Artificial reefs

One by one, a machine operator has been shoving hundreds of retired New York City subway cars off a barge, continuing the transformation of a barren stretch of ocean floor into a bountiful oasis, carpeted in sea grasses, walled thick with blue mussels and sponges, and teeming with black sea bass and tautog.

- NY Times (link here)

Interesting article on artificial reefs.

Birds on the dole

Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this one.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/404/1?rss=1&eaf

Interesting article on the consequences of feeding birds.

Australian snake

Thanks to Brian for forwarding this picture to me.

We do not get many snakes like this in Hales Corners.

Coprolites

Using radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis, an international team concluded that fossilized feces found five feet below the surface of an arid cave are significantly older than any previous human remains unearthed in the Americas.

- Washington Post (link here)

It would be a real thrill to find coprolites in my garden.

Holy Moses White Ale

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/beerProfile.php?beer_id=00000008

Holy Moses White Ale

A Handcrafted White Ale with Spices and Chamomile from Cleveland, Ohio

This is an interesting ale. Lots of flavor but in serious violation of the old German purity law.

Common mountain mint

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/cmt_mintx.htm

This plant has been added to my wish list.

Mallards

There is a pair of mallard ducks on the garden pool today.

I always wonder if it is the same pair that visits us year after year.