CATCHING UP

Our weather hasn't been great this week (again).   Lots of wind and rain and more tornadoes, very rare this time of year.   (Sarasota and Manatee Counties, where serious tornados struck around 4 on Sunday morning, are about an hour north of us.)   But by daylight on Sunday morning it was warm here -- and as usual when the sun comes out after a rain, the sky was blue and it was hard to believe that we'd had a night of raging storms.   (At least, Bill tells me that it raged -- I actually slept through the rain and wind -- as well as the TV weather updates and tornado alerts that he was keeping an eye on.)     We continue to hope for a quick return to the winter weather we know and love, but know that all things considered,  we are fortunate.  

 We were able to get one day trip to the beach (by car) last week -- and I will show some pictures of that on other posts.  But the lack of outdoor activity is  a great opportunity for some needed catching up.   

Blogging is such a great way to learn.   Whenever I spend time visiting other blogs, I learn  something new about another State or another Country -- or something new about one of our interests -- travel,  nature photography, books, boats, food, birds, flowers (and often things I didn't even know I was interested in until I read about them).  

And sometimes I even learn something new from posting on my own blog.   This post is about the last -- things I learned because of my own posts.

    

 

 

There were different pictures of each of the above plants  in earlier posts but  I couldn't identify them.   Then Monica, who blogs as NATURE FOOTSTEP,  told me in a comment that the beautiful lavender-colored  flower (bottom) was called Calotropis Gigantea (also known as crown flower or Giant Milkweed).  It is a host plant for Monarchs.  Thank you Monica!

And in a stroke of serendipity, the very next Sunday after I made the posts using Manatee Park flowers, the plant column in the  local paper had an article (and picture) about the leathery-looking  patterned flower at the center right above.  It is called the Dutchman's Pipevine and it is the host plant for the Pipevine Swallow Tail Butterfly.  

The two plants on the left are types of  milkweed, which are hosts for Monarchs.  (I found the ID for that one on a website).  

 The pictures in the collage below are butterflies that I saw at Manatee Park.  The blue one is the Pipevine  Swallow Tail and it is not my picture (I did see the butterfly --  and as soon as I am lucky enough to take my own picture I will replace this public domain one).    The other two are my own.  The  one on the bottom is a monarch on milkweed and the one on the right top is a Buckeye.  

 

 Those are mangrove plants in the background and mangroves are the host plant for the Common Buckeye.

 

I know I just posted the  mushroom-eating squirrel below  last Friday and it isn't even a different picture of him, since I only have the two I showed in that post.  But I learned something so interesting from  a comment on that post that I wanted to share it (which of course also helps me to remember it).

 

 

 

 Margaret (of BIRDING FOR PLEASURE) , very generously did the research I should have done before posting about squirrels eating mushrooms.  Like most of you, I wondered how the squirrel knew whether or not the mushroom was toxic (and hoped it did have some way of knowing).  Here is her comment:

 HI Sallie Well I did not know that Squirrels eat mushrooms so of course i had to find out more and thought you might be interested to know this also. Squirrels have the ability to eat toxic mushrooms as described below. Are there any mushrooms that they can't eat without dying? According to Dr. John Rippon, an IMA member and world expert on fungal diseases, squirrels have an interesting adaptation that allows them to eat mushrooms containing deadly amanita-toxins without being affected. There are three important chemicals in the amanitas. Two will knock you right off, but are destroyed in cooking. The third one is the interesting one: it consists of the second amanitin, bound tightly to a glycoprotein molecule. When we digest the mushroom, the enzymes in our gut break the bond between the toxin and the glycoprotein, leaving the toxin free to enter our bloodstream, while the glycoprotein is excreted (a glycoprotein is a [protein containing sugar molecules and accounts for the viscous properties of mucus], in case you don't know). What the squirrels have done is line their gut with a toxin-compatible glycoprotein, so that as soon as it gets split from its original glycoprotein molecule, it gets rebound to the squirrel glycoprotein, and excreted along with it. Obviously, the squirrels don't cook their food to destroy the first two molecules, but presumably those get bound in exactly the same way. Thus, squirrels and a few other animals (guinea pigs also, I believe) can eat mushrooms that are highly toxic to other animals with no ill effects.

 

 Thank you for teaching us something new  and so interesting Margaret.  (And if you're a mushroom hunter -- definitely don't go out in the woods and think you can eat a mushroom just because you see a squirrel doing so without ill effects!)

 

Thank you to every single one of my blog-world friends for sharing the beauty and inspiration and wonderful scenery ... and for giving me a reason to post my own pictures!  Special thanks to Monica and Margaret and as always the hosts of the sharing opportunities where I'm linking today:   OUR WORLD on TUESDAY (Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jenn);  Michelle's NATURE NOTES; and Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY  

 

Comments

[Annie]

Thanks, to you and to Margaret for this post and bravo for the squirrels !

[Aimee]

So great to see colorful flowers instead of the gray we've been having! Fascinating info about mushrooms and squirrels. Really, really glad to hear you suffered no harm from the tornadoes!! Stay safe.
Blessings,
Aimee

[JennJilks]

Here is mine! http://mymuskoka.blogspot.ca/2011/11/milkweed-seeds-flying-like-snow.html

[JennJilks]

Milkweed is such an interesting plant, and hosts many critters up here! Ours looks a bit different.

[Jeanne Marie]

Identifying blossoms is indeed a learning process when you move to a new climate. After 40 years in the Midwest I was familiar with most plants and weed flowers but since moving to Florida a few years ago I feel like Alice in Wonderland. There are so many new ones. I definitely learned something today!

