Phantom islands—islands on the map that turn out never to have existed—have come up a few times here on The Map Room. But it’s wild to see one in real time—and in satellite imagery. Which… More

Who knew... apparently today (first Thursday in September) is international orchid day. https://orchidsinfo.eu/en/tag/international-orchid-day/ All my cloud forest species are sulking and dropping leaves thanks to the insane hot weather we've had between May and now. So here is one of my Neofinetia falcata (Technically Vanda falcata now) from back in June when they at least were happy on my windowsill.

Here we go again. Last week the U.S. president did to Lake Ontario what he did to the Gulf of Mexico a year and a half ago: rename it after America. This was part of… More

A short travel guide to Liechtenstein, Europe’s second-smallest country, with how to get to Vaduz from Switzerland and what to expect.Liechtenstein is the second-smallest country in Europe after Vatican City. While technically independent, it maintains a strong dependence on Switzerland. It uses Swiss Francs (CHF) as its currency Swiss embassies issue Liechtenstein visas It is part of the Swiss customs area Only Swiss citizens can work in Liechtenstein without a permit; other EU citizens need a…

Just a pair of summer flower portraits from our best local trail… I love everything about thimbleberries, and their flowers are underrated, I feel.

Marvel, BL516, UCR V04. It went by various names during the experimental phases until the University of California filed for a patent, sold the license for propagation rights, and released it to the world as . . . Luna. Actually, that is not its full name. It is trademarked as “Luna UCR.” (UCR is short […] The post The Luna avocado: a profile appeared first on Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening.

Need context? The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reference The news The post Star Trek, meet Lake Ontario appeared first on The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century.

Up at 5:30 after a calm and peaceful night on Squid Cove, just a wonderful deep sleep. Weather coming tomorrow so I need to find shelter from a northeast wind. Cool and overcast, wearing foul weather bibs and boots.Sail off anchor 6:10, a gentle 0.9 down the cove towards Squid Island. The loud, incessant snoring of a seal, just one of a small colony on the rocks south of Squid Island, makes me smile. The others sleep in silence.Rounding the island out onto Mount Desert Narrows, an otter…

• 4-star hike • 4 mile out-and-back • Moderate | Gain 1,030 feet • Wilmington, VT | Southern Region . Rewarded with summit views across Southern Vermont. Wilmington, Vermont sits at the southern edge of the Green Mountain National Forest, with Haystack Mountain rising just beyond the edge of town. It's close enough to reach from a quiet residential street, yet far enough to offer a genuine ascent into the woods. Parking near the trailhead is tight, with just a handful of roadside spots tucked…

A full-window simulation of Langton’s ant on a torus.

I took this photo coming back from a swim last weekend. We like to go early as it’s never crowded then and, generally, conditions for snorkeling are better earlier in the day.

Even incognito angels need their haloes.

Since our Alaska trip was postponed, we decided to commiserate with a trip to Hawaii instead. We’ve previously been to Hawaii a few times (and Jenn grew up there), and had been to the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, but we still needed to check off the Haleakalā National Park on Maui. Our plane: Welcome aboard: Seat selfie: Plane on the runway: Another plane: Taking off: Tacoma Dome: Tacoma Narrows Bridges: Jenn’s dinner: My dinner: Land ho! Rainbow: Coastline: Rainbow: Big valley: Golf…

Overcast and cool. When I tire of feeding myself to the mosquitoes, I don a bug hat and go into the yard with my phone to identify whatever has been skeletonizing trees and shrubs: angle-lined prominent moth caterpillars on the bigtooth aspen, pinstriped in green but too hairy to be extra twigs, and dogwood sawfly larvae on the silky dogwoods, curled into fat white moons.

Beef cattle indoors (photo from Compassion in World Farming on Flickr) 4 September 2026 Harmful algal blooms have become a regular feature of western Lake Erie’s summer water quality. Though they can occur as early as June, the worst of them are in late August and early September. This summer the bloom was 40 miles long on 26 August. Today the bloom is not quite as long but it has been hard to quantify because clouds covered the western end of lake in the past couple of days. Clouds are the…

I had the pleasure of attending a concert featuring two of the best late 80s / early 90s Canadian bands - Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts, and The Northern Pikes.

