The Natural Capital

Postcards from Honduras

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:29:00 +0000

On this blog we celebrate all the great nature here in the DC area, but I have a confession: we go away almost every winter. I'm a southerner who craves warmth and longer days, and Matt's a landscaper whose work gets pretty slow in December and January. This year, after heading to my hometown in Florida for Christmas, we headed even further south: to Honduras. It was a great trip -- below are some of my favorite photos. We've got lots more pictures here. And I'll try to get some new, local content up here soon!

LOOK FOR: Mica

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Photo credit: The Marvelous In Nature

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by mica. Still am, really: the world could always use a little sparkle. And on many trails in the DC area, the soil is full of little sparkly bits of mica.

Out of the trails we frequent, it seems most common on the Northwest Branch near Burnt Mills Dam on Colesville Road. Not only are the trails quite sparkly, but there are several sandy spots along the river where you can find larger pieces of mica. The paper-thin sheets stack together into chunks the size of a small rock.

If you peel off a single sheet of mica, you can observe some very unique properties: it's (somewhat) flexible, and you can see through it. How often do you get to bend or look through something that looks like a rock?!?

Photo credit: Annie in Beziers

But technically, mica is not a rock. It's a mineral: a building block for rocks. And that's how you'll most often see it: it's the mineral that shows as sparkly flecks in granite. You'll see it in rocks along the trail, and in the granite countertops of high-end kitchens.

Beyond brightening kitchen countertops, mica is prized for many uses. It is heat resistant, so it was used historically for stove windows, and more recently in space vehicles and electric irons. It doesn't conduct electricity, so it's used as a very thin insulator in electronics. Its flakiness makes it a good, sandable filler for drywall. And eyeshadow? Mica gives it its sparkle.

Where have you found mica? Leave us a comment below! And leave some on the trail for the rest of us...

My Favorite Searches of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Some people find the Natural Capital in the darnedest ways. Every one of these seemingly-unrelated searches ended up on this website in 2011. Click on each link to find out where they landed, and see if you can figure out why.

At least 42 goats. Photo credit: Toby Simkin

Enjoy - we'll be back from Honduras in February!

Things to Look for in January

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:18:00 +0000

The days are ever so slowly getting longer, but spring is still long away. And yet, there are still plenty of things to look for outside. Writing this list almost makes me wish I wasn't skipping town for Central America. Almost.

>> What have you been noticing in nature this winter? Leave a comment below.

Rock Tripe by Paul J. Morris

Among wild edibles, rock tripe is not prized or even particularly appetizing...actually, it's pretty cardboardy. But as a survival food, it's been used for centuries. And even if you don't want to eat them, lichens are a pretty amazing phenomenon.

Squirrel by Vicki's Pics

January 22 is Squirrel Appreciation Day. We know you know squirrels when you see them, but do you know them when you hear them? Listen to these chirps and you may realize some of the birds you thought you'd been hearing were actually rodents.

Hemlock cones by DaveSF

Eastern Hemlocks are rare in our area due to our climate (they prefer the mountains), and becoming rarer due to an imported insect known as the wooly adelgid. It's worth seeking out these "redwoods of the East" while you still can. And winter's an easy time to do it, since they're evergreen.

Squirrel in the snow by ehpien

There's always a good chance of snow sometime in January. And if you get out early enough in the morning, you have a better chance of finding footprints in the snow. See our guide to some of the common animal tracks you might see.

Ice at Scott's Run by the Natural Capital

Even when it doesn't snow, looking for beautiful ice formations can be enough to entice me out into the cold for a good walk...usually.

Skunk cabbage by Rupert G.

Skunk cabbage is one of the select group of plants in the world that attracts pollinators by imitating rotting flesh. And, it's just about the only native flower you're going to find blooming at this time of year. It's prehistoric-looking and stinky, but it's a flower. In January.

And, for those of you who tend to feel a little house-bound as it gets colder and colder outside, last year we also wrote a Southerner's Guide to Staying Warm Outside in the Winter. We also put together a list of Nature Centers in the DC area, in case you need a nature fix when you really can't stand to be outdoors for too long.

Now get out there and explore!

Greatest Hits of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:12:00 +0000

With only 2 days left in the year, it seems safe to take stock of our visitors in 2011. There were over 21,000 of you this year. As far as ~~Big Brother~~ Google can tell, about a quarter of you live in DC, a fifth in Virginia, and a fifth in Maryland, with the rest coming in from around the world -- including all 50 states and over a hundred countries. Thanks so much for joining us on our adventures through the natural world.

Help us find even more readers for 2012! If you have friends who enjoy the outdoors (or some who should get out more), send them a link to your favorite post -- or send along this list of the most popular posts of 2011. Have other ideas about how to spread the word? We're all ears.

