Sunday, August 11, 2013

RAINMAKER NEEDED TO SAVE THE BABY CATFISH AND (KITE SURPRISE PHOTO BLOG)

Hi Everybody!!
The situation is getting critical around here. We need rain. Send in the Rainmaker! In the old days we said: Send a gullywasher, but that old southern term is probably not used much anymore. It referred to a quick downpour in a short amount of time that would produce flash floods and "wash" the debris out of the gullys. In our walk around the grounds photostudy tonight, You will see my poor little stranded baby catfish in Rainbow Creek. After that, past a few flowers and bees, comes a big Kite Surprise! Enjoy!

The Althea Tree and the Bumblebee

Parched leaves on Dogwood Tree

dead tree and melting cloud

black vulture

Kite

Crape Myrtle with Bumblebee

redbud tree (forest pansy)

Dogwood Tree

This is my little pier on Rainbow Creek. The squirrels have been having a holiday with the pine cones! This is my fall mulch for the beds.

At the end of the pier is one spot of water:

To the left the creek is dry

To the right the creek is dry

The baby catfish are trapped in the little pool between the dry spots.

If we do not get rain this week, these will likely die as the pools dries up.

I am feeding them, but I can not fill up the creek with the garden hose. (People call me the buzzard lady already).

Somebody please make a phone call and get me a rainmaker for Rainbow Creek!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfish

Catfish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Catfishes (order Siluriformes) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. There are armour-plated types and also naked types, neither having scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels; members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genusCorydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Catfish are nocturnal.

Catfish Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – present

Black bullhead
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Osteichthyes
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Ostariophysi
Order:	Siluriformes G. Cuvier, 1817

Double Red Knock Out Rose

Spider Lily

Now for the Big Kite Surprise:

Migrating Kites:

I spotted this family of Kites in this tree and was thrilled to see all of them together.

I wondered why they were in this tree instead of the usual one across the street. I glanced over at the other tree and nearly had a heart attack to see there were many kites in that tree! There were over 20 for sure. I have never seen this many in one place. I got a few snaps (below), then a truck came down the road and they scattered. What a sight! What a surprise. Enjoy!