August 29 - Loggerhead Shrike

LoggerheadShrike - (Lanius ludovicianus) is a passerine bird. Their breeding habitat is semi-open areas in Southern Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, south to Mexico.
They nest in a dense tree or shrub. The female lays 4 to 8 eggs in a bulky cup built from twigs and grass. The population of this species has declined in the northeastern parts of their range, possibly due to loss of suitable habitat and pesticide use.

August 24 - Golden Jackal

GoldenJackal - (Canis aureus) also called Asiatic or Common Jackals, are small jackals native to northern and central Africa and southern Asia. Golden Jackals live 7 to 9 years in the wild, but have been known to live up 16 years in captivity. Cooperative hunting is important to the Jackals because pairs are three times more likely to be successful than individuals in hunting. Their diet varies, but includes birds, rodents, fish, young gazelles, insects and fruit. They will often follow lions and other big cats to scavenge their kills.

Golden Jackals tend to live in small family groups consisting of a mother, father and some of their offspring, which serve as "helpers". "Helpers" stay with the parents for a year after reaching sexual maturity, to help take care of the next litter. Golden Jackals mate for life. They hunt, defend territory, share food, and provide for the offspring together.

MercuryLeavesMornings - Beginning around August 24, Mercury becomes too close to the Sun for observation.

August 23 - Dandelion

Dandelion - (Taraxacum) a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. A bright yellow flower head (which is open in the daytime but closes at night) is borne singly on a hollow stem. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower matures into a globe of fine filaments that are usually distributed by wind, carrying away the seed-containing achenes. This globe is called the "dandelion clock", and blowing it apart is a popular pastime for children. Airborne seeds have been found miles above the Earth.

August 22 - Dickcissel

Dickcissel - (Spiza americana) a small seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. Their breeding habitat is fields in mid-western North America. They nest on or near the ground in dense grasses. These birds migrate in large flocks to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. From an open perch in a field, this bird's call is a sharp dick dick followed by a buzzed cissel.

August 21 - Snake Root

SnakeRoot - (Ageratina) is a genus of about 290 annual herbs and rounded shrubs from the Sunflower family Asteraceae. These plants grow mainly in the warmer regions of America. A few occur in the cooler regions of eastern US. There are many, much-branched woody stems. The leaves are triangular, serrate and opposite. The leaves are fragrant with a rather musky scent.

August 18 - Armadillo

Armadillo - Armadillos are small placental mammals of the family Dasypodidae, mostly known for having a bony armor shell. All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments. The armor is formed by plates of dermal bone covered in small, overlapping, epidermal scales called "scutes".

When threatened by a predator, Tolypeutes species will frequently roll up into a ball. This armor-like skin would appear to be the main defense of many armadillos, although, in fact, most flee predators by running and/or digging, rather than relying on their armor. Armadillos have short legs but can move quickly. They can also hold their breath and walk on the bottom of a lake or any body of water for 6 minutes.

August 17 - Tiger Aloe

TigerAloe - (Aloe variegata) a species of aloe indigenous to South Africa and Namibia. It has 18-24 leaves arranged in three ranks; each leaf is irregularly banded alternately dark green and whitish, and with white toothed edges. The flowers are orange, arranged in a raceme.

August 16 - Prickly Pear

PricklyPear - (Opuntia) Prickly pear species are found in abundance in the Southwest and Western US, and also throughout much of Mexico. The fruit of opuntias, called tuna, is edible, although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines on the outer skin before consumption. It is often used to make candies and jelly. The gel like liquid of a prickly pear cactus can be used like a conditioner. Prickly pears also have medicinal uses. They are said to control blood sugar, cure acne, and soothe skin, and can also be used as arthritis medicine, and eye drops.

August 15 - Desert Hare

DesertHare - (Lepus tibetanus) Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Very young hares are called leverets. They are very fast moving, and most live solitary lives or sometimes in pairs. Hares do not bear their young below ground in a burrow, but rather in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass called a form. Young hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection offered by a burrow by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth.



DesertSurprise - Some desert plants remain dormant, looking like bunches of dead spiny sticks. But the Ocotillo Pine responds quickly to late-summer desert monsoons with an explosion of spectacular red flowers.

August 12 - Lightning

Lightning - Lightning can strike from cloud to ground, cloud to cloud, and inside a cloud.

Perseids - The Perseids meteor shower peaks on August 12.

August 11 - Dog Day Cicadas

DogDayCicadas - (Tibicen pruinosa) Annual cicadas reappear every year, in the form of locusts, during the long days of July and August. They have a two to four year lifespan - not long compared to periodical cicadas, which come alive en masse every 17 years.

ColdBlooded - Cold-blooded animals bask in the Sun to raise body temperature and increase metabolism.

August 10 - Shooting Star

ShootingStar - The larger the meteor and the shallower its angle of descent towards the Earth's atmosphere, the brighter and longer the shooting star will appear. Viewing meteor shower activity is usually best after midnight because part of the sky you see includes the area ahead of Earth's orbital path, and the oncoming meteors are more likely to graze the atmosphere.

August 9 - Moon Flare

FullSturgeonMoon - (August) The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

August 7 - Merganser

HoodedMerganser - (Lophodytes cucullatus) a small sized duck and the only member of the genus Lophodytes. Their breeding habitat is swamps and wooded ponds on the northern half of the United States or southern Canada. They prefer to nest in tree cavities near water but will use Wood Duck nesting boxes if available and unoccupied. They feed by diving and swimming under water to collect small fish, crustaceans and aquatic insects.

August 4 - Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe - (Cucumis melo reticulatus) a variety of muskmelon, from the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes grow best in sandy, well-aerated, well-watered soil that is free of encroaching weeds. Cantaloupes were first introduced to North America by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1494.
For commercial plantings, the United States Department of Agriculture recommends at least one hive of honeybees per acre for pollination. Good pollination is important, not only for the number of fruits produced, but also for the sugar content of the fruit. Contrary to popular belief, cantaloupes don't ripen after they're picked so they must be picked ripe. A ripe one will have a musky sweet smell at the stem end of the melon.

Healthy to Eat too!
Cantaloupe are a source of polyphenol antioxidants, chemicals which are known to provide certain health benefits to the cardiovascular system and immune system. These chemicals are known to help regulate the formation of nitric oxide, a key chemical in promoting health of the endothelium and prevention of heart attacks.

August 3 - Heliotrope

Heliotrope - (Heliotropium) a genus of plants in the family Boraginaceae. The name Heliotrope (Helios is Greek for sun, tropein means turn) derives from the fact that these plants turn their leaves to the sun. They bloom in midsummer, and produce only one flower head per stem. The heliotrope is justly renowned for its cherry pie fragrance.

Evaporation - Heat from the Sun causes air to absorb water from the oceans, lakes, rivers, trees and plants.

August 2 - Argiope

Argiope - (Argiope aurantia) a common orb web spider, meaning they spin their webs in the form of a circle. Black and Yellow Argiopes live in fields and gardens. They can be found on shrubs, tall plants, flowers and structures, and most often seen in the late summer to early fall. They eat flying insects that get trapped in the sticky web. The most common ones are aphids, flies, grasshoppers, bees, mosquitoes and wasps. These spiders prefer sunny places with little or no wind to build their webs. Each night, they eat their web and build a new one. Although the females can be quite large and could deliver a bite, they are not aggressive and are not poisonous. Although they may look threatening to humans, they are quite harmless and provide a good service of eating pests from your garden. They can be found in warm, tropical climates in parts of Canada, US and Central America.

JupiterMoon - These two celestial bodies appear together in the evening of August 2.