Joann Merritt's Essays

A Fun Thing Happened On The Way To...
April, 2005

…the KMB picnic on Saturday April 2nd. Don and I along with Donna’s Ladies-in-waiting encountered a teacher and her students whose T-shirts identified them as fellow KMB volunteers and Yes!! They would be interested in seeing the Ladybug larvae and pupae. The enthusiastic teacher, Jerry Johnson, adopted them on the spot, took them home with her and called later to report the ensuing events. The newly emerged ladybugs were yellow with no spots and had their wings “hung out to dry” as they drooped from their shell. During the next three hours they slowly turned orange, tucked their wings inside their shells and developed black spots like proper ladybugs. KMB sent a note expressing their appreciation to the Midnats for helping with the spring cleanup but the ladybug episode was thanks enough for those of us who are naturalists.

P. S. On April 20th Sybil found a very small yellowish larva which was attached to a dry tumbleweed. We watched as it wriggled and changed to a pupa with vague markings. This Lady-in-waiting now resides in a glass home (jar) where it will be visible when it emerges as an adult who is ready to start eating aphids.

…I-20 Pond for Don to brush-cut a Midnat trail across the dam. After finishing this chore the brush cutter was loaded and we were heading for the west entrance to I-20 Pond to check for wildflowers in Dry Gulch when the Great Kiskadee finder, Don, saw the Great Kiskadee fly across the shallow water below the dam. This was certainly a fun thing to happen just at lunch time making it possible for many Midnats to see the bird, even if they did have to miss a meal. When Donna returned to South Elementary they had been looking for her everywhere because it was her birthday and they had a cake for her - an ice cream cake!! Her fellow teachers may not have appreciated the Great Kiskadee as much as we did! But that, too, was fun!

I call Don the Great Kiskadee finder with good reason. He found a Kiskadee at Hogan Park on April 16, l993 which was the first sighting of one in Midland County. It wasn’t until 8 years later that one appeared in our backyard on a Sunday afternoon when once again many Midnats were able to see and enjoy the bird as well as the fellowship of like-minded birders. The very next year on April 19, 2002 one BRIEFLY visited our yard but it called loudly enough for Don to follow and he and Rose Marie to identify it.

…the City Landfill. Hauling off trash is not a fun thing but finding an unexpected spot of wildflowers while driving home is definitely a fun event. On April 22nd we (WE means Don, with me just picking up the bits and pieces) loaded furniture someone had discarded by the east entrance to I-20, took it to the landfill and decided to return home by way of county roads instead of taking the Garden City Highway. On one place along County Road 1130 a chalky white hill presented a gorgeous display of a dozen species of red, purple, yellow and white flowers. Red Indian Blankets, Purple Tansy Asters, Yellow Primroses and White Mountain Peppergrass were the most abundant but I found Woolly Paper Flower which was a new one for me. Even the tiny blooms of Ephedra were fun to see as they covered the plants. Below the hill in the low spots wildflowers were not nearly as outstanding but all were enjoyed wherever they bloomed.