Monday, December 30, 2019

More blueberry Botrytis

Botrytis spp. growing on blueberries left in a refrigerator - N. Carlson

As I came back from Christmas break, I found some left over blueberries in the refrigerator at work. A few of the blueberries had fungal growth.  Upon microscopic examination at 400x it turned out to be Botrytis spp. The name originates from the Greek term botrys which means grape. It is  combined with the Latin itis which means disease (ref: wikipedia Botrytis etymology). This is an excellent name as under the microscope the conidia are clustered like grapes on the conidiophore.


Photomicrograph of conidia and condiophore of Botrytis spp. 400x  N. Carlson



Conidiophore showing the attachment points for conidia of Botrytis spp.  - 400x N. Carlson




Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N. G. Carlson


This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 


Cardinals 1 min. 15 sec.



Catbird - 36 seconds