Firemans Mem. Fossils

The bluffs behind the firemans Memorial on 87th+BlueRiver are loaded with all sorts of exciting fossils and minerals. It is frequently visited and used by rock clubs and for geology fieldtrips by UMKC. It is warm and very windy>
I immediately found a handful of ringnecks and two large skinks with orange faces- only got a glimpse of them, and I dont know what kind they'd be.

Branched coral, a small chrinoid stem and some kind of Brachiopod.
Exposed are many differesnt layers of limestones, shale and flint. The majority of fossils are in the eroded porion on top of the first level. Fossils are usually found clean and sitting on top of the grey dirt. More common ones include chrinoid segments, bryozoa, horn corals and mullusks.
Today I ventured further that I have ever before and discovered a huge chrinoid!Its about 2in long and the diameter of a penny!
(left) a small fossil found in shale- only a few mm in diameter.




The shale here is pretty interesting. It is often easy to peel away from other layers and will leave pathes of brown and blue crystals. If your luck enough, enen a smaller fossil will show its face! Ive heard many rumors that trilobites have been found in Swope's shale. Most of the rumors have been about a certain deopsite a hill of two south of BlueRiver glades that I have yet to check out.
(right) a small unknown fossil and pyrite on fragment of shale.
(below)When a shell is fossilized holding seawater, the minerals inside will form crystals and as long as the shell is airtight the crystals will survive until they are exposed.

I collected a small handful of rocks an a large one for the garden- left that small pyrite shale thing, though I knew when I reviewed the photos that I shoulda nabbed it! ...put the fossils in the truck and ventured back to those puddles below the rocks. The screams of a few species of frogs and toads make it sound like there is an army on the other side of the puddle in the cattails. Before I ever got to the origin of the noise, I started find pairs of American toads mating. I bothered one blob of toad for a few minutes and returned to the frog hunt.

I must have looked goofy crawling through the mud off of 87th!

I saw a single small, dark frog- couldnt catch it. I identified the calls from the toads and chorus frogs, but didnt recognise two others.

Rocky point Glades

Clear Blue Skies.
Today's entry in the Missouri Natural Events Calender reads: " Its tome to look for common Morel Mushrooms"-

Well, I took it as a hint and set off for the only place I'd ever seen one: Lakeside Nature Centre. A few years ago a single large morel popped up in the mowed lawn near the shelter in the back-I looked the shrooms up on the web and read that they could be found in clearings, forest edges, burned areas and especially dead elm trees. The site told me to search on Warm, Sunny days after a rain.
I passed LNC and hit Rocky point. I decided that I hadnt been in a while and wanted to see if anything was blooming. I walked the fireline behind the hogan- down the first rushing creek- the Great Divide.
The trout lilys (dog-toothed violets) are everywhere, but are scattered. I remember finding them in thick patches, but these were all individual plants a few feet apart. There where white ones and purple ones, and ones of every shade and color between. There were more blooming plants on the unburned portion of the glades.

There was a regular violet, too, but no mushrooms. I cut down to the glade for a while, but found nothing but charcoal and grass sprouts.

the redbud in our backyard has small, deep-coloured buds on it. They are not flowering yet, but I cant imagine that RPG's flowers are too far away!

I scanned the glades for the showy white service berry trees, but found none. They should be blooming by now! Back up through the woods and to the truck- I searched every dead tree and light area I came across- there were alot!
No mushrooms. Can anyone tell me where to find them? I am more interested in photographing them than picking, but have never ate them either, and would love to try! Or let me know if you find any so that I know they're out there? Leave a comment or e-mail- I'd be very grateful!

Jerry Smith park

I got out there this morning. It was about 45 degrees F, but it didnt feel THAT cold. I walked to the big tree in the center of the park and followed the stream down. Its flowing well from yesterdays rains. I found several crayfish? borrows along the side of the hill above the stream that I had not seen before. I wrapped around to the sagerwoods trail and flipped some rocks. The snakes and skinks and beetles that I had found a week or so ago are not there- they must have been driven back into their winter places by the cold spell we've recieved this week. I flipped more and found a single, very cold Bombardier Beetle. He fled in slow motion- no fast enough! I put him on a piece of limestone and took some photos. These beetles are facinating! Read about them in a previous post, March 31. Click on the photo to get a larger, more detailed one!