Greatest Hits - Of the things we posted in 2011, these got the most traffic:

How Cold is Too Cold to Play Outside?
Nature Centers in the DC Area
Public Campgrounds in the DC Area
LOOK FOR: Footprints in the Snow
LOOK FOR: Bear Corn (or Cancer Root, or Squaw Root)
What's the Most Romantic Outdoor Spot in the DC Area?
LOOK FOR: Garlic Mustard
Rock Creek Park: Boundary Bridge - Riley Spring Bridge Loop
LOOK FOR: Backyard Birds
LOOK FOR: Vultures (They Make Better Valentines than Teddy Bears)

Recurring Favorites - These posts keep getting lots of visits even though they were published over a year ago. I knew the swimming and canoeing posts would be perennial local favorites, but the post on frog and toad eggs continues to draw readers from British Columbia to Kuala Lampur. Who knew?

Natural Places to Swim (Somewhat) Near Washington, DC (August 2010)
Car-Free DC: Ten Great Places to Hike Around DC by Public Transportation(Sept 2009)
Places to Rent a Canoe or Kayak in the Washington, DC Area (August 2010)
McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area (March 2010)
LOOK FOR: Frog and Toad Eggs (and Tadpoles) (April 2010)
Scott's Run Nature Preserve (Nov 2009)
10 Nature-Themed Halloween Costumes (Oct 2009)
LOOK FOR: Oyster Mushrooms (May 2010)
Stay in a Lockhouse on the C&O Canal (July 2010)
LOOK FOR: Mosquito Larvae (June 2010)

Did you have a favorite post on the Natural Capital this year? Something you'd like to see more or less of next year? We'd love your feedback!

Read Any Good Books Lately?

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Every year around this time I like to browse best-of-the-year book lists. Here are some of the books that caught my eye as possibly of interest to Natural Capital readers. What have you read this year that you think we should look at? Leave a comment below.

From the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment Environmental Creative Writing Award:

Birdwatching in Wartime by Jeffrey Thomson

"In Thomson's poetry collection, the animals are real and so is the singing. Whether mourning a wren killed by the atomic bomb or riffing on Borges, Thomson pays exquisite attention to creatures in literature and the world that might otherwise be lost, enriching our aesthetic and ethical life. Birdwatching gives the lie to the notion that formalism is devoid of passion by drenching its finely-wrought lines in sensual detail and biting intelligence. That it manages to be funny and experimental at the same time is a small miracle. Everyone who wonders about the fate of the green fire in American letters should read this book."

From the National Outdoor Book Awards:

Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees, by Nancy Ross Hugo

"Author Nancy Ross Hugo is smitten with trees. In fact she’ll unabashedly tell you that tree viewing is as exciting as bird-watching. And you’ll see why. Just spend a little time paging through this book—sample a bit of Hugo’s personable and insightful writing, absorb Robert Llewellyn’s splendid photography—and it becomes clear. What this book does differently than many is to examine trees in a close up and personal manner: the resplendent emerging leaves of a white oak, the secreted and graceful immature seed pods of the redbud, the thrilling appearance of a red cedar flower. This striking and delightful book will draw your eyes upward toward the world of leaves and entwining branches, and like Hugo, you may find yourself smitten and thrilled by what you see.

From the Orion Book Awards:

Insectopedia, by Hugh Raffles

"A stunningly original exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, astoundingly accomplished, largely unknown, and unfathomably different species with whom we share the world. For as long as humans have existed, insects have been our constant companions. Yet we hardly know them, not even the ones we’re closest to: those that eat our food, share our beds, and live in our homes. Organizing his book alphabetically, Hugh Raffles weaves together brief vignettes, meditations, and extended essays, taking the reader on a mesmerizing exploration of history and science, anthropology and travel, economics, philosophy, and popular culture. Insectopedia shows us how insects have triggered our obsessions, stirred our passions, and beguiled our imaginations."

From Mother Nature Network's Best Green and Environmental Books of 2011:

Listed: Dispatches from America's Endangered Species Act, by Joe Roman

"Author Joe Roman, a conservation biologist, delves into the question of extinction, and how we aught best prevent it. He writes about a number of extinct and near-extinct animals and their effects on the ecosystems that we live in too. His central narrative is the fascinating history of the Endangered Species Act, in the course of which he asks: does the landmark law, passed in 1973, actually work? In other words, does listing a species as endangered prevent it from becoming extinct? And if so, why are the numbers of extinct species going up instead of down? To answer this question, the author introduces us to fish, bison, woodpeckers, whales, wolves, panthers, and a variety of plants in need of protection, turning what might have been an academic book into one inhabited by a wealth of characters. The trees and birds we meet in "Listed" are charming ambassadors for the cause."

