June 2017: Describe your walk by adding a comment below
Each time you go out and make observations for this project, describe your walk by adding a comment to this post. Include the date, distance walked, and categories that you used for this walk.
Suggested format:
Date. Place. Distance walked today. Total distance for this project.
Categories.
Brief description of the area, what you saw, what you learned, who was with you, or any other details you care to share.
Comentários
June 1, 2017. Dog Pond Rd, Woodbury, VT. 3.1 miles today, 239.8 miles total.
Categories: trees, red, edible, & dragonflies, blooms, invasives, insects
Enjoyed a partly sunny hike out Dog Pond Rd today. To my surprise, there was some poison ivy, actually a lot of poison ivy. I actually had to look carefully before I steeped off of the road. The biggest surprise of the day was a patch of buckbean in a roadside ditch. I've only ever seen that at Chickering Bog before. The buckbean was in full bloom, as was some nearby saxafrage.
posting here so that i get notifications for this post too.
Yesterday was out in another big wetland for work - this time LaPlatte Marsh. Has some neat floodplain forest but what we saw was mostly infested with huge buckthorn and honeysuckle or else a wet meadow full of reed canary grass. High value wetland in terms of public access and flodwater retention and filtering but sad to see so much disturbance. Maybe the heart of the wetland is in better shape. If I come back for fun, it would be better explored by canoe.
6-1-17. Fairview Lake, Stillwater, NJ. 2.5 miles today, 73 miles total
Categories: bioblitzing, so herbs, shrubs, trees, insects, vertebrates, lichen, some moss, fern, grass.
Chaperoning the 7th grade trip. I ended up with 11 girls and a co-chaperone (which helped a lot) and we were actually all quiet (if not necessarily asleep) from midnight to 5:30am. yay!
The big excitement was three snakes in bushes. Also a number of insects and spiders. At one point my daughter said, "Here, Mom". I stuck out my hand, she dropped a slug in it. I don't mind slugs, but don't like unexpected slugs. Plant-wise my favorite was the first stargrass of the year, and some-heal all was blooming. Also interrupted and royal ferns. We could not have had nicer weather, too.
6-2-17. Fairview Lake, Stillwater, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 74 miles total.
Categories: didn't find it yesterday (so mostly animals)
Much shorter day today. Favorite find was eclosing dragonflies, three of them of two different types. Got home at 1:30 and both my daughter and I immediately fell asleep.
6-2-17. Upper and Lower Depot Rds, Marshfield, VT 2.8 miles today, 242.6 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooms, ferns, fungi, mosses
Walked up scenic Upper Depot Rd in Marshfield to get good views of the cascade. Came back down Lower Depot for more cascade views. I always used to think these roads were out in the boonies. But now I see that they're really part of downtown Marshfield. The forget-me-nots were continuous throughout the entire route. One tiny spot of poison ivy on Lower Depot. Lots of Japanese knotweed scattered about. The 2 roads put together didn't add up to much mileage, so I continued around the sewage treatment plant and found a trail into the woods, and a mowed park. My name for the park is "Invasive City." Japanese knotweed growing atop bishop's weed, with clumps of cow parsnip and poison ivy for variety. Quite surprising, given the low amount of invasives that I've seen in the rest of town. The birding between the sewage treatment plant and the river was excellent, despite the horrid assemblage of plants. The trail into the woods was getting more and more interesting, but then I came to a giant blowdown that I couldn't get around. I'm guessing it was the same storm that took down our trees last week.
Snakes, slugs, and spiders? What an excellent trip!
Do you think the forget me not is invasive in natural ecosystems or just along roads? its all around our house but i'd been kind of ignoring it thinking the moneywort and goutweed are a bigger issue. or the chervil and lesser celandine along the road. also it's pretty. we have three colors. but i don't want it here if it's invasive.
Going to Echo today to show Holly the butterflies, etc. Maybe a lakefront walk if not too cold and rainy.
6-4-17. River Road Park, Pluckemin, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 74.5 miles total.
Categories: flowering, insects, grasses
Didn't go very far, but it took a long while, as I was looking carefully for insects. This is a big, overgrown field that's mowed every year or two. The foxglove beardtongue was blooming.
No walk yesterday as I was in class all day followed immediately by duty that night, but my husband found a box turtle in our garden, which was exciting.
6-3-17. Sodom Pond Rd, Adamant, VT. 1.2 miles today, 243.8 miles total.
Categories: invasives, blooms, birds
Followed along with the nature walk, the traditional opening event of the annual Adamant Blackfly Festival, led by Richard Czaplinski. We had about 15 people on the walk today, including residents of Sodom Pond Rd, and folks from as far away as Richmond. Richard is a longtime resident of Sodom Pond Rd and very concerned about invasive species, so he showed us all of his pet peeves, from the phragmites near the Adamant store to the wild chervil encroaching on his property. During the walk, Adamant resident Julia Barstow spotted a nice patch of morels. And we all enjoyed some noisy flyovers by cedar waxwings. No blackflies today--too cold and wet.
6-4-17. Davisville Flea Market, Contoocook, NH, followed by Stark Pond perimeter, Dunbarton, NH. 1.5 miles today, 245.3 miles total.
Categories: blooms, dragonflies, other insects, lichens, mosses,
Took my mother shopping at the Davisville Flea Market this morning. While she browsed the stalls, I kept getting distracted by blooms and dragonflies. I tried to track down a noisy mockingbird in a pine tree, but I only succeeded in scaring it off. Then I felt bad since maybe some other people at the market were also enjoying its calls. I got to see some cinquefoils in bloom, and a pink.
After the flea market, I went for a stroll around Stark Pond near my mother's house in Dunbarton. Many dragonflies out and about--quite a treat. The walk was a bit scary, with folks just over the hill trying out their weapons. I guessed a revolver, an automatic rifle, and some other guns, based on the shot patterns and noise volume. I had no idea which way they were shooting or whether they had any proper stops. New Hampshire being the capital of Liberteria, shooting of any sort is a religious practice not be interfered with. As I was heading back, I saw the shooters, 2 20-something dads with their 3 7-10 year-old sons, also heading to their truck. The area is a state park devoted to off-terrain vehicles, with gazillions of 4-wheelers zooming about the trails, so anything goes back in the woods. The plant diversity was rather sparse, but I did find a lady slipper in bloom.
odd, peacham bog area was full of blackflies last week and that place is pretty cold
6-5-17. East Hill Rd, Woodbury, VT. 3.1 miles today, 248.4 miles total.
Categories: bark, entire leaves & blooms, ferns, fungi, lichens
After parking at the Sabin Pond fishing access on Route 14, I hiked a ways up East Hill. The road was mostly through woods, with some very scenic portions with maidenhair fern and bluebead lily. A stream bubbled along the southern portion of the road for most of the way, so I was never away from the sound of running water. Of course, it was raining as well, so I wasn't at all away from water entirely. At the top of the hill where I turned around, there was a giant marshy area. Woodbury is all wet! Found my first columbine of the season open today.
6-6-17. Calais Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3.1 miles today, 251.5 miles total.
