Midwest Nature Quote of the Week

Far below, on the floor of the forest, was a constant, mysterious duskiness where the succulent wood sorrel, twinflower, cornel, and goldthread blossomed with a freshness only possible in untrodden spaces. Among the dark green leaves of the flowers was a soft, resilient cover of moss in which the feet of the wild animals and the occasional Indians settled deeply and gently. There were no noises except the noises of nature, no scars except the scars of nature, no sights except the sights which nature had been exhibiting for countless centuries.

Robert Marshall, The People’s Forests

Recipe: Strawberry Angel Food Cake

Strawberry Angel Food Cake 

1 3/4 cups egg whites                              1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries        1/2 teaspoon vanilla
     (sweetened to taste and sliced thin)    1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar                  
1 1/8 cups sugar                                     

Place room-temperature egg whites and thawed strawberries in a very large mixing bowl with slanting edges and vigorously whisk a minute or two until frothy. Sprinkle on cream of tartar and salt and add vanilla. Starting on high speed and moving down to medium with an electric mixer, beat until it begins to form soft peaks. While continuing to beat, very gradually add 1 cup of the sugar in five additions until the mixture is just stiffening. (Do not overbeat.)

Sift together the cake flour and remaining 1/8 cup sugar several times. With a wire whisk, gently but firmly fold in the flour, sifting it out in five or six additions. Using a clean, dry, rubber spatula, carefully pour the batter into a 10-inch tube or springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes--depending on your oven--on a center shelf. (Walk softly in the kitchen while the cake is baking!)

When done, remove cake from oven and invert pan over a soda bottle or other narrow-necked bottle (for better ventilation) for 1 hour before removing cake from pan.

Frost with Four-Minute Frosting beaten with a drop or two of red food coloring to make it strawberry pink. Top with chopped, toasted walnuts and serve with ice cream if desired. Serves 10 to 12.


Prairie Cooks by Carrie Young

Butterfly of the Week: Tawny-edged Skipper

Tawny-Edged Skipper

Polites themistocles (Latrielle [1824])

Status: Common breeding resident. 

Flight: Essentially flies continuously from mid May through September. Probably three overlapping broods: adults are more frequently encountered from late May to early June, from late June to mid July, and from early August to early September. 

Distinguishing Features: This small brown skipper is very similar to the Crossline Skipper (Polites Origenes). It differs by having a small, sharp, sinuous sigma on the upper fore wing in males and an orange patch along the upper fore wing costa in females. Females also lack faint light spots on the upper hind wing. Adults of both sexes tend to be smaller than Crossline Skipper adults. Wingspan: about 2.8 cm. 

Distribution and Habitat: Map 184. Abundant throughout the state in a wide variety of native and human-modified open habitats. Although commonly found in native prairies, it is also often seen in old fields and city parks. 

Natural History: Larvae probably use panic grasses as their Iowa food plants, although other hosts have been reported from other states.

Questions: How far do adults travel from their site of emergence? Does this species avoid competition with other panic grass-eating skippers by feeding at different locations on the plant or at different times of the year? 

The Butterflies of Iowa, by Dennis W. Schlicht, John C. Downey, and Jeffrey C. Nekola

Iowa Nature Calendar

Upland sandpipers circle whinnying calls during courtship flights over grasslands.


The Iowa Nature Calendar, by Jean C. Prior and James Sandrock

Iowa Public Television show featuring Linda & Robert Scarth

Linda & Robert Scarth, photographers of DEEP NATURE, spent a day with Chris Gourlet, from Iowa Public Television, where he videotaped them as they worked.

They will be featured on his show “Iowa Outdoors: From the lens of one wildlife photographer to the handlebar view from our state's biking enthusiasts, we explore springtime in Iowa.”

See it today!!

Show times:

Saturday, May 11, 8:30 AM on IPTV

http://www.iptv.org/iowaoutdoors/

Midwest Nature Quote of the Week

Egrets and herons fly with legs extended and necks curved back. Such neck-curved birds are graceful enough, but give an impression of Sunday aviators out for a turn around the field. Not so with the cranes. Flying cranes are like flung javelins, their necks and legs fully extended, reaching hungrily for distance. They are compass needles pointed north, spanning great gulfs of northern sky and taking their journeys seriously.

John Madson, Out Home

Butterfly of the Week: Dun Skipper

Dun Skipper

Euphyes vestris (Boisduval 1852)

Status: Common breeding resident.

Flight: Adults observed in flight from late May through late September, with most encounters occurring in the first half of July. While this species likely has multiple broods, collection records do not clearly indicate when these might occur. Perhaps there is only a single brood, which emerges over an extended period in the summer.

Distinguishing features: This is a uniformly dark brown skipper. Males have a black stigma, and females have few white spots on the upper fore wing. Females often have a faint crescent of light brown spots on the mid hind wing below. It differs from the Little Glassywing and Northern Broken dash by having reduced light markings (if any) on the upper fore wing. Wingspan: 3 cm.

Distribution and habitat: Map 219. Common throughout the state in a wide variety of open habitats.

Natural history: The larval hosts are unreported but are believed to be various members of the sedge family.

Questions: What are the larval hosts for this species in Iowa? How does it overwinter? What factors have allowed it to become the most abundant member of its genus in the state? 

The Butterflies of Iowa, by Dennis W. Schlicht, John C. Downey, and Jeffrey C. Nekola