several times and this was my personal favorite snapshot of the group. Looking through my riverblog…I’m struck by how often children appear and interact with my artistic process. First, my own two sons would accompany me and now it’s the kids in the park on any given day.

I watched this fish being landed and it’s a decent sized Flathead catfish, (Pylodictus olivaris). This fish probably weighed in the ten to twelve pound range, but this catfish can get as large as a hundred pounds. It is a fish of big rivers. A very simple rig was used to catch this fish. Four slipshot lead weights were clamped onto the line about eight inches away from the hook. A single nightcrawler worm was used for bait which was cast about 25 yards from the riverbank. The fishermen would wade in about knee-high to waist deep to increase casting length. I was amazed that with the current and all the potential underwater obstructions that their lines didn’t get snagged more often than they did.

This was the stringer of catfish they were working on. In addition to the Flatheads…another big river fish the Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) was also being caught.

The Blue catfish is a slatey-gray color and has a forked tail. The two fish on the lower right in the above image are blues. The flatheads are more of a mottled olive color and have very different fins. Both are omnivorous and will eat most anything that they can catch.

All the fish on the stringer will be used to feed this family. It is still not recommended that people eat the larger fish (especially bottom dwelling species) from the Ohio River. The river is much cleaner than it used to be, however, toxins do build up in the fat tissues of the fish that live the longest and grow to be big. Every once in a while, making a meal of some of the smaller fish should be okay. Because I was needed elsewhere today…I let my day at the river draw to an end. Good thing too…because if you stand too long in the same spot at the water’s edge…you chance sinking down too far! See you soon.

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The Tree Planters: An Intervention at the Falls of the Ohio

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, public art, watershed, tagged Art, art and nature, artistatexit0, cottonwood tree, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, global art, nature, nature story, photography, public art, recycled art, site specific art, Styrofoam, the Earth, the environment, tree planting ceremony on July 4, 2013| 21 Comments »

Everybody has a different tipping point where enough is finally enough and action is called for. This was the case with Joe Arbor. For many years, Joe Arbor walked the river’s edge paying attention to what the Earth was telling him from the signals that washed ashore. Yes, this is a nonverbal language, but the Earth is eloquent in this way. On this particular day, Joe Arbor noticed that there was a lot of wood everywhere and while it was picturesque…it was also disturbing. Joe Arbor realized that all the wood he was seeing represented trees in the past tense.

Joe Arbor knew of other places where the Earth via the river had left a record of lost trees particularly at the Falls of the Ohio. In the hot bleaching sun the various logs and limbs piled on top of one another reminded him of bones. Joe Arbor would walk among these elephant’s graveyards of trees and felt ill at ease. These trees represented a huge loss in terms of the free services they provided. Here was food and shelter for a multitude of other life forms. Here was the air we breathe and the cooling shade of summer and potential warmth in winter. Here was lost inspiration! Since Joe Arbor also made his home next to the river, he also knew that tree roots also held the riverbank in place. Over the past several years it had not escaped Joe Arbor’s notice that at this location, it rained more and harder and trees were being swept away. Joe Arbor was no scientist or genius, but could recognize that life seemed out of balance and it worried him. What could be done? Joe Arbor went home and decided to sleep on the question.

Joe Arbor makes his home at the base of an old willow tree. It took several nights of sleeping on the question before the beginnings of an answer started to form in his mind. When the solution came to him, Joe Arbor decided that he needed some help or company and he called his good friend Pip. Pip is short for Pipistrel which is a name given to several species of bats. One fine morning, the pair got up early and gathered some tools and provisions together and ventured forth to the river’s edge. If the Earth was losing her balance due to tree loss…it made sense to Joe Arbor that getting involved with planting and saving more trees could be a good thing to do.

Joe Arbor decided he wanted to try to do something to help the Eastern Cottonwoods that grew along the Falls of the Ohio. These cottonwoods are magnificent, fast growing trees and reach great heights. They produce unusual capsule-shaped fruits and when conditions are right, these capsules burst open releasing tiny, fluffy seeds that drift through the air like dry snow and move with the slightest breeze. Joe Arbor also knew from experience that many more of these seeds germinate than reach maturity. At the Falls, those seeds that sprout nearest the river eventually are destroyed by the river during flooding. They simply get washed away or crushed by logs rolling in the waves. Joe Arbor decided to perform an experiment to see if he could successfully transplant a cottonwood tree to a safer location?