From Amazon's Best Books of 2011 in Outdoors and Nature:

Mycophilia, by Eugenia Bone

"An incredibly versatile cooking ingredient containing an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and possibly cancer-fighting properties, mushrooms are among the most expensive and sought-after foods on the planet. Yet when it comes to fungi, culinary uses are only the tip of the iceberg. Throughout history fungus has been prized for its diverse properties—medicinal, ecological, even recreational—and has spawned its own quirky subculture dedicated to exploring the weird biology and celebrating the unique role it plays on earth. In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century. Engrossing, surprising, and packed with up-to-date science and cultural exploration, Mycophilia is part narrative and part primer for foodies, science buffs, environmental advocates, and anyone interested in learning a lot about one of the least understood and most curious organisms in nature."

Things to look for in December

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:49:00 +0000

Hello dear readers, we've been slowing down the rate of posts here at the Natural Capital due to...well, life. And it's about to get a whole lot slower as we leave town, first to visit family in Florida, and then to visit the coral reefs, jungles, and cloud forests of Honduras for a big chunk of January. We've scheduled a few posts to show up here automatically while we're gone, just so you don't think we've forgotten about you! In the meantime, there's plenty to explore for those of you staying up here in colder climes.

Dark-eyed Junco by ehpien

As I get grumpy about cold weather, it's good to remind myself of the junco -- who comes down from Canada to enjoy our (relatively) balmy winter. At least we're not in Canada, I say. Plus, they're cute little birds.

Squirrel nest by Heart Windows Art

Meanwhile, the squirrels have built their nests for the winter and are hunkering down. Cute alert: this post includes BBC footage of baby squirrels.

Holly by Kevin H.

The garlands of greenery went up in my office building last week, just like clockwork. But the tradition of bringing holly inside at this time of year pre-dates Christmas. And there's plenty to celebrate about these berries -- and the birds they attract -- even if you're not decking the halls.

Christmas Fern by K.P. McFarland

Christmas ferns were also once used as holiday decorations, for the same reason -- they stay green all winter.

Hemlock by Mr.Mac2009

While you're out and about enjoying the winter sunshine, try your hand at identifying some trees. It's a lot harder without the leaves! We made a quick guide to ten winter trees that often catch our eye.

Ben's Breath by nordicshutter

Your breath is often visible around this time of year. Look at it as a measure of temperature and humidity, or enjoy the visible reminder of the breath of all life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:48:00 +0000

Photo credit: wmartin63

Hope you're having a wonderful day with friends and family as we are.

For those of you who can't turn away from the computer even on Thanksgiving, here are some posts on the Natural Capital that relate to turkeys and giving thanks, in one way or another:

Now get outdoors and work off that turkey!

LOOK FOR: Turkey Tails

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:39:00 +0000

Photo credit: Coastlander

As we think about the things that we are thankful for in nature, we should all pause to be thankful for mushrooms. Not just because they are yummy, or beautiful -- which many are -- but because they enable us to walk around in the woods in the first place.

After all, imagine a world where every tree that fell over in the forest just stayed there. A few hundred years and it would be an impassible maze of giant Pick-Up Sticks.

No, we should be grateful for the saprobes -- those thankless little mushrooms that eat wood. And what better to single out at Thanksgiving time than the turkey tail? This very common shelf mushroom typically grows on (and eats) logs and stumps, clearing the way for future generations of trees and hikers.

Turkey tails grow in overlapping, semi-circular layers that really can look like the back end of a turkey. The effect is enhanced by stripes of various colors in the grey-to-brown (sometimes to orange) spectrum. (These stripes are the source of the name Trametes versicolor -- thin and multi-colored). The surface is often velvety when fresh. All in all, they're a lovely mushroom -- and all the more eye catching at this time of year when colors are fading in the woods.

Photo credit: lfelliott

Chinese medicine has used turkey tails for centuries, and Western scientists are now studying extracts as cancer treatments. Perhaps one more reason to be thankful for the turkey tail.

In the wild: Turkey tail is extremely common in the woods. There are other common shelf mushrooms that can look very similar to the "true" turkey tail; chief among them is Stereum ostrea, the "false" turkey tail. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, try Michael Kuo's key.

In your yard: You can order a turkey tail growing kit from Fungi Perfecti. (But, did we mention how common they are?)

Photo credit: Cornell Fungi

LOOK FOR: Starlings

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000

You know I stick mostly to native species on this blog. There are so many wonderful creatures and plants to explore without needing to focus on the imported counterparts that are crowding them out. But a friend forwarded a beautiful little video that I thought I would pass along, because this truly is one of the natural phenomena that takes my breath away a few times a year.

Photo credit: Kristof Borkowski

Starlings were brought to the United States in the late 19th century by a group called the American Acclimitization Society, whose sole purpose was introducing European species of plants and animals. A sub-project of this larger work was to introduce into New York city parks every species of bird mentioned in a work of Shakespeare.

