From Zeus to Helios
Eight minute read:
Public land conservation and wildlife management.
The first detection of extra-planetary radio signals.
Sunflowers
Rural Maryland lowlands, near the town of Poolesville.
A woman and her dog stroll along field #1 at McKee-Bershers Wildlife Management Area one late July afternoon. 32mm, 1/125s, f/10.0, iso 320
On the advice of my good friend, architect and enthusiast photographer (and amateur chef) David Belgin, I recently visited McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area. Here, along Maryland’s rural lowlands paralleling the Potomac River, is a network of managed sunflower, sorghum, and wheat fields cut in among hardwood and pine forest. Wetlands and a few dog training fields are sprinkled in for good measure. These are state-owned lands, managed for wildlife and accessible to the public. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grows crops as a food source for mourning doves, songbirds, and, from what I could tell, many thousands of bumblebee pollinators. Beginning in September, certain fields open during select times for dove hunting, just as they are at fifteen other WMA’s across the state into winter. The lands are park-like but in a satisfyingly undeveloped way.
A field of sunflowers looking west in the late afternoon. 8.38mm, 1/2000s, f/2.8, iso 110
Many others were visiting the fields during my trip - not a constant stream, more of a flow and ebb. Couples, a group of 20-something women in white dresses which I thought might be part of a wedding photoshoot (but when they wandered through the tall sunflowers, I wasn’t so sure), mother and daughters, whole families with young kids, others like myself with a camera and carrying a stepladder, top rung over their shoulder, and a few individuals. As I arrived at the gravel lot and sat in my car protected from heavy drizzle that was starting to dissipate, I reviewed the online map again to get oriented for a three-quarter-mile walk to one of the four fields. A closed vehicular gate served as a rallying point, many pairs and threesomes circumnavigating it to begin or end the journey into the 14 parcels that I later learned were joined over 40 years. Seeing the well-visited park, it seemed like a distinct possibility I was just coming into a not-so-well-kept secret.
An artichoke-like bud beginning to open. 70mm, 1/60s, f/11, iso 800
Looking at Google Earth’s historic imagery, aerials of this site show it has remained virtually unchanged for seventy years. The exact same field clearings among the same forested lands. Mr. Jim Bennett, Central Region Manager for DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service told me that the first two parcels were purchased in 1951 from the McKee family. In 1953 more acres were acquired from the Beshers family, hence the name of the WMA. First mystery solved. The last parcel was purchased in 1990.
One difference I did notice though from reviewing the images, wetlands appeared to be ponds filled to the brim in 1995’s version, internal farm roads containing the waters which read like smooth black masses. In other years though, these same areas look like Petri-dishes of bacteria growth, a mosaic of many different pea, olive, and forest-green blooms spread out, indicating puddles among desiccated mudflats. Perhaps the difference in overly wet and dry years. Re-reading Mr. Bennett’s message led me to question this assumption though.
One of the tools of land management he said that is used at McKee-Beshers are Green Tree Reservoirs (GTRs). Being an arborist planning for tree preservation during development (as part of my landscape architectural projects) and not trained in forestry which is all about the management of large stands of trees and timber production, this concept is new to me. Essentially, lowland forested areas or grasslands can be impounded during winter for periodic flooding. This simulates an increasingly less common natural cycle along stream and river valleys, less common because of flood control measures and loss of habitat from greenfield development. Studies of the best practices for GTR periodically reveal new insights. A balance must be struck in the amount of soil saturation so the forest stand’s health and composition are not compromised. If started too early, pin and other red-oak types that provide a valuable acorn food source and forest structure may die. But benefits, back to Mr. Bennett’s message, are improving wintering habitat for waterfowl and play a part in how they keep certain areas in early successional form. I am unsure where at McKee-Beshers GTRs are managed, but would be very interested to see them in action with ducks and geese. So maybe the variation patterns seen in the aerials for so many decades are part Mother Nature - part land manager driven.