The nettles are up- here is a pic of the underneath of a leaf.. The plant grows these toxic barbs on the stem and leaves. The needles can be so large and strong that they can go through jeans and gloves. They deliver an irritating, stingy-ithchy feeling when the fresh plants are touched- Ive heard its an acid in the needles. The plant is really harmless and has been used for a varitey of medicinal uses from kidney stones to hay fever. I read that the plant offers pain relief- by rubbing the irritating nettles on a wound or painful area... (probably just distracts you from the pain by itching you crazy)

I peeked behind the barn before I left and found a few skinks- two adult femails and a juvinal with a stubby blue tail. The two larger ones never bothered to move, but the little guy did- he was just about as successful as the poor, frozen beetle. He never stopped moving, but I got a pic and left them alone.

Cooley Lake

Yesterdays exciting storms have left us cold and wet. About 3pm it stopped drizzling and at 4 I decided to use the break in the weather.

I immediately noticed that our local gas station has increased it's price by .11/gal since this morning. The price is rediculous and I reconsider the drive Im prepared to take.

The Clouds begin to scatter- Sunlight spots the landscape with heavenly beams and the bluesky becomes more common with time. The Big Muddy is up and is, well, Muddy. The water threatens to overtake the soggy parkinglot-it hasnt got a lot further to go. I walked the shore for an hour. It seemed to become cloudy again, but the chilled wind was settling. I can only find a single gravl bar- They seem to be the highlight of my trips here. Its sits a good 3ft higher than what Ive ever bothered to explore before- Maybe its so tempting because its the only thing that resembles a sandbar. I kneel and shift through the stones, shotshells, brass and broken glass. There are many bones, but they are all newer and are of no value to me. A glossy blue stone catches my eye in the water. As I went to retreive the tiny gem, I was surprised to find that the water is so warm.
DONT get me wrong-its still very cold, but feels good compared to the air. The small stone is flat- one side is blk; the other is blue and cracked- it looks like an antique ceramic something. The rim is green and is fairly translucent. It is a chip of the tooth of an ancient bison. I say bison because its too square for anything else that lived here before People, and is definitaly fossilized. The back, dark part would be softer if it were new, and the top is like glass.

I spent some time pacing the river and visited the marsh-side before leaving. The marsh is also flooded, and is smothered in coots. There are thousands of them and they fill the reeded water and shore. THere are several species of duck, too. I see mallards, pintails, and I think a pair of woodducks. The coots are loud and make create a variety of noises and sounds that would provoke a chuckle in the most serious of people. One is crying and another is screaming- the two closest to me have a shy conversation of song, but it is all lost in the vocals of each individual in the busy mob.