And what did Shakespeare think of starlings? They won't shut up. (Those of you who've been near a flock will agree.) In Henry IV, the king was refusing to pay a ransom to release his brother-in-law Edmund Mortimer. Hotspur, who took the prisoners in a battle, says:

He said he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I'll holla 'Mortimer!'
Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but 'Mortimer,' and give it him
To keep his anger still in motion.

I don't think Hotspur ever went through with this plan, but the Acclimitization Society's dreams were fulfilled beyond their wildest expectations. It's estimated there are now more than 200 million starlings in North America, reaching coast to coast and into Canada and Mexico. The Introduced Species Summary Project complains that besides being noisy and messy, they ravage crops and crowd out native bird species as they travel around in flocks that sometimes number in the thousands.

Invasive though they are, such big flocks can also be a thing of beauty. Check it out.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Things to Look For in November

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:46:00 +0000

I've been traveling and away from the Natural Capital a bit, including a trip to the midwest to celebrate some of life's extremes: I visited my grandma, who is turning 90 next month, and my friend's baby, who is 9 months old. Apologies for the lighter posting schedule, but you can always check out places to go in old posts via the navigation bar up above. Here are some of the wonderful things to look for that we've posted in previous Novembers. Links are to previous posts on the Natural Capital.

White throated sparrow by Dave Maher

The white throated sparrows are back in town for the winter. Listen for their song of "Oh Canada, Canada, Canada" as they long for their summer home. It's always nice, as the weather starts to get colder and colder, to remind myself that some critters think our winter is downright balmy, and travel hundreds of miles to enjoy it.

Witch hazel by pellaea

As one of the last things in the DC area to flower in the fall, witch hazel has a special place in my heart. It's not that the flowers are particularly showy -- the petals are just small yellow wisps, really. But they start blooming in October, and can keep going until Thanksgiving or even later.

Persimmons by Janet Powell

Persimmons are another special late-year treat -- though this year, they've been falling for a few weeks already. When they're not ripe, they'll make your mouth pucker. But when they're soft to the point of falling off the tree, they're sweet and luscious.

Staghorn sumac on the C&O Canal by Cindy Cohen

One of Matt's walks found persimmons and several other fruits on the C&O canal in the middle of November last year. Check out the list of what they found, complete with pictures.

Lichen by Paul Morris

As most of the plants are dying back, our attention starts to turn to less showy but still fascinating things in the forest. Like lichen. Take a field trip with a lichenologist in this video from Science Friday.

Wild turkeys by pverdonk

Of course, by the end of the month, most of us will be thinking of turkey. Read our post for some fun facts about wild turkeys, which apparently live in Rock Creek Park -- last year just after our post a reader told me she regularly sees them off Military Road. Keep an eye out!

Can You Name These 10 Autumn Leaves?

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I picked up these leaves around the neighborhood this week. How many can you name?
Answers are at the bottom of this post.

How did you do? Hard to do from a photo? Get out there and enjoy the leaves this weekend, in person!

1. Mulberry 2.Beech 3. Dogwood 4. White oak 5. Redbud 6. Tuliptree 7. Pin oak 8. Spicebush 9. Sugar maple 10. Sycamore

Trip Report: Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Last Saturday Matt led a mushrooming 101 class. While the fungi are slowing down compared to the incredible abundance of a month ago, there's still plenty to look at.

On the way to the park, we found two prized medicinal mushrooms: reishi and hen-of-the-woods. Growing right along the side of the road on the base of an oak tree in the neighborhood.

With the park we found good examples of most of the broad classifications of mushrooms you'll see: gilled cap-and-stalk mushrooms, boletes (cap-and-stalk mushrooms with pores instead of gills), shelf or polypore mushrooms, and even some coral mushrooms. We saw some fantastic examples of how mushrooms spread their mycelium through the vertical tube structure of wood. And we looked at the colored spores they drop to reproduce.

At one point someone said to me, "You can walk through the woods and it's just beautiful, but there are so many things to see if you stop and look!" Indeed.

Reishi (Ganoderma) and hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa)

Looking for the beetles we always see in oyster mushrooms.

Unidentified cap-and-stalk mushroom with gills

Miscellaneous polypores

Puffballs (Lycoperdon sp.?)

Very young oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Coral mushroom

Maze-gilled polypore (Daedaleopsis confragosa)

Calendar: Oct.15-16

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:37:00 +0000

The leaves are starting to turn and the weather has stopped running hot and cold and hit just about right. What a fantastic time of year to get outdoors.

Foliage at Kenilworth by NCinDC

We've got canoeing plans for this weekend with some friends, and you could too if there's still space with the Sierra Club outing on Sunday (Oct. 16) to paddle the Anacostia River Water Trail for "a very different view of our nation’s capital." If you think industrial waste and concrete when you think Anacostia, don't knock it til you've tried it: we've seen beaver and herons in this stretch of the river and the Kenilworth/ Arboretum area is downright beautiful. Contact leaders for more details, including information about boat rentals. Michael Darzi, michael.darzi@saic.com or 301/580-9387, and Glenn Gillis, glennpotomacfalls@yahoo.com or 703/430-0568.

