some corrections and additions

Saturday morning's SOFO (Birding by Ear) bird list was obviously defective since I typed Red-headed Woodpecker when the bird in question was obviously a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Even more curiously, I seem to have written Red-winded Blackbird (huh?) instead of Red-winged Blackbird! There were also a lot of small details omitted from that report: a healthy looking male Box Turtle and a very striking floral display of a wildflower species that I could not identify -- foot-long stem with white flowers of an irregular form with a prominent lip. Many butterflies, not all securely identified.

The SOFO fundraiser was that same evening and it appeared to be very successful -- at least there were a lot of interesting people there and Carl Safina's new book, "Beyond Words", about animal behavior was in the goodie bag. The sky was completely clear on the drive home and hovering overhead was an extraordinarily bright Evening Star which, upon careful examination, turned out to be a double Evening Star. Not a star or stars at all but two planets, Venus and Jupiter, in what is known as a Conjunction with the two shining celestial bodies so close that they appear as one.

Back home, there have been a lot of mushrooms including some good edibles -- Black Trumpets are the latest to appear along with Chanterelles, Boletus and Lactarius (among others). And, along with mushrooms, their favorite munchers also appear; I refer, not to humans, but to Box Turtles. One pair of Box Turtles was engaged in the necessary business of making more Box Turtles -- an activity that I applaud heartily although, as it was taking place just a foot off one of our right-of-ways, it was also a little worrisome. Cars and turtles do not make a good combination.

Eric Salzman