First Joe Arbor and Pip selected a little cottonwood growing in the sand. They next held hands and said a few kind words and explained to the tree what they were about to do and why. In this way, they hoped to obtain the tree’s blessing. Together, they carefully dug around the sand to uncover as much of the tree’s roots as they could. Bagging up the little tree roots and all the paired moved on to a different location.

All the while Joe Arbor and Pip were working, a small flock of Canada Geese were standing nearby and acted as guards and witnesses. Because the geese also live near the river they are also privy to the Earth’s nonverbal language and understood what was at stake here. Their presence added a bit of solemnity to the event.

With their valuable charge in a bag, the pair moved on to a pre-selected location they hoped would be favorable to the cottonwood tree. Cottonwood trees do best when they are close (but not too close) to the water. As they walked, Joe Arbor whistled an improvised melody partly out of nervousness and the excitement of the moment. As is his norm…Pip remained quiet.

A large enough hole was dug in the new location to accommodate all the young cottonwood’s roots. Sand and soil were shoveled lovingly around the tree.

After the tree was safely in the hole, Joe Arbor said a few words while Pip watered the transplant. It was hoped that the chosen location was the right distance from the river and that the young tree would grab a toe-hold here and prosper. Time will tell. The day still had one more nice surprise and it came from Pip. Joe Arbor didn’t know why he didn’t pay attention to this before, but Pip was wearing a circular, black, plastic box on a cord hung around his neck. This circular box was the container that smokeless tobacco is sold in. Many of these boxes routinely wash up at the Falls of the Ohio. Anyway, Pip opened up the container revealing its contents and this is what Joe Arbor saw.

Wrapped in mulberry leaves were four ripening mulberries. This is another tree that grows at the Falls of the Ohio and provides food for many birds and animals. The berries are sweet and juicy when ripe and some people find them tasty too. The leaves are interesting and come in different shapes with serrated edges.

Pip (who says very little) had his own tree planting experiment in mind and Joe Arbor got the idea. Moving to a different location, a new hole was dug in the rich soil and a berry was placed in that hole.

The process was repeated until all the berries were planted. Pip was curious to see if he could start a mulberry tree in this way or whether the seeds needed to travel through the gut of a bird or some other animal first? Again, time will tell. Satisfied that at least for today, the duo had done some good for the Earth, the pair picked up their gear and headed home together.

This little story is dedicated to an artist friend of mine I have never met. She has a vision of creating a tree art project around the world and if you are interested in learning more about it and perhaps participating…here is a link to a post she wrote about it: http://rooszwart.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/the-bridge-land-art-forest/

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Introducing the Indiana Rail and Other River Birds

Posted in animals, art and environment, birding, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, recycled art, tagged Art, art and the environment, artistatexit0, birds, Brown-headed Cowbird, Falls of the Ohio, herons, nature, nature story, photography, recycled art, Styrofoam on June 14, 2013| 13 Comments »

I’ve had some interesting birding encounters of late at the Falls of the Ohio and so I thought now is an opportune time to post them. I took this image of the Northern Rough-winged Swallow recently. To my eye, this species seems to be on the increase as is its cousin, the more familiar Barn Swallow. This is especially good since they eat big quantities of flying insects. Herons (especially Great Blue Herons and Black-crowned Night-Herons) are abundant and since the fishing has been good of late…I’ve seen plenty of both species. Here are two more recent images. The first is of a pair of Great Blue Herons that were taking advantage of the recent Skipjack Herring run.

The most common heron here is the Black-crowned Night-Heron. They are considerably smaller than the Great Blues and have striking red eyes. You can find them wading in the shallower waters looking for fish, crayfish, or small frogs. This image was taken in the eastern section of the park and this bird was perched on a log stranded on top of the dam’s wall.

I’ve saved the two most interesting avian encounters for last. A couple of weeks a go, I was sitting at my outdoor studio under the willow trees when I heard the sound of a young bird pleading for food. Looking around, I was able to find the hungry bird and I snapped this picture of it.

I recognize that this is the young of the Brown-headed Cowbird. What is fascinating about this species (and the two other species of cowbirds in North America) is that the adults do not raise their own young. Cowbirds parasitize the nests of other bird species. In the case of the Brown-headed Cowbird they have been known to lay their eggs in the nests of about 200 different species of birds. Usually, the young Brown-headed Cowbird out competes the host specie’s nestlings. I was curious to see who this bird’s “parents” were and it didn’t take long to find out.