On Saturday there's a Wildlife Festival at the Patuxtent Wildlife Refuge. They promise live animals; behind-the-scenes tours of the refuge's research with whooping cranes and ducks; children's activities; and music. 10:00-3:00. Free.

You know how great it is to enjoy Beach Drive through Rock Creek Park on the weekends when it's closed to traffic. Saturday from 9 to 3, the roads through Fort Dupont will be closed for Feet in the Street.

There's lots more on our calendar. Enjoy!

Tree Update: Ten Things Our Insurance Won't Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Our insurance company has actually been very generous in paying to repair the damage our big old oak tree did to our house when it came down in Hurricane Irene. We're still living with tarps on our roof, but we have faith everything will be fixed up before winter sets in.

Even when all the work is done, there will still be a big hole in the sky where that tree was. I offer this list not seeking pity, but to remind all of us to appreciate the wonderful trees in our lives. There are a lot of things that just can't be replaced anytime soon:

Elevated squirrel highway (and racetrack) across the full width of our yard.

Leaves to feed up to 517 species of insect larvae.

Visits from migratory warblers attracted by abundant insect life.

About 75 pounds of acorns per year (extrapolating from this estimate) to feed squirrels, birds, raccoons, and opossums.

Shade for some beloved woodland perennials, and for us humans too.

Shelter for one raccoon, visible from our bedroom window.

An anchor for a hammock, and the green view overhead to make it my favorite place in the yard.

Support for a swing with a 15+ foot radius, long enough to swing out over the pond.

The view out my bedroom window every morning.

A feeling of connection to something larger and older than ourselves, and to the generations of people who lived in this house before us.

Consider planting a few acorns this fall, or collecting them for Growing Native. A hundred or two hundred years from now, someone will thank you for those trees.

Things to Look for in October

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:28:00 +0000

October is here, time for apples, crisp nights, and fall colors. And, the brain-hurting exercise of coming up with an original Halloween costume. For help with that, we once compiled a list of ten relatively easy (for a somewhat crafty person) nature-themed Halloween costumes. The mushroom hat was a hit.

Here are some of the other things we try to take time to enjoy in October. What have you been noticing lately?

Maryland shore of the Potomac by Todor Kamenov

Fall foliage will start becoming more apparent soon. See our list of favorite local places to enjoy the color, and leave a comment with your own favorite spot.

Wild grapes by Memotions

Wild Grapes are tart but tasty trailside treats -- if you can reach them. We had some at Carderock in September; have you found any lately?

Acorns by VS Anderson

Acorns are littering the forest floor -- though not as many as last year, when they were clearly masting. We've been playing around with making acorn flour: take off the shells, grind the nutmeats into coarse flour, then put them in a coffee filter and run cold water through the flour repeatedly, until it's not bitter anymore. Then dry. Use it to replace a little flour in any baking recipe that doesn't require a lot of gluten. We love it in pancakes.

Virginia Creeper by Rene J

Virginia Creeper has started to turn a brilliant red in some places. It's the harbinger of fall color.

New England Aster by giveawayboy

New England Asters are lighting up our backyard right now, and on a sunny day they're covered in pollinators. Do you have a favorite spot that they grow in the wild? We'd love to hear about it.

Cedar waxwing by Kelly Colgan Azar

Cedar waxwings are beautiful but gluttonous birds that come through our yard every fall and feast on our holly berries. I love to find them by their high-pitched calls, which you can hear on a video in our post.

Stink bug by fangleman

Marmorated stink bugs will probably start coming into your home as it gets cooler, if they haven't already. These bugs just came to Pennsylvania around 1998, and have been spreading through the eastern United States with stinky abandon.

Jack-o-Lantern by pellaea

Jack O'Lantern mushrooms are a poisonous orange mushroom that glow in the dark. Don't expect to use them to light up a pumpkin though...the glow is so faint it requires absolute darkness to see it.

We always love to hear what other people are noticing out there...leave us a comment below about your favorite things or new finds for this time of year!

Nuts for the Potomac

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Nuts are falling all over the DC area, which means another season has begun for Growing Native.

Acorns by KCIvey

Growing Native is a project of the Potomac Conservancy that collects tree seeds and plants them in the Potomac watershed. They are trying to improve the riparian buffer zone that helps to regulate water temperature, provide habitat for animals, and prevent pollutants from entering the water.

Since 2001, over 50,000 volunteers have collected more than 150,000 pounds of acorns, walnuts, and other hardwood tree seeds. Seeds are delivered to state nurseries and local schools to be grown into tree seedlings, which are eventually planted along streams and rivers in our area.