Categories: yellow, vines, entire leaves & blooms, ferns, mosses
A brisk walk along Calais Rd today in the rain. I had to stay away from the road shoulders since they were so sodden. The usual characters were blooming: fleabanes, false Solomon's seal, Canada mayflower, golden Alexanders, honeysuckles. I only saw one patch of bishop's weed and a single plant of wild chervil today. Lots of honeysuckle, a single patch of Phragmites, but no knotweed. Few birds--just some chickadees. I didn't see any insects beyond the single tent caterpillar nest. But thanks to the "yellow" category, I managed to spot a goldenrod crab spider.
6-5-17. Dock Watch Hollow, Warren, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 75 miles total.
Categories: not posted before, insects, blooming
I walked a bit of road not far from my house that I hadn't actually walked along in years. I was looking for Virginia waterleaf and found it, but it wasn't blooming. Also looked for and found Canada moonseed (also not flowering). I did find a big patch of trumpet creeper where I had never noticed it before, right at the edge of the road. Go figure.
6-6-17. Washington Valley Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 1.0 miles today, 76 miles total.
Categories: insects, fungi, blooming
I walked up a trail at the local park that I haven't been on in 20 years. I avoided it because it's not particularly interesting, but I still found plenty to take pictures of, and turned around when the rain got harder at a lovely little brook I'd forgotten about. We have old pictures of me and my husband with our baby son (and dogs) having a picnic up at the top of this trail, 20 years ago last October.
6-7-17. River Road Park, Pluckemin, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 76.75 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming, flowering, galls.
My husband called at 9 am to say, what is that fiery ball in the sky? But by the time I got out for a walk it was back behind the clouds (but not raining, at least). Grapes are starting to bloom here, and privet, both of which I'm working on differentiating species. Also hawkweeds, hop clovers, and bedstraws. Easier flowers out are foxglove beardtongues, ox eye daisies, and yarrow. There were a fair amount of insects, and some galls. Not as many fungi as I'd have expected with all the wet weather, but this was mainly meadow and woods-edge.
6-7-17. Buck Lake perimeter trails, Woodbury, VT. 1.4 miles today, 252.9 miles total.
Categories: landscapes, compound leaves & blooms, ferns, lichens, fungi, beetles, dragonflies
Beautiful walk around Buck Lake today, a pond I've only visited once before. It was high season for bluebead lilies and pink ladyslippers, with blooms around every corner on the near side of the pond. On the far side of the pond, the trails kind of faded, especially after the beaver dam, so there was a bit of bush whacking. At least with the lake right there, there was no chance of getting lost. I was certainly glad to be wearing boots, however, since some of the backside trails were more ditch or otter slide than trails. Great to be out in the woods again!
Grapes, hawkweeds, and bedstraws? That's a project! I'm working on buttercups this week. But it looks like hawkweeds are coming up. I'll be studying with you!
don't go to groton park area right now. the blackflies are blotting out the sky...
6-8-17. Watchung Reservation, Scotch Plains, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 77.25 miles total
Categories: blooming, insects, not recorded here before.
I did not realize that I had walked in Scotch Plains until I looked it up on Google when I got home. At least four towns overlap in the Watchung Reservation (none of which is Watchung), and it gets pretty confusing. I found more blooming privet today, and Pyrola americana in bloom as well. I also found the "other" Krigia (K. biflora) and then all my pictures were blurry or odd when I got home. Frustrating.
I participated in the Rutgers BioBlitz this spring, and the results were published today. I had the most observations, and the leader pointed out that it was an average of 65 a day for 76 days. I would never have come close to that if not for this 1000 Mile Journey project. I told my 18-year-old daughter and she said, Mom, I love you, but you are such a Nerd!
Wow! I just discovered this by glancing at the "Real Time Discussions" tab. This is awesome! No wonder @erikamitchell and @srall are waaaaaay at the top of the leaderboard this year. It looks like you're both on your way to easily doubling what you recorded in 2016! You are inspiring me to walk through a new-to-me part of DC tomorrow (before the crazy heat wave starting this weekend).
You should join the project; it's a lot of fun. (and has definitely got me out walking on days when I might otherwise have just not bothered.)
Yes, Carrie! We'd love to have you wander along with us on our march! Do join us!
6-8-17: Northbranch River Park, Montpelier, VT. 2 miles today, 254.9 miles total.
Categories: blue, signs, compound leaves & blooms, insects, ferns, fungi, lichens, mosses, invasives
Checked out the head of the trail at Crestview Dr. in Montpelier. Unfortunately, it was blocked with a big red No Trespassing sign. So I had to go with Plan B--the trails off of Cummings St. Plenty of invasives to marvel at, including an impressive collection of Japanese knotweed, with various sign boards explaining the other invasives that could be seen, if the knotweed hadn't taken over. I also stumbled across a homeless camp by the river that is in desperate need of a port-a-pot. Up the hill was some nice forest, where the ground cover was mostly ferns (and some barberry). Found my first blue-eyed grass open of the year.
Way to go with the Rutgers BioBlitz, Sara!
Thanks for the blackfly warning, Charlie. I'd love to get out to Groton sometime soon. It's calling!
6-9-17: Bliss Rd, East Montpelier, VT. 3 miles today, 257.9 miles total.
Categories: trees, domestic animals in the photo, faces & blooms, ferns, fungi, mosses, invasives, birds
Headed out to Bliss Rd today after checking it on the satellite, which showed plenty of forest. On the ground, it was an odd neighborhood. Ritzy houses with manicured lawns right up to the road, interspersed with patches of forest like I saw on the satellite. Lots of ferns, anyway, and vinca and bishop's weed. But on the west side of the road, there was a long tall cliff, with mounds of very robust maidenhair ferns under it. And all sorts of wild flowers, of course. I so so much wanted to wander over to the cliff and look for special ferns, or mosses. But every inch of the road was posted "No Trespassing". So I had to use my telephoto lens to view the flowers. Today's experience makes me extra thankful for the Chickerings, who own lots of similar property in our neighborhood, but post it "Hikers welcome, no hunting." Found waterleaf in bloom today for the first time this season. Is yours blooming yet, Sara?
6-9-17. Mountain Park, Bernards Twp., NJ. 0.25 miles today, 77.5 miles total.
Categories: insects, flowering, fruiting.
My 20-year-old son was watching a video of a live Led Zepplin concert (that he bought yesterday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland) and I had to escape the house. It was a lovely evening for a walk, but I forgot a hat with a brim and had a lot of trouble with the sun in my eyes. Lots of vetch blooming. I'll have to sit down with a key and figure which one. Blackberries, multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, red clover, birds'foot trefoil and a few sedges were blooming, and a dogwood. Arrowwood was about done, and I found another border privet.
I don't come across waterleaf very often, but I haven't caught it blooming yet this year. I'm hoping to get someplace a little less "disturbed" (and thus farther from home) on Sunday, so maybe I'll see. Very little land around here is posted, at least very little that I would actually like to walk in. Most big chunks of woods are parks already. The rest are now housing developments, mostly, though there are still a couple of cattle farms in town, and the biggest slaughterhouse in this section of the state, I'm told (which also owns the town school buses, go figure).
