Robin Buffet (or, What Would Aldo See?)

Determined to see the starlings, my favorite aerial dance troupe, I tore away from my desk at 4:30. Alas, not a single starling. So preoccupied with the starlings' absence, I almost missed the robins' presence.

What: About thirty American Robins, actively sifting through leaf litter for morsels
Where: Under the arbor vitae and in the leaf litter that collects along the stone wall that edges the courtyard.
When: ~4:30 pm
Observers: Abbie
Conditions: A day or 2 ago, this leafy buffet was covered with snow.


What are these American Robins finding to eat? Hidden in the leaves, what is concealed to me but entices a dense gathering of robins? At this point in the season, are there any arthropods or annelids for the birds to pick out? Or is it all berries and seeds? These questions remind me of a passage by Aldo Leopold I recently read:

"These golden grasses conceal, under their waving plumes, a subterranean garden of bulbs and tubers, including wild potatoes. Open the crop of a fat little Mearns' quail and you find an herbarium of subsurface foods scratched from the rocky ground you thought barren. These foods are the motive power which plants pump through the great organ called the fauna."—Aldo Leopold

Attention as Place: Surveying One Square Meter

If you follow the Walker Art Center via blogs, Facebook, or Twitter, you've caught word of ROLU-in-Residence. When I heard that a component of ROLU's residency bears the title "Attention as Place," I was intrigued. Notions of "attention" and "place" are at the core of Open Phenology.

"Attention as Place" is a showcase of interactive and intellectually compelling projects culled from ROLU's Web-based network and temporarily localized in the Walker's Cargill Lounge. While most works in this showcase have a physical aspect, they are more fundamentally about the intangible, the indeterminate, the speculative, or the experiential. And for that reason, viewers can have an intimate, give-and-take experience with any of the 22 projects that compose "Attention as Place."

Take, for instance, Amy Franceschini's SURVEYING ONE METER, an action-based project with the following prompt:

Look for the roped-off One Square Meter at the base of Open Field's hill, near the parking ramp entrance.

Catalog in writing everything you see in a one meter square in Open Field. This could be a text, a poem, or a list. Get as detailed as possible.

The parameters of Franceschini's project calls to my mind The Forest Unseen (book trailer, left) by David G. Haskell. And though the Walker's Open Field is no old growth wilderness, Franceschini's project urges us to see it as it is, how it is, and where it is. Like Open Phenology, Franceschini's project is based on the ethos that our immediate environment has great potential as the stage for re-enchantment and discovery.

Since Tuesday, I've completed two surveys of the square meter, each time depositing my written observations in a designated box in Cargill Lounge. You are welcome to participate in Franceschini's SURVEYING ONE METER. Visit the Walker's Cargill Lounge where a staff person will give you a clipboard with paper and pencil. Venture out to the square meter and tell us what you see.

Open Phenology is now micro-blogging!

Hello, Open Phenology followers!

I've been running short on time to post, so please check out my micro-blogging @openphenology, twitter.com/openphenology.

Christina and I went nest-spotting in the arborvitae hedges that line the Garden's four courtyards. We saw one aggressive Common Grackle chasing a Gray Squirrel. We saw a silent Mourning Dove on its nest. And we saw an anxious, vocal pair of Common Grackles, possibly with their nestling? Wish I could be more confident about this observation, but the individual was obscured by foliage and I didn't have my binoculars.

Suggested Reading: Microattention by a Contemplative Scientist

http://ttbook.org/book/david-george-haskell-forest-unseen

An inspiring interview with author David George Haskell discussing his book The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature.

From bloom to seed

What: Today is the first day I've seen dandelion flowers gone to seed. When I spotted the season's first open blooms on April 2, I made a promise to record the timing of the next stage.
Where: These tall stems were growing along the west edge of Cowles Conservatory in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
When: Wednesday, April 11, at about 3:30 pm
Observer: Abbie
Conditions: Sunny but brisk. Last night brought frost.

It's in the air

What: Male cones on this conifer are full of pollen. With a little jostle, they release pale yellow puffs.
Observers: Abbie and Rachel
Where: West edge of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Date/Time: Thursday, April 5 at 4 pm
Conditions: Sunny, just under 60 degrees, slight wind