Interested in helping out? Check this map for a collection site or event near you. You can collect seeds from your own yard, or anywhere else that you can get permission: try churches, cemeteries, parking lots, historical monuments, and local parks. (The restrictions against removing any material from National Park Service land include tree seeds, even for a good cause). This information sheet has more on what they're looking for -- basically sorted, viable seeds from healthy trees.

Chipmunk and hickory nuts by alumroot

They're looking only for certain species (links are to prior Natural Capital posts):

-- Bald cypress
-- Black walnut
-- Hazelnut
-- Hickory
-- Oaks
-- Pawpaw
-- Persimmon
-- Sassafras

What a great opportunity to learn a little tree identification this fall! Until we get around to writing up posts on all these trees, see the Growing Native field guide for more information about each one and what its seed looks like.

Calendar: National Public Lands Day

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:40:00 +0000

Saturday, September 24 is National Public Lands Day. Whether you want to give back or just play for the day, your options are many.

Rock Creek Park will be the site of the main event for Public Lands Day. There will be several opportunities to volunteer (with a free lunch for volunteers!), a recreation fair including the REI Outdoor School and kids and nature activities, and some big-name speakers like the Surgeon General. Full schedule here.

In the President's Park at the White House, there will be a Day of Play, sponsored by Nickelodeon, from 10:00am-4:00pm. Outdoor activities, such as rock climbing, camping, and the Jr. Ranger program will be offered by more than 50 organizations."Nickelodeon’s biggest stars including the casts of iCarly, Big Time Rush, Victorious, Bucket & Skinner, True Jackson, VP, Fresh Beat Band and more will be at the event as well."

There are many other volunteer opportunities on Saturday, including Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens:

Other volunteer sites include:
Fort Dupont
Arlington National Cemetary
Barcroft Park
Buddy Attick Park
Carderock
Dangerfield Island
Greenbelt Park
Sligo Creek
Lacey Woods

Many National Parks also waive their fees for the day -- including Great Falls and Prince William Forest right here in our backyard, as well as farther-away parks like Shenandoah, Assateague, and Harper's Ferry.

Enjoy!

LOOK FOR: Hickory Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Mockernut hickory nuts

We've been noticing lots of hickory nuts on the ground on our walks lately. There are three species of hickory common to the Washington, DC area: bitternut, pignut, and mockernut. The nuts of two species taste terrible, one pretty tasty. But how do you tell them apart?

First, some basic structure: like black walnuts and many other nuts, hickories have two coverings around their nutmeat. The outer husk is bright green and wonderfully spicy-smelling when the nut falls off the tree, but ages to a hard, dark brown shell. Often, you can see four lines in the husk, running from top to bottom, cutting it into quarters. The inner shell is a lighter brown, and difficult to crack. So before you go to all that trouble, look for these differences:

Mockernut

Bitternut

Pignut

Vanderbilt has more comparison images for all the North American species of hickory.

Mockernut (Carya tomentosa), on the far left in this picture, is usually the largest nut, with the thickest husk. The husk often breaks into four pieces and starts falling off the nut on its own.

Bitternut (Carya cordiformus), in the middle, has ridges along part of the four lines in its husk. The husk is thinner than a mockernut's.

Pignut (Carya glabra/ovalis) has a little snout on the end of the husk. On the few I've messed around with, the husk was even thinner than a bitternut's, and very hard to remove from the shell underneath.

And which one should you try eating? Bitternut is bitter; pignut is only fit for pigs. But mockernut? It's pretty good. The only problem is, you can't crack them with a normal nutcracker -- they're too hard. (The name comes from the Dutch Moker noot, or "heavy hammer nut".) In the field, we've been able to smash them between two rocks with some success. At home, we use a heavy hammer.

Hickory tree in Sligo Creek

In the wild: Hickories are scattered throughout the woods of the Washington, DC area. I found all three species within about a mile of each other in our local Sligo Creek Park.

This is probably the easiest time of year to identify them, because their fallen nuts will catch your eye -- as long as the squirrels haven't gotten to them. The trees have deeply furrowed bark with patterns that almost look like braids.

All species have compound leaves, but they have differing numbers of leaflets (pignuts have 5-7 leaflets per leaf, as pictured here; mockernuts 7-9; bitternuts 7-11). They turn a pretty yellow in the fall.

Photo credit: tlindenbaum

In your yard: Hickory is on the list of trees we might plant as we try to replace the shade from the oak tree that came down in our yard during Hurricane Irene -- but we're looking more at shagbark and shellbark hickories, which produce larger, tastier nuts.

Shellbark and shagbark are both listed in the USDA plants database as native to the Washington, DC area, but we've never seen them actually producing nuts. There is a tree that looks like it's either shellbark or shagbark right along Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park, but we've never seen nuts under it.

The main thing to know about planting hickories is that they all grow fairly slowly, and it can take them thirty to forty years before they start producing nuts.