6-10-17. Lord Stirling Park, Basking Ridge, NJ. 1.0 miles today, 78.5 miles total.
Categories: blooming, insects, fruiting, shrubs, as many species as possible.
Before I went for my walk, I looked at the leaderboard here on iNat and saw that you, Erika, have about 100 more species this month than I do. Granted I'm three days behind in posting, but still... I walked in the Great Swamp which is a National Wildlife Refuge (though not actually the part I was in) set up when they wanted to fill it and make another airport for NY city. I had some free time while my 13-year-old daughter was at a friend's bat mitzvah service. Then I ended up frustrated because it was "all the same species" I keep seeing. (how am I going to catch up?) But in reality, I saw lots that I don't normally, especially insects, like the pink-spotted lady beetle and a new kind of plant hopper. Then there was a Galium I've never seen before and lots of sedges. The bird blind I was headed for was closed, as apparently a pair of turkey vultures are nesting in it (and aggressively defending the nest). I took over 500 pictures, surely that will bring my species count up!
6-10-2017 - did a bioblitz with the UVLT in Lyme, New Hampshire. No idea how far i walked, probably not very far. Was doing the 'naturalist crawl'.
6-11-17. Hunterdon County Arboretum, Lebanon, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 79.25 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming, whatever caught my daughter's eye.
I took my 18-year-old to this arboretum today and had a ton of fun as she was in "camp counselor mode" and got so excited helping me find bugs and trying to stump me on plants (which was not too hard on the cultivated flowers and pond weeds). We saw adorable baby turtles swimming in a pond, and lots of insects.
Naturalist crawl is probably my usual form of locomotion, at least in the field. There's a reason my actual exercise comes on a stationary bike. I can't really consider my walks a cardiovascular workout.
6-10-17. Chickering Bog, Calais VT & Wheeler Rd, Calais VT & Clough's State Park, Dunbarton NH. 5.8 miles today, 263.7 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, fungi, dragonflies, birds, mosses, beetles
Tried an early morning birdwalk this morning. Not much luck with bird photos, just a junco and a blue jay, but I heard a lot of birds in the woods, like hermit thrushes, and black-throated greens. But as long as I was at the Bog anyway, looking for birds, I checked around for blooms as well. Yes, the lady's slippers were blooming, as well as the naked miterwort, Labrador tea, and bog rosemary. The buckbean is also hanging on. The pitcher plants will bloom in a few days. I hoped to see some dragonflies, and I saw a few, but none were flying yet because it was still cold and wet. No elfin skimmers this morning (are they even out yet?).
After the birdwalk, I went directly to our regular Saturday morning hike, which was a special tour of some wetlands and a private fen by a landowner. But I was the only one of our group to show up, so I hiked with the landowner and her husband, identifying the plants, dragonflies, and birds for them as best I could. I'll send them my photos from the tour after the IDs are verified.
Then I drove directly to my mother's house in Dunbarton, NH. As soon as I got out of the car, my sister said "How about a walk to the beach?" "Sure!" was my instant reply. So we walked down the old backwoods path to Clough's State Park, dragging her 10-year-old son along, who wanted to go to the beach, but did not want to walk. After he got done complaining, he got pretty good at spotting all the good stuff, like the snake in the path, the tiny toad, and the dog-tick on the blade of grass waving its arms around. While they braved the still-frigid water, I wandered along the beach and found some bog violets (a first for me!) and more insects.
I have 100 more species this month than you, Sara? Oh no! I've been trying to cut back. Honestly. But I do want to record every bloom that I see, and I guess it's all getting out of hand. Good luck with your 500 photos!
6-11-17. Alexander Rd & Kimball Pond, Dunbarton, NH. 2.9 miles today, 266.6 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooms, insects, galls, ferns, fungi, lichens, mosses
Walked up and down the road in front of my mother's house looking for birds this morning (but mostly getting distracted by plants). Then went for a walk around Kimball Pond with my mother. The path was delightful, with lots of lady's slippers tucked in the corners, and huckleberries. Just before we left the house, I had checked the iNaturalist app on my phone and noticed the new (?) mission button. I pressed it, and it told me to look out for fringed polygala. "Yeah, right," I said. "Not a chance!" Then as we were crossing a stream in the woods near the pond, my mother said "what's that?". I had been noting some odd leaves near the trail that I didn't recognize, but she was the one to spot the flowers--fringed polygala indeed! It had almost gone by, but still, a real treat! I hope to return soon to walk the rest of the way around the pond. Much more peaceful place for walking than Clough's, which is full of ATVers and rifle maniacs.
How did your bioblitz go, Charlie?
omg secret fen tour that sounds awesome. Howe were the blackflies?
The bioblitz was great. One hiccup - i have a test version of the iphone app to help with bug testing and i found a doozy - a crash that deleted about 20 observations. So i switched to my work phone which I had along with me. I got the most observations, being fast with the apps, but in roaming the small parcel i met several other groups of people participating including a family and some NEWS botanists. Life list additions:
Common Ringlet (because someone had a net - i never catch these just with the phone)
drooping sedge (maybe - hopefully get verification)
Jelly Ear
Chocolate Tube Slimes (super weird and neat, a kid pointed them out while i briefly joined his family for part of the blitz)
Near-miss - a bumblebee that had an evenly colored yellow-orange body, not common eastern, not tri colored. Chased it through a field trying to get a photo but all i got was like six dog ticks. Well, it is new hampshire. They always have lots of ticks.
Anyway it was hard finding time to get away from the family and Holly isn't quite old enouh to participate in a bioblitz so not sure if i will do any others this year - bt fun!
Wait have i added no walks in June at all? Busy month, plus field work causing me to be in less a rush to walk otherwise. Anyway:
6-11 - ~2.5 miles, 29.5 miles total. Did a nice little loop around Hubbard Park and Elm Street with a stop at the playground to play on the swings. Holly will be walking some of the hikes on her own soon, but not quite yet. Nothing too exciting or unexpected, and i was being conservative on adding things because that bug hadn't been fixed yet and i didn't want my stuff deleted. One thing I did find was ragged robin, which seems to be everywhere this year. Is it spreading or did i just not notice it before?
also I was surprised to see fringed polygala as a new species on your life list, Erika, because I see it pretty often. But looking at the range map i see it's mostly restricted to warmer areas such as the Champlain and Connecticut river valleys. But i found some on the rail causeway above Onion River Campground... weird! Neat to be able to pull up the map like that, i didn't realize it was uncommon around Calais (or not there at all)
@erikamitchell please elaborate on the "mission" button! Where did you see it?
All of my walking has been very perfunctory (i.e. commuting) and I didn't end up having time to take the longer way home I imagined on Friday, so I haven't counted any of that.
6-12-17. Thomae Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 79.75 miles total
Category: 60 species before I turned around.
So I tried something I haven't done in a long time, simply counted species as I photographed them, looking for the maximum number. It's over 90 and humid here, but sunny at least (and I was in the shade) but I didn't want a super-long walk and decided to turn around at 60. I then found 16 more on the way back (except that I suspect I counted wrong in there somewhere; we'll see what I actually found when I catch up to today with the posting).