If you really squint at a map and spin up your full kindergarten imagination, Great Britain looks like a little cartoon dinosaur roaring at Europe, its tail pointing back across the Atlantic ocean. Zoom in on the tip of that squat tail: this is Cornwall, home of clotted cream and dramatic coastal walks. Don’t judge me, I didn’t use AI Right at the end you’ll find a shaggy little town called Hayle. Hayle’s defining feature is an exceptionally enormous beach, but that’s also pretty much its only…

Duncan Rawlinson photographed this winter scene in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario, Canada. The view shows a snow-covered clearing stretching toward the St. Lawrence River, visible in the distance under an overcast sky. Bare deciduous saplings and frost-coated evergreens line the foreground, their branches heavy with fresh snow. The colors—white, gray, and pale brown—create a calm, still mood. The composition leads the eye from the textured undergrowth through the middle ground of young…

Three weeks ago, I was obsessing about the rain [lack of] and how disconcertingly crisp was the yard after a no-rain July. The rain gods delivered a steady drizzle on the 3rd August and then buggered off back to the tropics. On 27th August we were part of a yellow rainfall-with-thunder warning. I took The Beloved to the Dublin train, acquired some groceries, and got back home by 10:00am. Just as the heavens opened. It's not Winter, so I instanter stripped down to shorts [no, not me undies…

the carpet ends here. late, overdressed, and only technically on time the hardwood door barely tuned by the time i get home this table is not round and surface, still sodden the hollow place - contrary other things said dirt laps the lake it has been some time :: Thursday, 3rd September 2026

Desert Brat 2026-09-03

Morning comes calm and crystal clear. Sounds of diesels on lobster boats rumble in the distance. Motor over to the dock to get rid of trash from last night. 7:15 cast off, motor through the mooring field, sails up 7:25 in a nice little breeze. Making 1.1 against the flood tide. See splashes from seals as they feeding on schools of small fish. Tack and make 2.0. Cool, almost chilly. Make another tack, 2.6. 8:05 Flye Island to port, Green Island with the small lighthouse ahead. Less wind and…

Victoria Park, drizzle them brightened, a couple of white butterflies over the flower beds. Went to investigate. Among the bright flowers were a few thistles. A couple of bees working over the thistles ignoring the other flowers. One butterfly came off a thistle too. Not sure which type of white.

66 Million Years BC: the Chicxulub meteor misses Earth. It does not trigger a climate-destabilising dust cloud, and the extremity of subsequent ice ages is therefore blunted. The era’s megafauna migrate, survive and evolve, while new animals⁠—such as primates⁠—emerge.Last moon I was declared a man. Tonight is my first hunt. To leave The Settlement led by FearNothing, to protect my BrotherMen and SisterMen⁠—I’ve longed for such honour. My heart bump-bump-bumps.No moon or cloud above. On these…

Berg Lake on Aug. 30th after drainage in this Landsat image. Yellow arrow indicates lake that has changed from dark blue seen in late July indicative of limited glacier input, to a lighter blue indicating glacier input. Berg Lake, Alaksa is impounded by the Steller Glacier terminus. During the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century this lake periodically drained west through a gorge to the Bering River. The lake drainage currently goes directly from Pacman Lake into the Gandil…

Late afternoon sun on the ocean off Kohala.

Cattails are commonly found in marshes, ponds, and wetlands. They are known for their tall, grasslike appearance and hot dog like shape. They actually kind of remind me of corn dogs. Parts of the plant are edible. The baby shoots can be eaten raw and the tender hearts inside of young stems can be removed and eaten like asparagus. 32 Cattail

Bumblebee on flower (photo from Wikimedia) 3 September 2026 Bumblebees are in trouble in North America. Since the beginning of this century the American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) has declined 90%, the western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) has declined 93%, and the rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) is now listed as Critically Endangered. Their absence has important implications for our food supply. Flowers in the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes and…