We like to picture ourselves still living in this house forty years from now, but if we plant a hickory tree, it will be mostly for the next generation.

Calendar: International Coastal Cleanup, September 17 and on

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:00:00 +0000

The Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup engages people around the world to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change the behaviors that cause ocean trash in the first place. This year's cleanup is this Saturday, September 17.

You don't have to go all the way to the beach to help out. What falls into our local waterways eventually makes its way out to the Chesapeake Bay and on to the ocean. So find the closest site to you and spend a couple of hours keeping that trash out of the water.

Here are the events that were listed when we checked a week ago. Links are to the sign up page for each cleanup.

Saturday, September 17:

Anacostia River at Anacostia Park, with the Anacostia Watershed Society and others, 8:30 AM Daingerfield Island off the GW Memorial Parkway, with Clean Virginia Waterways, 9:00 AM
Roosevelt Island by Kayak, 9:00 AM
Riverside Park on the GW Memorial Parkway, 9:00 AM
Cabin John Stream, 2:00 PM
Four Mile Run at Barcroft Park, with Arlingtontonians for a Clean Environment, 1:00 PM

Additional cleanups in October:

Rock Creek, September 24 at 9:30 AM
Sligo Creek, September 24 at 9:00 AM
Great Falls VA, September 25 at 10:00 AM
Alexandria Seaport Center, with Alexandria Seaport Foundation, October 8 at 9:00 AM
Lake Accotink Park, October 15 at 9:00 AM
Oronco Bay Park, with the City of Alexandria, October 15 at 9:00 AM
Hidden Oaks Nature Center, October 15 at 9:00 AM
Huntley Meadows, October 15 at 9:00 AM

As always, there are lots more events on our calendar. Enjoy!

Things to Look For In September

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:30:00 +0000

We've spent this week meeting with contractors about what needs to be done to fix our house after our huge oak tree fell on it. Sunday we finally meet with the insurance adjuster. But in between, we're still trying to get out and enjoy everything that September has to offer. So much! Now if it would just stop raining...

What else are you seeing outside? We'd love to hear about it.

Photo credit: Metric X

The goldenrods in our yard are beautiful right now. Open sunny areas should be full of their yellow glow. Be sure to look closely for all the cool little critters that are attracted to the bright flowers.

Photo credit: oceansdesetoiles

Ragweed is also blooming: the scourge of the fall allergy sufferers of Washington, DC. Unlike goldenrod, which attracts all kinds of pollinating insects, ragweed relies on the wind to spread its pollen. I just wish it wouldn't spread it into my nose. This is one thing that the rain makes better: those airborne pollen particles get sogged down and don't fly around as much.

Photo credit: knitting iris

Black Walnuts are starting to fall from trees all over the DC metro area. They're a hard nut to crack, which could explain why they sell for $14 a pound. Pick up a few for yourself and see what all the fuss is about.

Pawpaws by dmitri_66

Pawpaws are the largest fruit native to the DC area. In groves of mature trees, you can find them littering the ground, ready for eating. Of course, you'll have to beat the raccoons and opossums to them.
Find enough and you can make pawpaw-walnut cookies.

Chicken of the woods by girlguyed

Chicken of the woods is a hard-to-mistake and hard-to-match mushroom. We found several with all the rain in August...keep an eye out in September as well.

Male goldfinch by ehpien

Goldfinches live in the DC area year-round, but we seem to see more of them at this time of year as they come to feed on the seedheads in our flower garden. They're such a pretty little bird.

Spicebush berries by The Natural Capital

Spicebush is a common understory shrub in our local forests. In the early spring, it's got pretty yellow flowers. Over the course of the summer, the pollinated flowers transformed into little green berries. And soon, they will be turning bright red. Also, keep an eye out for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars, who you can sometimes found curled up inside a leaf. In my opinion, they're one of the best-looking caterpillars around!

Calendar: Mushrooms and Paw Paws

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:28:00 +0000

One of the many colorful mushrooms we found this week

All this rain has been pushing up lots of mushrooms. We're headed to the Mycological Association of Washington meeting tonight with a whole box of them -- at the beginning of every meeting, and over the social break, there are experts who will help identify any mushrooms you bring in. We want to see how many we were able to identify correctly ahead of time!

Tonight's main presentation will be by Leon Shernoff, the Editor of "Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooms," on boletes: the incredible, colorful diversity of this family of mushrooms, and examples of how and why name changes occur in the fungi. "Three hundred years ago, all gilled mushrooms were placed in the genus Agaricus. Back then, all pored mushrooms were also placed in the genus Boletus. While Agaricus has long since been split into hundreds of smaller groups, the boletes have only had a few genera broken off...Come and learn what some of those small groups in the boletes are, and why some of them are now being recognized as new genera." Free, at the Kensington Park Library, 7 PM.