I'm getting further behind (150 species, 680 posts, two days) but this is good as it will inspire me to get out more even though I hate the heat.
I found the mission button on the iNat app on my phone. I don't do iNat from my phone, though, and I don't see it on the computer (on the phone it's in the drop down menu at the top left). I want to know if I can create a mission for other people in my area: border privet is blooming and I want flower pictures in NJ, but I haven't the foggiest idea how one would do that.
6-12-17. Cranberry Meadow Loop, Woodbury, VT. 2.9 miles today, 269.5 miles total.
Categories: opposite leaves, blue, grasses & blooms, birds, dragonflies, ferns, mosses, lichens
After studying the maps this morning, I realized that a loop around Cranberry Meadow Pond might be possible, so I tried it, and it was indeed possible, on foot. You might also be able to do it with a 4WD, maybe. So there was no traffic on the route, at least, not until I got on Cranberry Meadow Rd proper. Plenty of blooms to see along the route, and a new one for me in this area--Russian olive. I turned a corner and asked, "Wow! What's that stench?" That's when I saw the Russian olive trees in full bloom. On the plus side, even though I got opposite leaves for a random category today, I didn't see any honeysuckle to tally. That's a first!
I think the Mission button simply points out species that other people have reported where you are that you haven't reported yet. It might be a database thing, not one that you can create. I don't usually use my phone for iNaturalist, but I happened to open the app yesterday because I wanted to find a local route to walk. When I opened the app, that's when I noticed the Mission button.
Interesting. Are you using the Android app? I am using iOS. I can't see anything like that on my phone, but maybe if it's dynamic I just haven't been in a place where it could prompt me.
i've never noticed it either! I usually use the iphone app but i have an android phone for work with the inat map so i need to check now
6-13-17. Lakefront trails, Groton Pond, 3.1 miles today, 272.6 miles total.
Categories: blue, graminoids, compound leaves & blooms, ferns, mosses, fungi, insects
Enjoyed a hike near the end of Groton Pond while my husband was biking Rt 232. Charlie was right--loads of blackflies! I remembered his warning just as I got out of the car, without my insect jacket. Ooops! So I was definitely walking at a good exercise pace today; the iNaturalist crawl was not an option. As long as I didn't pause for even a second, the bugs weren't bad though. Not many plants left blooming in the woods, so I got most of my blooms when I went out onto the roads. Plenty of invasives along the roads near the camps, including some lupines in full bloom. I also walked a portion of the rail trail, where I found the surprise of the day: witch hazel! The only other witch hazel I've seen in Vermont was in Niquette State Park by Lake Champlain. Perhaps seeing all that witch hazel in New Hampshire primed me to see it here. (Or, perhaps I was totally confused and mislabeled something else witch hazel after seeing so much of it this weekend in New Hampshire...).
yeah i got nailed because i was trying to operate a water measuring sonde and do a vegetation plot. Moving around does help.
Witch hazel is another plant i feel like i see often but must be in warmer areas. It warps my view of things when i travel all over the state. Tomorrow I will be down by White River Junction. Also a bit warmer down there.
6-13-17. Nomahegan Park, Cranford, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 80.25 miles total
Categories: blooming, insects, water plants, weeds
Another hot day. I walked around a pond where there were a ton of dragonflies but mostly all one species. I found burreed blooming as well as cattail and pickerelweed, none of which I'd seen in bloom yet this year. I played with the "mission" option a bit today, and found that I get different missions in different towns, and that they will list things that I've found before, but I found them in Maryland and not in New Jersey.
Someone went through and IDed a whole bunch of my sedges today. I'm very excited. It frustrates me to label so many plants that are so clearly different just "Carex sp."
We have so much witch hazel down here. I did look at yours and agree that it's indeed that, though it took me the second picture to be sure.
They tell me the weather will break tonight and tomorrow will be more tolerable. I hope so, 93 is not my favorite temperature, by any means. But at least there are no black flies.
sedges are hard! I have to key soe out for work and there are certain sorts that you just can't ID without a dissecting microscope. Part of the problem is it's a huge genus so if you put in Carex sp. you lose a lot of nformation. I wish the subgenuses were in inaturalist but never had time to spearhead that effort.
6-14-17. Ennis Hill Rd, Marshfield, VT. 4.4 miles today, 277 miles total.
Categories: signs, grasses, toothed & blooms, dragonflies, butterflies, ferns
Enjoyed a jaunt on Ennis Hill Rd today, although I lost track of time and distance and ended up walking the entire road. A great mixture of sun, fields, farms, and woods, with plenty of blooms and insects. The butterflies were much easier to catch up with today, since it was a little cooler. Found my first yellow rattle of the season. The random category generator had me looking at grasses again. I usually try to overlook grasses since I know so few. But today I looked hard everywhere, trying to spot differences. What I noticed is that there was orchard grass everywhere, and a tall fluffy one, and that was mostly it. The highlight of today's walk was getting greeted by a very tame, very friendly flock of heritage breed chickens. They came right up to me and asked for bugs. Lovely ladies!
The Maine sedge book arrived in the mail today. Now I need to spend some time studying!
6-14-17. Watchung Reservation, Berkeley Heights, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 80.75 miles total
Categories: privets, blooming, everything else
I walked here because someone had posted a common privet here and the privets are blooming now. I worked my way slowly down the road and found nothing but the usual border privet and felt quite justified in dismissing their find. I made a little loop and came back up a section of the road and promptly found a non-border privet. But I think it's L. ovalifolium and not L. vulgare. Still, my first confirmed privet other than L. obtusifolium. (Oh, and I found the common privet listing originally through the "missions" section.
I have the Maine sedge book and the Wisconsin sedge book and prefer the Maine. I particularly like the sections on non-Carex sedges (the Carex subsets still overwhelm me).
6-15-17. Washington Valley Park (I think, but it may be a neighboring one), Martinsville, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 81 miles total
Categories: insects, blooming
I strolled along a brook with my son this afternoon and found a fair number of insects and an unfamiliar little white flower. I picked this spot for a privet that always has unusual amounts of berries, but, alas, it's just border privet after all.
6-15-17. Silver Ledge Trail, Groton State Forest, Groton, VT. 3.1 miles today, 280.1 miles total.
Categories: graminoids, toothed, signs & blooms, butterflies, dragonflies, ferns, mosses, lichens
Out to Groton again today with my husband, who went bike riding. I walked up Silver Ledge Trail a little ways, then took a left off the trail on an unnamed camp road. Sunny but not too warm today, so I got to catch plenty of butterflies and dragons. A few spring ephemerals are still hanging on, but we're definitely on the tail end of the ephemeral season. The camp roads were quite scenic with streams and wetlands off to one side, the source of the blackflies, no doubt. Actually, since I remembered my bug jacket today, the blackflies weren't bad at all, for Groton. I found fresh coyote scat in the middle of the road. Also, what l'm pretty sure was moose dung and moose tracks. Initially, I was a bit dismayed that my random category generator gave me graminoids, again! But it was a good chance to try to spot some details to tell the different sedge species apart. It's taken me a year to learn my way around my beginner moss book (McKnight et al), but I think it's going to take a lot longer than that to get familiar with this Maine sedge book.