Jerry Smith thunderstorms

The first storms of the year. I was going to head over to the Blue River Glades, but decided to take advantage of JSmith's wide open skies for the incoming storms.
I am not too familiar with cloud formations, but I know that they were all there this afternoon. Thick and thin, fluffy and smooth.
I got to the park at about 4pm- the storms still had about an hour to arrive. I ventured onto the prairie- found a creek bed. It trickled, but there was a lot of dried rock and clay exposed. I followed the creek down toward the woods in SagerWoods CA and stumbled upon a puddle. The crystal water had accumulated between the walls of the creek bed and two mounds of eroded rock and clay. About a foot deep and the same in diameter- the clay substrate died it red.
I approached the tiny body of water and watched my faint shadow eclipse it's little sunlight. Something moved. Something small in the water had made a sudden movement and caught my attention.
The wind gusted gently- about 8mph and it rippled the surface of the darkened puddle. I jumped into the stream bed to study it's life- discovered that the bed was very muddy. My poor new shoes.
There it was again! This time the creature left a small cloud of sediment in it's track. Another. There were multiple creatures and I edged toward the water. Its like Quicksand, only nastier. I consider the damage I would do the the creek before I proceeded further, but decided that any storms this evening would undo my doings.
The red mud swallows my ankles. There goes another one! Its cloud disappeared under a rock on my side of the water. I set my cameras on the bank and set both hands in the water. One cupped the open side of the rock; my right hand flipped it.
I must have blinked, because I did not see the tiny crustacean pop out, but he was in my hand. I slowly lifted him out of the water- careful not to let the water rush over my hand too quickly as to take the critter with it. It was a tiny crawdad-maybe a shrimp, I thought- only a few mm in length.
A fairy shrimp? Maybe a blue-claw. No, this was different. And why was he in a small, temporary stream? I knew what it was. My heart jumped with excitement! All I had to do was to prove that it was a prairie crayfish. I dont think theyve been found on the area yet!
I set him on a dime and took a few photos- a shrimpy little thing!
When he realized he was back in the water he bolted. gone in a second!
Off I went to find the proof I knew had to be around. I needed to find an adult, or his chimney. Prairie Crayfish build huge mud tunnels that can stick several inches out of the ground- they had to be there!
I walked up the stream bed to where I had begun, but found nothing. I began to suspect every mud pile to be what I wanted. Back.
There it was. Just a few feet on the opposite side of the babes- a small tunnel, though no mud chimney. I took a photo and continued to search. Another. This one was huge, and was everything I wanted to find. Im still very excited about my discovery- I think its an important one!
The sky grew bright, but I had made my way into the woods and could only see what was directly above me. Sunlight- the trees became bright.
I flipped a rock. Another. Another. Nobody.
I strolled down the Sager Woods trail until I found a second creek bed. This one was bone-dry, but It was worth a try. I flipped a rock. A camouflaged skink was surprised. He shot under a near rock. The rock was flat and was tight to the ground. I let him alone and went up a few feet. A large, loose rock kept my eyes, and I was drawn to it. The overturned rock exposed four five-lined (bluetail) skinks. They are all very large- fat- one is significantly more colorful than the others, and smaller. I assume this one is a male-the others, female.
They scattered and I cornered one for a blurred photo. Disappointing; she was beautifully posed!
One of them iridescent purple beetles scurried from another rock. I snatched him up and cupped him against the larger rock until I felt him settle down. It took a few trys, but I got him to stay still enough for an exciting close-up. Click on the photo for a larger, more detailed view.

I returned the rock, satisfied with my photos. I immediately noticed how dark it was and remembered why I had come to the park in the first place. Such distractions are common for me in the natural places I visit. It is unusual and disappointing when I have an outing that does not find me in a place I did not expect to go, or show me a plant or bug that consumes more of my time than I have to spend with it.
But this was perfect. A rumble of thunder evoked a series of yells, screams, hoots and hollers from several different Great Horned owls in the woods below me. A kestrel replied. He was very close and his deafening scream surprised me.
In the distance- where the evening sun should be, were some darker clouds.- just dark enough to notice. They grew quickly and approached swiftly. They were more glorious and impressive with every second and they stole every bit of my attention for many minutes. The wind picked up- but it was headed west. Toward the clouds. .. odd.
They continued to grow and when they became as large as I thought they could be, the bottoms began to boil. They bubbled and blistered until they were close and huge. I took photos and ran up the hill for several different foregrounds. I think that these are called mammatus clouds.
the sky to my left was even darker. . The sky above the steel barn appeared black, but the bottom of the cloud was smooth and creepy. I couldnt get a good photo of this one.
The wind died. completely and suddenly. It was silent with the exception of a faint rumble of thunder and that of the nearby traffic. the clouds passed over me quickly and seemed to dissipate soon after. - they became grey and normal looking and the wind returned. It was very cool- even spooky for a few minutes, but it was missing the overall feel of a powerful storm that I miss from last season.. .Perhaps I'll get the severe part later this week. Images were only slightly altered (cropped and contrast-the usual) and no special anythings used. ENJOY! below photo I adjusted midtones to make darker+more dramatic.