MAW may also schedule a mushroom hunting "foray" for this weekend, since the shrooms are so plentiful. Sign up for the meetup group, or send an email to forays@mawdc.org to be added to the mailing list for forays.

There are still a few spots left in our wild edibles walk to look for Paw Paws along the Potomac this Saturday. We'll stop for any interesting mushrooms as well, especially edible ones.

There are many other great things on our calendar this week, including some volunteer opportunities for the National Day of Service on Sunday, bike rides, canoeing, and hikes in and around Washington. Enjoy!

Hurricane Destruction: Our Civil War Oak Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:46:00 +0000

Matt and I went to bed Saturday night talking about how the local and national 24-hour news generating machine had possibly over-hyped Hurricane Irene.

I woke up at 3:45 to the noise of the 150+ year old post oak that was the centerpiece of our backyard starting to fall down.

Matt woke up to me screaming as I realized what was happening.

In slow motion, with an enormous creaking noise, the whole tree snapped and fell, hitting mostly the laundry room on the corner of our house and our neighbor's two vehicles, with some other scattered damage in its wake.

It could have been so much worse. Last night we walked around the neighborhood and visited a house where a huge section of the second floor, including the bedroom, was totally obliterated by a tree less than half the size of ours. Miraculously the person who normally would have been sleeping in the now-flattened bed was on the first floor of her house, unable to sleep in the storm.

Still, we will miss this tree -- and all the critters who visited it and lived in it.

I found a couple of pictures we had of the tree in all its glory and tried to match them up with some pictures of the aftermath, but it's hard to convey even in pictures the magnitude of the destruction. (For a sense of scale, notice tiny me in the last picture.)

LOOK FOR: Sphinx Moths (aka Hummingbird or Hawk Moths)

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

It's another world out there after dark.

We were out along the Potomac River last week, from afternoon until just past sunset, enjoying the bald eagles and ospreys across the river and a yellow billed cuckoo right overhead. Along with some gorgeous rose mallow and green coneflowers, there's a lot of jimson weed growing along the river there.

Jimson weed (a member of the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes and tobacco) has large, tubular flowers that only open as the sun starts going down. (Exactly opposite of the rose mallow, which was closing up at the end of the day.)

Photo credit: flat-outcrazy

Just before sunset, we noticed a big sphinx moth flying all the way into the jimson weed flowers. It flew from flower to flower so fast I could never get a picture of it, until Matt just grabbed an entire flower with the moth inside. I think it's a Pandorus Sphinx (Eumphora pandorus).

After sunset, as it was starting to get darker, we started seeing another beautiful sphinx -- this one we identified as a Carolina Sphinx moth (Manduca sexta). Except this one, instead of going inside the flowers, hovered over them and stuck its inconceivably long proboscis in. If it's reaching the bottom of the flower, the extended proboscis might be twice as long as the moth!

Isn't that amazing? Wayne Armstrong has some much better pictures of the extended and coiled proboscis.

Butterflies and Moths of North America lists over 125 species of sphinx moths. Our Pandorus sphinx lays its eggs on grapes and Virginia creeper, which are certainly abundant along the Potomac. And the Carolina sphinx? Its caterpillars grow up on nightshades -- jimson weed, tobacco, and tomatoes. In fact, its caterpillars are known as tobacco hornworm, a close relative of the tomato hornworm. Next time we find one of those big green monsters on our tomato plants, we may leave it be. These moths are amazing.

Calendar: Bat Fest and Monarch Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth | The Natural Capital) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:51:00 +0000

photo credit: Timothy K Hamilton

Have any of you seen many monarchs this summer? We've usually got an aquarium full of caterpillars by this time of year, but our milkweed plants are empty and we've seen only a few adults all summer. You can try your luck at Gulf Branch Nature Center's Monarch Watch event on Sunday afternoon, where they'll grab and tag any monarchs that stop by their milkweed patch. $5. Register here.

There's also a monarch event for 5 to 12 year olds on Saturday at Brookside Nature Center: "We'll learn about monarchs, scout the meadow for them, and make a simple nectar feeder that may replenish them on their journey." $6.

Also Saturday: Bat Fest Arlington 2011, at Gulf Branch. "Enjoy a thoroughly batty evening and add to your knowledge of local night life at this bat conservation and appreciation program. See a presentation with live bats at 6:30. All other activities on-going: go on a walk to see bats flying and to hear their echolocation calls, learn about foods that are pollinated by bats, play bat games, make a bat craft, take a bat quiz or visit our bat art gallery, all while learning lots about our local furry bug zappers. Live bat shows will be presented by Leslie Sturges, Director of Bat World NOVA, an organization established in 2001 to promote the conservation and protection of bats in this region. Parking lot closed for program. Please park on Military Rd. or 36th Rd. N. No refund of registration fee after August 6." $7 for children 12 and under, $10 for adults. Register here.

There's more on our calendar. Enjoy!