Privets? Yikes! I've seen a few down south in Massachusetts, but not in Vermont. Maybe Charlie has seen some in Vermont, but I haven't seen any here in Central Vermont.
6-16-17. Washington Valley Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 81.75 miles total
Categories: blooming, insects, not yet recorded here (or at least not this year!)
I walked out into the marsh here, looking for loosestrife as someone had posted one in NJ yesterday. I found one plant in bud, but no flowers yet. But I did see St. Johnswort blooming for the first time this year, and tons of damselflies.
I just realized I've "walked" to Connecticut, on my way to Boston, about exit 2 on the Merritt Parkway.
Funny to hear you say "central" Vermont. Having gone to school in Middlebury, which seemed really far north, we kind of thought of Montpelier as pretty much the last thing before you get to Canada.
We are all about the invasives down here in NJ. If I see more native plants than invasives it's a good day, and the shrubs are the worst.
ha, you still gotta get through burlington and st albans (or the NEK) before you get to Canada from here in Montpelier. Middlebury is fairly central north-south but is on the west side of the state. The exact center must be Killington or somewhere else like that in the mountains. I'm gonna google it, hmm, it's actually Roxbury which is rather close to Montpelier. Makes sens as Montpelier is pretty central transportation wise, can get almost anywhere in the state in 2 hours, which is great for doing field work based out of here, not too many overnight trips if any.
I found this possible privet but maybe it's a weird viburnum... not many of them in VT if any.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1042863
I haven't been doing much non-work-related walking lately since it's field season. Maybe this weekend. Did a mini walk today but no inaturalist.
Yeah, we kind of ignored the Northeast Kingdom (and would have actually gone to Canada through Burlington and St. Albans, except everyone was afraid of Montreal back then).
You can't get to Cape May in NJ from my "central" NJ home in two hours, but traffic here is a whole different thing than up there.
Your "privet" is definitely a privet, by the way.
afraid of montreal? did it used to be sketchy and crime ridden? Seemed fine when I've been there, comparable to other cities if not on the better end.
6-16-17. Hollister Hill Rd, Marshfield, VT. 2.8 miles today, 282. 9 miles total.
Categories: sedges, toothed leaves, simple leaves & blooms, birds, invasives, ferns, lichens
I was amazed (!) when my random category generator gave me sedges again today. Wow! It seems like I've had sedges, graminoids, and grasses all week. But it was a good thing, because I found the sedges weren't as easy to find today. It turns out Hollister Hill Rd is a main (dirt) road in Marshfield, so it actually has a berm between the road and the ditch. And the berm is full of grasses, not so many sedges. Since it was rainy, I wasn't going to dive through the grasses to search for sedges in the ditch. So now I know one place where I won't find so many sedges--a road with a berm. I saw plenty of toothed leaves and simple leaves, though. And found my first open flowering raspberry today. Hurray--that's one of my favorites. Actually, they're all my favorites, when they're blooming...
Congratulations on making it to Connecticut, Sara!
There were issues with American students being attacked back in the very early '90s.
ah, yeah i guess going further back there were some issues.. i didn't live in Vermont yet.
I have another very practical question: what are your methods for tracking your mileage? Do you use another app? Or map it later? What's in your random generator @erikamitchell and how does it work? I still haven't seen the mission option pop up. I enjoy reading about your walks! All my walking in the last 2 weeks was been entirely pedestrian.
Happy Father's Day to @charlie!
I map my walking later, using the path ruler on Google maps. There are always sidewalk weeds, for all the foot commuting (If you don't mind looking like what my daughter would call a total nerd).
6-17-2017, about 4.5 miles in various bits, 34 total.
roamed around a farm for farm breakfast but didn't get many observations. Roamed around 'touch a truck' and the bike path and let Holly look at the trucks. Did a mini neighborhood walk in the evening. Full day for Holly!
Thanks @Carrie! Holly was singing da-da-da-da this morning, so sweet! Most of these walks are with my wife and she has a run tracker she uses to track walks (Map My Run), or sometimes a pedometer. They aren't perfect but fine for this! If it's just me I'd probably just use google maps. I don't count field work i do for my job even though i do often use inaturalist to help take rapid notes for that.
6-18-2017 - about 2.5 miles, 36.5 total. Did a nice walk in the East Montpelier Town Forest. Not much inaturalist since we've been there so many times but it seemed like a place to avoid the heat since it's in a cold pocket and also full of shady conifers. The bugs are much diminished but one did bite Becca on the pinkie. Lots of tiny spiders across the trail but didn't get any photos. they jump out of their web when you get near.
6-18-17. Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve, Somerset, NJ. 1 mile today, 82.75 miles total.
Categories: blooming, insects, clover family (9), as many species as possible.
Walked the mile loop trail here, though it hardly qualifies as walking as it took me over an hour. I found a non-hemp dogbane (I think it's intermediate dogbane) for the first time ever. I also saw butterflyweed, deptford pink, common milkweed, daisy fleabane, white sweet clover, butter-and-eggs, and a sunflower all blooming for the first time this summer. And so many insects. It will take a while to plow through all these (and I'm behind by several days, too).
I didn't walk Saturday; too busy.
6-17-17. Beech Hill, Hopkinton NH and Alexander Rd, Dunbarton NH, 1.5 miles today, 284.4 miles total.
Categories: insects, weeds, phenology
Accompanied my sister and her family to the ice cream barn in Hopkinton. While they ordered their ice cream, I wondered around the farm shooting insects and weeds. I also found a great moss (for me!), Polytrichum piliferum, on a rocky ledge by the parking lot. Later, I strolled the road in front of my mother's house searching for bugs. I have been up and down that road a zillion times, so there aren't many new plants to discover there for me. I was astounded at the number of ticks. Finally, I stopped shooting them when I found 3 on a single grass plant. Found bush honeysuckle open, and multiflora rose at its "prime".
For GPS tracks, I currently use a GPS exercise watch that I got as a gift. I upload the tracks to the server each day, then download them to my hard drive. Then I match them with my photos using the Maps module in Lightroom. Sounds complicated, but it only takes a minute (as long as the internet is cooperating). Faster than dropping the photos on maps by hand. And more accurate than any camera-based GPS systems that I have tried. Before I got this exercise watch, I used an exercise tracker app on my phone, which also did a good job. I prefer the watch now because it's a little more accurate due to an excellent GPS antenna in the watch, and it seems to latch on to the GPS signal faster than my cheap phone does.
For my categories, I use an app called "Random UX" on my Android phone. It allows you to create a list of any number of items, and then it will choose any number of those items from your list, with or without replacement. Right now, I have about 40 items on my list, and I set the app to give me 3/day.
Keep in mind that with this project, you make up your own "rules" or procedures. It's perfectly OK to shoot weeds or squirrels on your way to work. Or to shoot species you see at work. For myself, I use this project for motivation to keep moving, my main exercise program. So my goal is to walk 3 miles/day at an exercise pace. Sara, on the other hand, is taking a virtual walk to her sister's house. I think both of us are also trying to see new things, either by walking in new areas, areas that haven't been visited by iNaturalists before, or focusing on species that we haven't looked at before. Charlie has his own individual goals as well.
