The Magnifying Glass

On the Shelf: Frogs.

For the last few weeks, life at our house has been dominated by a frog frenzy.  Vermont had a wet spring followed by a hot summer, and the result seems to be an abundance of amphibious life of all sorts.  My seven-year old has become quite the salamander hunter and frog catcher.  This has caused us to revisit various related resources that we have around the house, including Frogs by Gail Gibbons.

Like other Gibbons titles, Frogs is thorough, well-illustrated and full of the kind of very specific details that kids seem to be unable to get enough of.  From life cycle to living conditions, Frogs covers the basic facts well, and does so with Gibbons' trademark voice; one that is both authoritative but also able to meet kids at their level.  I have always loved the way that Gibbons writes for children in a way that assumes their intelligence and curiousity, and her writing in Frogs is no exception.

 

A frog found in the front yard at our house, you can read more about it here

 

An itty bitty frog found by Emily and her boys near their home in North Wales

 

Another of Emily's tiny frogs

 

From fellow TMG contributor Dawn

 

Another photo from Dawn, this time of tadpoles

 

We'd love to share a few of your frog photos here on TMG if you've got them.  If frogs are enjoying their popularity with you and yours, and you've got photographic evidence, send it my way at birdmail@gmail.com.  Happy frog hunting!

Skeeters

There is no gentle way to introduce a post about mosquitoes, so the picture above will have to do. 

Over the last few weeks we have had our share of rain and with the rain comes the bugs. As I walked the yard today I noticed a little container tucked away under a tree. It was full of shells collected at the beach and as I got closer I noticed some movement in the water that had accumulated. The movement was what you see in the jar above, mosquito larva. 

We have "raised" mosquitoes in the past to study their life cycle. It is fascinating and informative for the kids to understand the stages they go through and just how little water it takes for the larva to live and grow.

Mosquitoes need very little water to lay their 200-300 eggs... every third night of their adult life (4 to 8 weeks.) The larva hatch out in about 24 hours and spend anywhere from 5 -18 days in the water before becoming adults. As they grow they molt, shed their skin, four times before becoming a pupa (the little curly things you see in the water above.) When the time is right they brake out of their pupal case and rest on the surface of the water while their body hardens, preparing for flight.

We are usually pretty vigilant about cleaning out standing water wherever it may accumulate... the beds of toy dump trucks forgotten behind the shed or the little wheelbarrow full of special rocks... but today reminded me that I need to talk with the kids again about turning over containers and trucks and all the other little places water likes to pool up and make perfect little homes for mosquito larva. It may seem hopeless in this very wet province, but taking care around the yard can make a difference. 

Other sources of standing water you may check for in your own yard:

• Saucers under plant pots
• Trash can lids
• Bird baths (change the water a few times a week)
• Open recyle bins (water gets caught in the containers in the bin)
• Old tires
• Tire swings (drill holes in the bottom of the tire to let water drain)
• rain barrels (empty twice weekly or cover)
• Covered boats 
• Children's pools
• Rain gutters (make sure they are clean and flowing)

When so many eggs can be laid in so little water every emptied drop counts.

Have you had a buggy summer? What kind of bugs "bug" your family the most? 

~Dawn

 

Four O'Clock Fun

Ciao and Hello! I am so sorry for the prolonged absence from The Magnifying Glass...traveling back to the States for six weeks and hosting visitors here in Sicily led to a longer than expected hiatus, but we are now "plugged" back in and have lots to share from our recent adventures starting with one of our favorite summer time activities.

 Summer days in Sicily are hot and dry which means we usually emerge later in the afternoons and evenings to enjoy the cooler breezes and dramatic sunsets. And we aren't the only ones who perk up later in the day: our four o'clock flowers do, too. It is easy to see how they got their common name because their blooms really do unfurl during the cooler parts of the day. It is pretty amazing to see those flowers opening up each afternoon right on schedule. Actually, it isn't an internal clock, but more of a thermometer that prompts them to open up later in the day and close back up again when the temps rise with the morning sun.One of my favorite summer activities as a kid was making flower crowns and bracelets from the four o'clocks that thrived in our yard and it is so much fun to now share that experience with my kids. It's a simple, but very satisfying process. Here's what we do:  find a long piece of grass/weed stem, pick a bloom, pinch off the end and pull out the stamen, thread on the grass, and repeat until you have a lovely scented lei.

 Four O'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) are tropical and nocturnal plants which means they grow best in warmer climates and they open at dusk. Their enticing scent attracts hawk moths and sphinx moths. The seeds are also fun and easy to collect especially for eager little hands...just be sure no one eats them or decides to stick one up a nostril (like my mother did when she was a child...she didn't tell anyone until it began to swell and germinate). In warmer climates the four o'clocks will usually re-seed and multiply for future summers, but in cooler areas save the seeds for planting next spring or dig up the tubers that are formed and store those in a safe spot for re-planting in the spring (similar to what is done with dahlias).

I hope you and your families are enjoying this summer season (or winter if you are in the Southern hemisphere). Have been growing anything fun, interesting, or tasty in your yard this season?  If so, please tell us about it!

---Lucia