In the case of this cowbird chick it is being raised by a hardworking pair of Carolina Wrens. The baby is nearly double the wren’s size and vibrates its wings along with calling out to stimulate the wrens to feed it. Here are a couple more pictures of the wren feeding the cowbird.

In case you were wondering, cowbirds are not the only species to lay their eggs in other bird’s nests. In Europe, the cuckoo also does this, but parasitizes fewer species. I often wonder how does the cowbird know it’s a cowbird especially if it is raised by a completely different species? Obviously, some behaviors are “hard-wired” and innate . In the early Spring, Brown-headed Cowbirds are early arrivals and always on the look out for other breeding species of birds and their nest sites. Their courtship is not a thing of beauty with each drab Brown-headed Cowbird female usually being pursued by multiple males. Moving on, here is a recent picture of an adult male and you can see why they are called Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Recently, I was in the far western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park where I saw my very first Indiana Rail. Rails are much smaller relatives of the heron family and other wading shorebirds. The Indiana Rail is a little smaller than a chicken and rarely seen since it favors dense underbrush and is usually more active at night.

I was taking a break sitting on the fossil rocks when this bird with a long, bright red bill appeared from among the ever-growing vines. I held still and was able to record this species with a small series of photographic images. This bird seemed very interested in the holes situated among the rocks.

Unlike the cowbirds…both the Indiana Rail male and female participate in raising their own young. Typically, four or five green mottled eggs are deposited in a loose bowl constructed of decaying river vegetation. It is believed that the heat generated from this decomposing matter helps to incubate the eggs , but this is still speculative. There is a lot left to learn about this enigmatic creature.

I watched the rail for about twenty minutes as it poked around the vines that were beginning to cover the fossil rocks. Every now and then it would use its strong-looking bill to probe the cracks around the drying mud. Just as mysteriously as it appeared…it disappeared leaving me with this wonderful memory and a hand full of pictures to prove it was here. See you later!

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Arachnid Petrochemical Bycatch

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, art installation, artistatexit0, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, large spider, nature, petrochemical junk, photography, plastic, recycled art, repurposed art, spider web, Styrofoam on June 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I couldn’t get my mind off of the Giant Driftwood Spider and so I paid an extra visit to see if it was still around…unfortunately it wasn’t. I was hoping to get better images, but my original ones will have to do. Its web near my studio spot, however, was still intact and being effective too! I also noticed that the cocoons were missing and either they hatched, were taken by some other predator, or were moved by spider mom since their location had been discovered by me? Although the spider pics in this post are a couple of weeks old by now…these latest web images are more recent.

The web can’t have been abandoned for very long. I was, however, amazed at all the plastic bycatch that had drifted in and been ensnared in the silk. We have had some strong winds and storms blow through the area and that is my explanation for how all this plastic wound up being suspended off of the ground. Most interestingly, much of what the web caught has a petrochemical pedigree. There were a couple smaller pieces of Styrofoam, but the majority of the bycatch included plastic oil or antifreeze containers.

I must also admit to becoming fascinated by the pictorial possibilities that this web with its bycatch presented. I liked the idea that I could see these shapes seemingly floating on a screen in front of an image of a greater spatial depth. I was struck by the “art-like” sensations I was feeling studying this web. I could see a certain play occurring with shapes and colors and even in the relationships between objects. Is this not an installation piece? It made me wonder if it was possible for any other animal to make something we could recognize as being art? I have always felt that for humans, art was an important survival mechanism. Could it be for other animals as well? Wasn’t too long a go , we didn’t think animals could even feel pain! Surely, we are short-changing them in other ways too?

If I should happen across this amazing arachnid again…I will see if I can test it in some aesthetic fashion. Perhaps it could draw me a picture in the sand with each one of its eight legs? That’s meant as a joke…I’m not sure what I would do to tell you the truth. Here’s one last image and if you look in the upper left hand corner you can see the Off Road Triker sitting on his ride. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it and was in the world in this configuration a little less than two weeks total before being thoroughly smashed in the sand. That’s just the way things go some times at the Falls of the Ohio.

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Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Art and images from the Falls of the Ohio.

Archive for the ‘nature’ Category

Through the Willow Portal

Three Flowers and Three Fish

Life in a Bucket

The Camelope and Other Wildlife

Journey to Loosestrife Land

Duck Talk

Muddy Catfish

The Tree Planters: An Intervention at the Falls of the Ohio

Introducing the Indiana Rail and Other River Birds

Arachnid Petrochemical Bycatch

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