For me, the daily random categories force me out of my comfort zone, into realms that I often overlook. They also help me focus my searching, which unexpectedly also helps me see other species that I'm not searching for, but may be interesting, and are often located right beside what I am searching for. And then, I also have categories that I look for every day, like blooms, ferns, mosses, and birds.
6-18-17. Vincent Flats Rd, East Montpelier, VT. 1.5 miles today, 285.9 miles total.
Categories: sedges, landscapes, evergreen & blooms, birds, ferns, insects
Took advantage of being near the East Montpelier school on a non-school day to walk the road near the school and the perimeter of the playing fields. I was surprised to find trails into the woods and various shelter structures built by the kids in the woods. What a tremendous resource for the kids! How wonderful it must be to have the woods so close to the school, and have teachers and administrators that allow the kids to get into the woods during school hours! When we were kids, we weren't even allowed to use the playground on school grounds during the school day. The plants near the school were the usual mix of invasives and natives that I've been finding elsewhere in East Montpelier. Some interesting wetlands behind the playing fields, and some weeds in the corn fields across the street. Virginia waterleaf is still in bloom in the shade.
i wish i had a forest to play in as a kid! I had an exploding oil refinery :(
6-19-17. Coddington Farm, Warren, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 83 miles total.
Categories: Insects, blooming, not posted here before (at least not this year!)
I had to squeeze my walk in before a thunderstorm, and I hit a detour for a downed tree on the way there, so it was a quick one. But I found persimmon flowers for the first time ever, and got chestnut flowers as well (I think this is a Chinese chestnut, though I've never keyed it out). I found a fair number of insects and managed to step in an unexpected mud puddle and very nearly left my sneaker behind.
For me, the categories I list are retrospective: I look back and think about what I was paying the most attention to on my walk. When I tried planning categories ahead I tended to feel guilty or something for photographing stuff not on my list, so that didn't work for me. When my life is less busy I have fun seeing which plant families I've found the most species of, on a given walk.
I was allowed on the playground at school, but not into any woods. I spent most of my time sitting at the foot of a tree, making ramps on the roots for a marble. And at home I played in the shrubbery or the rain gutter in the street. My 13-year-old's class trip to "the woods" this month included a "class" on wilderness survival where they used sticks and leaves to build a shelter, but they had to disassemble it when they were done and "leave no trace".
6-19-17. Calais Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3 miles today, 288.9 miles total.
Categories: things that start with "m", entire leaves, compound leaves & blooms, birds, ferns, invasives
After checking the weather 3 times to make sure there were no thunderstorms predicted for the next 6 hours, I headed out to Marshfield to complete walking the remainder of Calais Rd. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I got 1.5 miles from the car, all downhill, the rumbles and raindrops began. So I walked at a true exercise pace all the way back uphill to the car again. Fortunately, the storm went a little south, so I got just a little damp, and there were no close strikes. The roses are in bloom now, as well as the irises. I saw plenty of sedges and grasses today, but didn't take the time to photograph them. I think I got more enough of them last week!
Persimmon flowers! How very exciting! I planted a persimmon tree here when a seed catalog lied and said it was hardy to zone 4. It lasted 2 seasons before it gave up the ghost. But my pawpaw keeps coming back, stronger every year. Too bad I've never found a consort for it that could survive a Vermont winter.
Alright, I'll join in!
6-19-17 Washington, DC, 1.3 miles today, 1.3 miles total
I walked to the metro and home from the metro, which I do several times per week. Part of the walk is through a well-manicured development that is only a couple of years old, so there aren't even many weeds to observe. Sometimes I see bees, but not today. The best plant diversity is the trash-filled abandoned lot, but I only make new observations there when I notice a new species or new phenological phase. On my way home it was raining so I didn't stop for anything (nor was I tempted to stop). The only observation I made was of a fish crow this morning at the metro (actually, there were some pigeons nearby, so those too). I expect it will take me a long time until I get the sound up, but I did make a short recording.
On most weekdays I won't have much to report because I'll mostly be walking the same paths, but later this week I'm going to London and I'm planning to explore Kew this weekend so that should be much more interesting! :-)
@Carrieseltzer woo hoo! I don't add a lot here either because it's field season (less inspiring to walk when I get home) and because we are busy with our little one but I get things in sometimes too. Of course in the winter it's hard too! My goal is always just to hoard biodiversity information with emphasis on edge of range species or invasives or phenology. I want to learn more fungi and maybe more mosses and am learning sedges and grasses more fully for work so i enter more of those now. Sometimes i enter sedges just to genus and use tags to group them into subgenus... since they aren't on inat.
6-20-17. Central Woodbury (ha!), Vermont, 3.1 miles today, 292 miles total.
Categories: trees, signs, faces & blooms, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, ferns
Found a 3 mile loop in Woobury today to explore. I saw mostly run-of-the mill road edge species, but it's really striking how it looks like summer all of the sudden around here: daisies, bed straw, buttercups, cow vetch. Everything's turning up white, purple and yellow. The butterflies were super-plentiful, and I found my first ripe strawberries. Exquisite!
A fish crow, Carrie? That's exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing your casual observations of the morning commute. Who knows what weeds the winds may bring? On your way to London, keep an eye out for birds inside the plane terminals. Those are always some of my personal favorites. Enjoy the trip!
6-20-17. Wallace House, Somerville, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 83.25 miles total.
Categories: blooming, invasives, insects.
I haven't gotten used to the summer and our schedules all changing yet, and once again I thought I might not get a walk. But I had half an hour in Somerville while my daughter was at an appointment, so I walked at some historical buildings in town. The buildings (where Washington slept, I read) were closed but the grounds were open, and there was no one around to stare as I walked around taking pictures of all the weeds. I like going new places where I know the basic plants have not been posted to iNat before; I get to take pictures of everything.
Welcome, Carrie, glad you are joining us. I would love to get to Kew some day.
Erika, I keep thinking any day now and you Vermonters will be pulling ahead of me in species blooming; but not yet.
6-20-17 Washington, DC, 1.0 miles, 2.7 miles total
This morning I was in a hurry and I rushed to the metro, got to the platform, then realized I didn't have my phone and had to walk back to my car and back to the metro. No observations as it's mostly concrete and poison ivy. Sometimes I feel bad taking photos of the poison ivy in people's yards, but I also feel like someone should be recording that when it's a pedestrian hazard. Anyways, then I did a little more walking to get to meetings but I didn't make any observations along the way. My only observation for the entire day is a firefly that ended up in the house (and a blooming houseplant of mine, which I occasionally record for phenology). Sad! But that's my life on many days.
Thanks for the airport terminal tip, @erikamitchell. Fish crows are pretty common around here, I've realized. There is often one squaking near our house. I reached out to the most prolific iNat user in the London area but I didn't hear back. Maybe I should try again. I'd love to meet up with someone there, but iNat isn't too big there.
