The Free Radical

First… any pictures included in today’s post have little or no relevance to the topic being discussed. Sometimes it happens that I don’t have anything topical.

At the serious risk of incurring a nasty jinx, I would like to point out that it is June 7th and I have not received a single mosquito bite this year. What’s more, I don’t even see any mosquitoes in the forest during my walks… which include serious “swamp time.” Is it just me? Or this micro-reality I inhabit? Or has it something to do with a Report from a couple of weeks ago about the removal of a parasite from the collective “body” of humanity?

Whatever the reason, personally, I’m loving it!

Next, I would like to express my gratitude for the puffballs I’ve found over the past five days in a row. Every day I’ve found a few of the little morsels growing unexpectedly along the way in places I’ve never seen them before. I’m always overjoyed at their discovery… and it seems as though the Forest is actively responding to my encouragement by always providing more. Yay!

And now, as for the eagles… It is possible that a couple of the alleged eagles might actually be hawks. After some investigation, I have found that eagles don’t tend to make the characteristic piercing cries that hawks do. That familiar raptor scream belongs to Hawk. So what I have previously referred to as the Young Eagle is in reality more likely a hawk, probably a red-tailed variety.

It is interesting however that there are definitely bald eagles sharing the same territory. The adult plumage of bald eagles is rather unmistakeable. Hawks and eagles in such close proximity is interesting…

And finally, I have been noticing that there are already numerous wasps and hornets feeding themselves with the nectar of flowers… and supposedly pollinating them in the process. This is somewhat unusual. Have the wasps and hornets decided to go mostly vegetarian? Despite their obvious numbers, they have shown no aggression so far.

Subtle changes in the ways in which different species interact appear to be afoot. This bears keeping a close eye upon…