Blue River CleanUp

Father-son duo John Jansen(Jackson Co.) and Alec have attended the clean-ups together for now FIVE YEARS! Thank You and Congradulations!

'Twas a lovely sunrise- it lit one horizon and left the others black. Up it came- slowly, though swiftly and before I knew it, it was a giant pinkish ornament. The sky, from west to east, was an overwhelming display of every value of every color from pink and orange to the deepest blue and even a touch of green.

7am and Lakeside Nature Centre(LNC) was abuzz. Banners were being thrown and coolers were ready to be filled in preperation for the largest one-day river cleanup in the state of MO. Ive participated since I can remember, but this year is special. I was givin the opportunity to lead a group of volunteers on my own section of the river. The event has drawn anywhere from a few hundred people to almost a thousand annually for the last 18years. Volunteers are divided up into groups of 10-50 to clean each site. Sites are on the Blue River from Minor park(~redbridge) all the way tp the confluence (where it empties into the MightyMO)

(right) Pawpaw (I think) is budding now! Welcome Spring!

My site is in Swope-Just on the other side of the golf course from LNC. I loaded the truck first thing an filled the coolers of ice. Bill F made me useful scooping ice from the Dist.3 headquarters. The old maintenence buildings are pretty cool lookin!

To make a very long story short, I made myself useful around the center before volunteers began departing with their leaders. I learned that there were not enough vounteers and that my site was one of several that would not be cleaned this year.

I had surveyed the land for trash several months ago. Its a dump (literally!) Family garbage and commercial car junk litters the side of the road. A mattress dump is covering a gastank dump and our largest challenges (would have been) some 55gal steel drums and a KCstar newspaper dispenser-jacked for it's few dollars in coins. Oh well.

the center cleared out quikly and I emptied my truck. ran around helping with set-up for lunch before I hooked up with bill. We transferred to a Dumptruck that hauled a Bobcat. We visited the site on Blue river+ Prospect first and loaded two buckets of bricks from the end of the sidewalk near the river. We were to go to THE WALL and then over to teamsters to haul trash, but were told to go strait to teamsters. Of course we got lost on the way, but Bill is a damn good driver and manuvered the 60ft rig through traffic, u-turns and residential streets. We arrived at teamsters (45th and Cleverblvd) to be shewed off by the cops. Something had happened or something and the lot was packed with sirens and CSI vans. ????.

We regrouped and headed back to the center. Down Blue river prkwy was a constant line of volunteers and trash on the side of the road. It is impressive how much can be dimped in the matter of only a year!

The lunch line! The majority of volunteers participate with youth-groups and their famillies. We emptied the truck by hand and ate lunch before attending a Leaders meeting. After the Vickis organized the afternoon we set off again. back to prospect to retrieve a dump of roof-shingles. They were piled far out of the way and bill powed the little bobcat into the honeysuckle thicket . He took his first scoop of shingles and a small mouse sprinted away from the machine. I watched 'em go, but I dont think he ever stopped running from the monster that had just ripped his home into the sky.

Another few scoops revealed a skink, a hive of carpenter ants and a few priaire ringnecks. The bobcat was pretty cool. Some of the other city guys came for a while- 'fred' and 'applewhite' hauled trash from the road into their compactor. They often help out with our burns on the glades and with other swope activities. Very friendly and extremely helpful!

We filled the truck to near it's capacity and left few to no shingles. Maybe something beautiful will grow there.

On our way back we passed the firestone tire semi. Its filled pretty well with the rubber that we hauled from the banks and dumps of the Blue. Kinda sad that there could be so many.

Bill and I assisted in CLean-up (of the clean-up) until I split to help with the Santuary at the Zoo. We had crew on both sides of the river and transfered everybody with a single boat. The boat brought trash collected on the opposite side and fed it up a line of volunteers to be loaded on trucks and gators where it was taken to the nursery road. Our high-tech 2hour effort produced a heaping pile of crap- 10' in diameter and 5ft high!