A field of sunflowers looking west in the late afternoon. 254mm, 1/125s, f/9, iso 250, 80% crop
It turns out that McKee-Bershers had a different angle to its story in the mid-20th century. Much like Huntley Meadows in Alexandria was formerly used by the US Navy for information gathering purposes as I described in June, the Poolesville, Maryland site has a technological story of its own in the Mills Cross Radio Telescope. An article in The Astronomical Journal in 1955 describes a 96-acre two-dimensional array with “two crossed 2047-ft. arrays of 66 dipoles each”. The device set up by the Carnegie Institution of Washington was essentially two long electrified cables mounted with sensors pointing east-west and a wire mesh backing. The voltage could be adjusted in order to scan a particular part of the sky and, in return, collect bursts of radio noise. The main source of the disturbance they identified was near the Crab Nebula.
Scientists Bernard Burke and Kenneth Franklin “concluded that the radio noise is associated with Jupiter… in events in its atmosphere similar to terrestrial thunderstorms.” They determined this largely from the timing of the bursts they recorded, which aligned with the time for one rotation of Jupiter - once every 10 hours. “Astronomers had never picked up radio signals from any planet besides Earth.” The juicy details are described in more detail on NASA’s website. The oldest historic aerial I found is dated 1957 and shows a large X immediately west of what is today Field #2. You can see it today by searching for the coordinates 39°04'41.5"N 77°23'36.7"W. The next available image I found is dated 1963. In it the X pattern is no longer visible, though some nearby structures which no longer exist today did still remain.
Jupiter is the 5th and largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter was considered by many Romans to be king of the gods, and equivalent to the Greek god Zeus.
A woman and her daughter examine some flowers up close. 70mm, 1/100s, f/11, iso 640
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, 2021 is the Year of the Sunflower. Annual-type sunflowers, those which complete their life cycle in one year, have been domesticated for thousands of years, and are native to the Americas. Sunflowers are in the Asteraceae family, a huge taxonomic conglomerate of over 30,000 species of flowering plants including Asters, Lettuce, Artichoke, Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Artemesia (absinthe), and the infamous Ragweed.
A characteristic of the family is that each ‘flower’ or capitula is actually a collection of hundreds of small true flowers called florets. The large petals around the center are purely decorative (directing bees and other pollinators to the treasure they hold) and have been bred to various cultivars having different colors and sizes. I estimated the variety at McKee-Beshers to each have roughly 1,200 florets or, eventually, seeds. I found this article with a pretty detailed and interesting description of the life cycle of an annual sunflower. See “Stage 7. Seed Development” for a photograph of mature seeds ready for harvest from the flower.
Mature sunflower flowers facing east in late afternoon. Morning sun draws in pollinators. 24mm, 1/100s, f/11, iso 500, B&W Split Tone.
Sunflowers are a perfect example of heliotropism. Each flower follows the sun’s movement throughout each day, at least while the plants are actively increasing in size and their stems remain pliable. This time-lapsed swaying east to west occurs as they grow faster on the side the stem is exposed to direct light, as described in an article by UC Davis. Once the plants reach full size, as in the ones at McKee-Beshers during my visit, they will continue facing east even in the late afternoon. By facing east, they benefit from first exposure to the early morning sun, which warms and attracts more pollinators. In experiments, flowers that were forced to face west in morning received fewer visits.
What birds are likely to seek out the sunflowers, corn, sorghum, wheat, and acorns during fall and winter? I’ve just recently tried to wrap my mind around the bird family tree, I think they will fall into four main groups: upland game birds such as Pheasant, Quail, and Turkey (the Galliformes), Mourning Doves (Columbiformes), Goldfinch, and other songbirds (passerines), and waterfowl like Mallards, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, and Bufflehead (Anseriformes). Some of these birds and the rodents which are likely to also benefit from all the protein, carbohydrates, fats, and mineral goodness may, in turn, attract Osprey or Bald Eagles (Accipitriformes) from the nearby Potomac River. A regular palustrine circle of life.
By the way, the sun for which sunflowers are named is of course the star at center of our solar system. Many ancient Greeks considered Helios to be god and personification of the sun.
Sunflowers may have over 1000 florets, which develop into over 1000 seeds. 400mm, 1/125s, f/6.3, iso 125
Music used to create this post: Ignoreland (REM), Alligator (Of Monsters & Men), It Can Happen (Yes), I Know The End (Phoebe Bridgers), Get Out (Chvrches)