6-21-17
No walk today (unless you count pushing the lawn mower) as we were busy getting ready for company and graduation. Someone IDed one of my sedges and put it in a "section", specifically "Carex sect. ovales". Now I have to figure out how to tell if other Carex sections are in there. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6731165
omg someone entered a carex section! I'd been bugging people that someone should do that but i didnt have time. i think Ovales isn't a current name but who cares.
section looks correct beyond that unlkely to get id
it looks like they only added ovales. i'd love to see vesicariae too but i just track them with tags for now
6-21-17. Unnamed trail, Wolcott, VT. 4.5 miles today. 296.5 miles total.
Categories: prickly, toothed, domestic animals & blooms, mosses, butterflies, dragonflies, birds
Checked out a line off of Route 12 that Google thinks is a road. It's actually a very nice trail with a sign at the beginning saying "The Nature Conservancy--no ATVs". Parts of the trail were rather grown over. That is, the parts in the sun. The parts in the deep woods look like an old dirt road that will never disappear. That aspect of the walk was fascinating--noting how much of a difference sun exposure makes in how soon a road will disappear. There has to be more to it than just sun, though. There used to be a logging road in the deep woods behind our property. Now it's really hard to spot, between blowovers and new sprouts. Musings from the trail...Plenty of butterflies and dragonflies in the sunny portions of the trail. I also found some bristly haircap moss (Polytrichum piliferum) on a ledge by a seep. Dorothy Allard lists it as S3, but I've already found it in 2 other locations on this "Journey", so I'm thinking maybe it's overlooked. It was mixed in with P. juniperinum. And then there was that patch of Polygonatum urnigerum right at the trailhead that I overlooked on the way in. Nothing blooming in the woods, except for a single mountain wood sorrel way off the trail.
Oh that place looks full of neat wetlands. It's TNC land? I gotta go explore up there some time. Maybe do some wetland plots :)
6-22-17. North Road, Woodbury, VT. 4.1 miles today, 300.6 miles total.
Categories: grasses, opposite leaves, roots
Had time today, so I enjoyed North Road at a comfortable pace. After a short stretch of field, the road dives into the woods and stays there. Although the road starts off wide with plenty of shoulder, after a mile or so, it's down to one track, and then becomes 4WD only. LOTS of logging to the east side, including through a large cedar wetland where they seem to be using cedar logs for a road. Plenty of butterflies out, and too many of them dead on the road for such a remote road. I had one of those magical moments when I thought "This would be a great place for rattlesnake fern, right beside the road." And there it was. And there again. I found meadow rue blooming today for the first time. I need to return here to explore the camp roads that go down to the pond.
interesting. Logging (including logging roads) is usually exempt from the Wetland Rules but it's too bad if they are logging a cedar swamp. Looks like a really neat area. I haven't explored up there much.
6-22-17. Warren, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 84 miles total
Categories: lawn weeds, wood edge weeds, shrubs, trees.
Dropped my daughter off early to graduation, then walked the edge of the driveway and football field, botanizing before the ceremony started. Not a single unusual plant or insect, but I hadn't done the school before. Moth mullein was blooming. The ceremony went well, and the weather was lovely.
I've had that kind of magical moment several times, Erika, most recently when looking for beechdrops.
6-23-17. Brook Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3.8 miles today 304.4 miles total.
Categories: trash in the photo, bark, compound leaves & blooms, butterflies, ferns, dragonflies, birds
Picked out a nice route by Peacham Pond, then checked the weather radar. The thunderstorms were too close on the map, so I went up to Marshfield, this time heading uphill in case I needed to make a run for the car. Another magical moment--dreaming of ladies' tresses, and there they were, almost right beside the car, a line of them in the ditch. Lots and lots of white admirals and crescents flying around, and many dead on the ground as well. I brought the dead ones home for my "museum", a shelf where I keep roadkill insects. At dinner time, I saw one of my dead bugs walking up the wall. I went over to investigate the miracle and saw that ants had found my shelf and were hauling away my treasures. I "rescued" them once again. During the walk I made it back to the car just as the rain started, so I definitely made the right choice to postpone Peacham for a sunnier day.
I do that sometimes too... "why is there no black spruce in this swamp' or whatever, and then there it is. I think when you look at a lot of plants you just get those instincts. After all our ancestors evolved to find specific plant species for tens of thousands of years or more.
6-24-17. Chickering Bog, Calais, VT. 3.6 miles today. 308 miles total.
Categories: dragonflies
Two round trips to the bog this morning, one to scout the route and the other with 5 members of the Vermont Entomological Society. As we were heading up the path from the parking area, Laurie, the secretary of the Entomological Society, saw me examining a wall lettuce plant which was well budded. She was taking notes about species since this was an official trip for the VES. Famous last words..."I'd like to note the plant species that we see as well." An hour later, we hadn't made it more than 1/2 mile up the trail, and she had filled several pages in her notebook top to bottom. With a couple of birds, one or two insects, and a whole of plants, from Tilia americana to Thuidium delicatulum. Finally, she decided "OK, Let's not list plants anymore, I want to see some dragonflies!" We picked up the pace a bit, but then, she and the other folks kept asking, what's this, what's that. So the plant list continued to grow. At the Bog, we found a glorious abundance of elfin skimmers. But the butterfly guy on the trip did not seem that excited about them. He seemed disappointed at the paucity of butterflies. Come on! Elfin skimmers! Boatloads of them! Laying eggs! Everyone was suitably impressed with the blooming pitcher plants, and there were some rose pogonias blooming in the distance, and ladies' tresses all budded up by the boardwalk. Delightful trip, all in all, even if the official species list for the day is going to show a lot more plants than insects.
6-25-2017 - 2.3 miles, 37.8 total.
whaaaaaaaa? we were at chickering fen/bog yesterday too! Showing the fen to some friends, early afternoon. Unfortunately mosquitos bit Holly up but otherwise a neat walk. We also saw the pitcher plants (what inspired the visit), the same rose pogonias, and spiraea. But i did not make that many iNat observations since i've already been there so many times and because I was chatting with friends. Did get two life list dragonflies - Chalk-fronted Corporal and Sedge Sprite - probably not that rare but hard to get photos on the phone so i am behind on my dragonflies. Also a green frog and what I think is Chestnut sedge (a calcium loving sedge i just learned on Friday... fuzzy leaves are characteristic). I wonder if we were on the trail at the same time. I saw one group but didn't see you there, but with the loop its possible to miss people! Our friends loved the fen (two of whom just moved to Montpelier), and the mosquitos loved Holly.
6-24-17 Chimney Rock Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 84.5 miles total.
Categories: weeds and insects
A quick walk at dusk at a local park (though an edge I haven't walked in a while) because I didn't get my act together earlier in the day. I found a bunny and a whole lot of plume moths (they seem to like dogbane). No walk the day before between squad duty and rain. I also got out last night and photographed bugs under the porch light while checking on my kids who were sleeping in a tent in the yard.
6-25-17. Ann Van Middlesworth Park. 1.0 miles today 84.5 miles total
Categories: insects, blooming, weeds, shrubs, vines.
A new-to-me park that's only been iNat-ed by someone doing herps (plus a snail and a mallard) before, so I had a great time recording plants (and insects). They had a "Sensory Garden" planted and there were so many pollinators on the mints especially! The rest was a pond with some wild sections, woods and overgrown fields, so lots to look at, though no big surprises. There was a rose I'll have to key out, with lovely, big, pink flowers.