(Left) Vicki Kraph- Woman of the hour! Vicki organizes a great deal of the Clean-up and is stuck taking the blame at the sign-in desk. She was lucky enough to get to enjoy the trash for a few minutes after lunch. (Down) A line of volunteers pass tools and trash up the slippery bank of the Blue. (Bottom)- our high-tech method of transportation from the Sanctuary to the Nursery where trash was collected.

A job well done. The river is cleaner for at least a few weeks and we will all gather again in a year.

Big Lake

Big Lake is a mucky oxbow near Squaw Creek NWR. It does have a SP, but its too clean and I dont visit. Instead I stay near the cabins on the SouthEast corner of the lake.

Spent the last four days clearing Ice-storm debris off of a family property on the lake. There are 8? large trees surrounding the house, a huge sycamore and a 60-ft elm thats split in three and only one-third still stands (not for long). I woke at sunrise and immediately went to work, cutting, hauling and burning the trees and dropped limbs. I brought a large chainsaw (didnt work) and my grandfather brought another electric one (burnt motor), but I was reduced to a large bow-saw, an axe and a hatchet. I fished for a day and a half until my dead bait was stolen off the truck- no human suspects- Caught a bullhead and lost a few to the new tree-snags. The first night was cloudy and we had a spectacular sunset. The second was crystal-clear and I tried shooting the stars. I made an attempt with a heavy lens and a busted tripod- It didnt work well- and I had a odd encounter with an oppossum. He could only be heard in the dead debris until I found him scurrying across down the edge of the lake- held up by a retainning wall. I snapped a blurred photo and made a loud noise when I took the cam off the tripod. He scurried a bit faster. In an attempt to approach the beast I stepped on a stick. CRACK!

He bolted- ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry 'em! His bee-line sprint along the egde of the lake landed him at the end of the yard, the wall- and down into the beginning of water. Blind in the dark of night he fled off the egde of the wall in a paniced attempt to outrun his invisible predator- Thats me!- Plunk. SPLASH.

Right off the edge of the wall- I couldnt believe that he had done it! The oppossum swam in a circle and then a bit to the right- a bit to his left- and finnally made his way to a ramp out of the chilled water. i met him there-My light shown on his beady eyes like it was the end. He stood still- waiting for the familiar sound of his most common predators.

However, the only sound he ever got was that of a few snapped sticks, my breathe and the shutter of my camera. He looks soo Happy!

Wednesday was full of birds. A flock of pelicans. A large group of cormerants- I didnt know they flocked! A handful of woodducks. A handful of Canadas.

With an enormous roar of voices and wings-there across the lake and at the end of the cove- grew some of the largest flocks of grackels Id ever known to exist. One flock carried thousands of birds and joined with an equally large one. The flew over me and the sky was filled with them. Their flock, though dense enough to block a considerable amount of sunlight, seemed to be an eighth of a mile wide if not wider, and spaned for a greater distance in length. They'd been there the day before- but not like this!

Thursday was rainy- just enough thunder to discourage me from staying near the tools. I still worked, but the fire took most of my time. That night a fog rolled in. There was a mist but no wind and the sunset gave way to one of the darkest nights Ive ever experienced. It was in the low 40's and very wet- things still dripped from the rains.

Friday got into the 60's and was again birdy. The morning was of songbirds of every shape and size. There were robins and cardinals, chikadees and juncos, sparrows and bluebirds, a pair of showy red-wing blk birds and some I coulnt recognize. A V of canadas flew into an adjacent field. The gackels were back-with a vengence! At one moment, upon looking strait up- not a good idea, by the way!- I witnessed two huge flocks moving in opposite directions. One flock flew above the other so quickly that it'd make you dizzy! It was a huge, swirling mass of blackbirds- as loud as they could be! They landed in the field with the geese and immediately took off again- the first birds leaving beofre the last could arrive. The mass lifted in uniform off of the ground and moved as if they were one.