[NatureFootstep]

lol, you can find the images I have posted of the crown flower at

http://nfbild2.blogspot.se/2014/02/crown-flower-calotropis-gigantea.html

[Lowell]

Squirrels can eat toxic mushrooms. I knew it!!!

So glad to hear you made it through those storms OK. We just got some wind and rain.

But it's cold here this morning! In the 30s. I think that's illegal.

[Lea]

Beautiful flowers and butterflies!
Interesting info on squirrels

[Gattina]

Blogging is my comfort when I am locked in because of bad weather ! I wished it was already spring. Yes I learned a lot too, and still learn ! It's such an interesting hobby and being in contact with people from the whole world is wonderful !

[fun60]

It is wonderful that we learn so much from blogging. Last year I went to Mexico to see the migration of the Monarch butterfly http://60andthenext10.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/el-rosario.html

I kept hearing about milkweed but had never seen it but, of course, it wasn't long before another blogger posted a photograph. So very interested in your photos this week.

[Phil]

Hola from Spain. Just a two week break from our own wind and rain. Yes the bloggers world is a great way to see the world plus meet new and interesting people without going further than a keyboard. Stay safe from those evil winds Sallie.

[genie]

I am so happy to read that you had been in the mangroves. When I comment on your last post before this, I thought for sure that walkway was winding thru the mangrove but didn’t want to make a fool of myself if it wasn’t. I feel better now. So glad you were able to learn what the flowers were.lll the photos very nice.

[Photo cache]

What an interesting tidbit about squirrels. I never saw one eating a mushroom before.

Worth a Thousand Words

[Penny]

How very interesting this is, Sallie. Thank you. While I've not seen squirrels around here eating mushrooms, there are some that grow here. If I ever thought, highly unlikely, to try one if I saw a squirrel eating it, I most definitely would not now.

The Manatee Park is certainly a butterfly haven. I have never seen the Common Buckeye, and hope to sometime. :) Lovely post.

[diane]

It is true. We can learn a lot from blogging. I have too and now I know that squirrels can eat poison mushrooms I wonder if they get high on mushrooms.

[Sondra-SC]

How interesting about the squirrels as I told you my dogs also eat mushrooms they find in the yard...I wonder if they have the same stomach lining like the squirrels? SO good to know which butterfly your plants support! I released some milkweed seeds onto the wind last fall Im hoping they will take hold here at my place.

[Felicia]

glad you survived the storms. how interesting that squirrels eat mushrooms. your images were lovely too.

[ellen b]

It really is true like you I've learned so much from reading blogs and doing research on things I want to post. That is so interesting about the squirrels. I do hope your weather returns to the normal you are used to. Glad the tornadoes didn't get closer to you...

[DeniseinVA]

Interesting post with lovely photos. Sweet of Margaret to do the research on the squirrel'
. The blogging world is a wonderful community.

[Linda]

I'm glad your area and you both are safe. I loved this post. I too learn so many things from my blogging friends.

Linda

[Yogi]

You are such a scholar and I'm a slacker.

I look at plants and say that one is green, that one has red flowers, and this one yellow.

I'm so ashamed of myself but I am not going to change.

[artmusedog and carol]

What a great post and creative presentation of wonderful photos and how other bloggers help you and that you are still learning ~ I love to learn ~ keeps me 'young at heart' ~ Glad you are safe and free from the storms ~ a friend was down there and was safe but tornado tore through where she was ~

Wishing you a Happy and Sun Shiny Week ~ ^_^

[sylviakirk]

A wonderful, interesting post and beautiful captures, as always!! I do love the butterflies and the squirrel, of course!! I hope your week is off to a great start!! Enjoy!!

[Hazel]

I just looked on YouTube-there are quite a few video clips of squirrels eating mushrooms!

[Donna@Gardens Eye View]

Wonderful when we learn more...I did not know that about squirrels...fascinating. So glad you did not have the severe weather right there....hoping your weather returns to a more gentle winter.

[Barb]

We tried to call Bob's relatives in Sarasota last night but got no answer - must try again today. I really enjoyed the info on the squirrels and mushrooms. In the summer, dogs in our area that eat the mushrooms can die or have serious neurological problems. I'd be very leary about collecting mushrooms in the wild to eat.

[helmiriitta10]

The dark blue butterfly is beautiful and very exotic to me. In the recent years the butterflies have been quite rare in my garden (South of Finland). It's a pity.

[Podso]

I'm glad you are ok and got a good night's sleep in spite of what was going on. Enjoyed the beautiful butterflies especially.

[cranberrymorning]

That blue butterfly is gorgeous. And wasn't that interesting about the squirrel and mushrooms. Our amazing Creator gave the squirrel the ability to eat even toxic ones without harm. Every day I learn new things about bloggers, about nature, and about God who is Lord over all.

[nancy chan]

Good to know that your area is spared the rough weather. Interesting information on the squirrel and its ability to eat toxic mushroom without any ill effect. I too learn many things since I start blogging.

[Eileen]

Hello Sallie, thanks for sharing the information, your beautiful flowers and on the mushroom eating squirrels. I am glad your were safe and sound while these stormms were happening. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

[Halcyon]

Great follow up information, especially about the squirrel. I think we were all wondering about that!

[Alexa T]

Interesting info! So lovely to see, to read and to find out so many things about nature!
Have a pleasant week ahead!

[Rajesh]

Great learning and wonderful pictures.

[Linda, Shenandoah Valley]

Interesting post! Consider that squirrels eat acorns, but the only way humans can eat them is to soak them several times and discard the water.

[Lady Fi]

Isn't blogging great?

[Ramblingwoods]

Oh good... Thank you for sharing. I need to work on my NN post... Michelle

[TexWisGirl]

glad your area was safe. love the pipevine! a gorgeous deep blue!