I have never seen elfin skimmers, nor for that matter any of the ladies' tresses, and I've only seen pitcher plants in a greenhouse. Neither have I seen either of Charlie's dragonflies (or sedge).But maybe all these little insects I've been getting will turn out to be something cool, once I finally process and ID them.
6-25-17. Kennebunkport and Pittsfield, ME rest stops, 0.1 miles today, 308.1 miles total.
Categories: blooms, graminoids
Did some bloom-wandering at the rest stops on my way to Maine today. For the sake of alertness, I refused to leave the lunch stop until I had 25 different blooming species, plus some sedges and a moss. Finally found a tiny patch of Orthotricum on a tree trunk, so I could get on the road again. In Pittsfield, I only needed a short break, so captured 5 blooms, different from the ones in Kennebunkport.
Sorry I missed you at the Bog on Saturday, Charlie! You might have met up with the VES group. I had to leave the trip early because I had to drive to New Hampshire. Next time you're at the Bog, don't miss the Elfin Skimmers! Tiny blue dragonflies with forward pointing wings. You'll only see them at the Bog.
Beware of Bugs under Porch Light, Sara! It can be very addictive!
Yeah, we saw i think three people leaving, they might have been VES. Gotta find those elfin skimmers!
6-26-17. Eagle Hill Institute Trails, Steuben, ME. 2 miles today, 310.1 miles total.
Categories: liverworts, blooms, mosses
Traipsed through the woods collecting liverworts with my fellow liverwort class members today. We found and identified 2 kinds of Frullania (F. eboracensis and F. asagrayana), 2 kinds of Ptilidium (P. pulcherrimum and P. ciliare, Barbilophozia attenuata, and the old favorites, Nowellia curvifolia, Radula complanata, and Bazzania trilobata. And many more, but that's all that stuck so far. I shot a few blooms as well, some galls, and a frog that hopped in front of us. This promises to be a very interesting week!
ooh neat
6-27-17. Great Wass Island and Eagle Hill Institute Trails, ME. 2.3 miles today, 312.4 miles total.
Categories: liverworts, mosses, blooms, insects, ferns
Class field trip to a bog on Great Wass Island today. The bog was the best ever--grass pink, crowberries, and CLOUDBERRIES! My first cloudberries in North America. The mosses and liverworts were nice, too. Also walked down to the waterfront in search of more liverworts. Came back with a moss that I thought was a liverwort. Still struggling with that, but making progress.
It turns out that we may have found a county record dragonfly on the Chickering Bog walk on Saturday. Very exciting! Apparently, a dragon-chasing posse is going back to the Bog tomorrow to see if it can be confirmed.
Tried twice to upload. The upload page seems to be broken. Will try again later.
i have been getting the 'site too busy' error this morning so maybe that was it last night too. Growing pains. The site just passed 5 million observations! most of them were made by the people in this project :) (ok not quite)
Not most of them, but 2.3 percent of the total iNat observations ever were made by people who joined this project. (that's pretty huge).
:)
6-26-17. Wagner Farm Arboretum. 0.25 miles today, 84.75 miles total.
Categories: insects, weeds
I walked around the community garden looking for interesting bugs. I found tons of slimy potato beetle larvae and a lot of other plant pests.
6-28-17. Dukes Parkway Park, Manville, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 85.25 miles total
Categories: weeds, shrubs, vines, trees, blooms, insects, whatever caught my daughter's eye.
I walked around a fairly urban but neglected park at the edge of river with my 18 year old daughter today. She was in what she calls "camp counselor mode" (she leaves Saturday to spend the summer counselor-ing at a girl scout sleep away camp). She would try to name stuff and I'd tell her if she was right, or just let her know what it was we were looking at. We saw day lilies and I told her they don't grow wild; all the day lilies were planted by someone at some point, but they live a really long time. Then we found a staircase (that basically went nowhere), and she told me it was a "wild staircase" but I said no, staircases don't grow wild, all staircases were planted by someone at one time, they just live a really long time. ; )
6-28-17. Cutler Bold Coast Trail, Cutler ME. 0.6 miles today, 313 miles total.
Categories: liverworts, mosses, blooms, insects
Class field trip to an oceanic boreal forest today to collect mosses and liverworts. As a beginner, I didn't find any spectacularly special liverworts today, but the scenery was certainly spectacular and I had a good time trying to chase dragonflies with a macro lens and no net. Twinflower is in bloom here, and American mountain ash. Pink lady's slippers are still hanging on.
I loved the story about the wild staircase. What's the Latin name for that?
Gradibus scalae (which is "ladder ladder").
I am so behind on this project! I will try to post a mega update tomorrow summarizing my walks.
Once more, no walk today. Just too crazy busy. Despite that somehow I managed to get poison ivy on the sole of my foot (so may not be doing much walking tomorrow either). Maybe I can do some porch-light bugs, though. At the moment, though, we're playing the classic July game: was that gunshots or fireworks? (We've pretty much settled on fireworks; there's just too much of it.)
6-29-17. Salmon Pond, Cherryfield, ME & Dyer Point, Steuben, ME. 3.4 miles today, 316.4 miles total.
Categories: mosses, liverworts, dragonflies, blooms
Class field trip to Salmon Pond today. Got to see a few more mosses and liverworts, but kept getting distracting by dragonflies. Little blooming in the woods today, compared to a few weeks ago in Vermont. In the afternoon, I went to Dyer Point with a classmate to look for Labrador tea for a project. We looked and looked and had just given up and were nearly back at the car when it popped out. Meanwhile, we got to see a number of seaside blooms that I was completely unfamiliar with, and a spruce grouse, a life bird for me.
There is a moth class going on at a same time here, so every night the mothing is crazy. UV lights everywhere, some traps as well, and really knowledgeable people. I moth every night from April through October at home. It's odd but fun to share the lights with so many people here. Cerma cora (owl-eyed bird dropping moth) is a special moth that is somewhat common here; we've seen a lot of them this week. What have you been seeing in New Jersey, Sara?
6-30-17. Eagle Hill Quarry, Steuben, ME. 1 mile today, 317.4 miles total.
Categories: mosses, lichens, liverworts, blooms, insects, sedges
Walked with two classmates to the sand quarry down the road to hunt for weedy species of disturbed places. Great success! Several sand spurreys, and a wide selection of flowering weeds to choose from. One classmate knows lichens quite well, so we hunted out some lichens together. We looked for liverworts as well, but only found one or two. Found the first ripe blueberry of the season up here.
6-30-17. Bridgewater Train Station, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 85.75 miles total.
Categories: weeds, invasives
did a stroll around the train station parking lot and platforms since I was down near there picking up last minute camp supplies. Knapweed was blooming for the first time this year, and tree of heaven had set seed, also new.
At the lights I'm mostly getting caddisflies, but the most common moths are yellow- fringed Dolichomia, elegant grass-veneer, and delicate Cycnia moths.
I've not seen any ripe blueberries yet, only black raspberries and mulberries. I'll have to keep my eyes open. Two to three weeks and it will be wineberry season, and that's my favorite.
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