August 2021: 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
8/1/21. Woodbury Mountain Rd & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.1 miles today, 3428.8 miles total.
Categories: leafminers and arthropods
This afternoon I took advantage of a break in the rain to head out for a walk. I chose Woodbury Mountain Rd, which is navigable by vehicle for nearly a quarter mile. The maps show that it goes through to Elmore, but even ATVs have to turn around after 1 mile. I was in my Prius, so I drove as far as I thought wise, carefully, slowly. Actually, the road looks in a little better shape than the last time I was here. Perhaps they're doing some logging, which has flattened out the surface a bit. Unfortunately, I didn't get 5 minutes of walking in before it started raining again. In that time, I found leafminers in sugar maple, yellow birch, and white birch.
In the evening, it was still raining, but there was plenty of action at the moth lights. I had exasperating platynotia, arched hooktip, large mossy glyph, common gluphisia, Herpetogramma, Idia, Zanclognatha, elegant grass veneer, common grass veneer, a dagger moth, painted lichen, a gray, divided olethreutes, an orange beetle with a black head, a crane fly, a fruit fly, a bristle butt fly, and some midges.
8/2/21. Cranberry Meadow, Woodbury, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.4 miles today, 3432.2 miles total.
Categories: leafminers, galls and arthropods
The rain finally cleared late this morning, and the weather looks great for the rest of the week. My husband and I drove up to Cranberry Meadow so that we could do a loop around the pond, him on his unicycle and me searching for leafminers on foot. The loop starts with a steepish climb up a road. Then the road heads into the woods behind the on a Class 4 section. Last year this section of road was too technical for my husband on his unicycle, but this year he enjoyed the challenge. I found leafminers in sugar maple, balsam poplar, big-toothed aspen, quaking aspen, yellow birch, paper birch, gray birch, hazelnut, elm, white ash, goldenrods, Joe Pye weed, burdock, Clematis and Ribes. I found galls on goldenrods, meadowsweet, basswood, elm and white ash. As I walked along the pond, I inspected the goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace for pollinators and found bumblebees (ternarius, impatiens, pyrobombus), sweat bees, other bees, wasps, and syrphid flies. I also found some caterpillars, a bug eating a beetle larva, and a wasp with parasite pupa coming out of its head.
In the evening at the moth lights I had eastern panthea, common grass veneer, lettered habrosyne, lesser maple spanworm, small white lichen moth, painted lichen moth, unicorn, grays, Herpetogramma, Scoparia, katydid, Chironomus midges, and a giant crane fly.
8/3/21. Foster's Pond, Peacham, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.5 miles today, 3433.7 miles total.
Categories: pond sights and arthropods
This afternoon my husband and I explored Foster's Pond in Peacham in our canoe for the first time. We found the pond on the state's fishing and boating map that shows all ponds in the state with public access. When I checked iNaturalist, I found that there were no observations at all at this pond. The pond is at the end of a dead end dirt road with a trail that continues towards Groton State Park. It is oval-shaped with a single compound of 3 cabins beside the boat ramp. The boat ramp is substantial, a full concrete ramp with 2 levels of parking. Yet the pond itself seems to be shallow and we only saw minnows, no larger fish. Around the pond, I saw mostly white cedar on all sides, along with boreal tree species including red spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir, plus tamarack, mountain holly, common juniper. Blooming were Joe Pye weed, boneset, skullcap and steeplebush. At the edge of the pond were Dulichium and mosquito bulrush. The pond's juvenile loon was trying to learn to take off and fly across the pond, making quite a noise, but never getting into the air. Meanwhile, the adult loon calmly fished nearby. We also saw pickerel frogs, bumblebees (B. ternarius, perplexus, and Pyrobombus), pennant dragonflies and bluets.
In the evening the moth lights were quite lively. I found arched hooktips, lettered habrosyne, painted lichen moth, red twin spot, Labrador carpet, grays, 8-spotted forester, grape leaffolder, darts, Herpetogramma, elegant grass veneer, micros, Idia, Zanclognatha, an underwing, large mossy glyph, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, bristly cutworm, katydid, small brown weevil, May beetle, an orange beetle with black head, midges, Hilara fly, a moth fly, an Ichneumon wasp, and leafhoppers.
8/4/21. Stillwater Connector Trail, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1 miles today, 3434.7 miles total.
Categories: leafminers, galls, and arthropods
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Groton to spend some time on the trails, he on his unicycle, and me on foot with my camera. I dropped him off at Fiddlehead Pond so that he could ride down to Ricker Pond. Meanwhile, I drove to the Boulder Beach Rd and walked the trail that connects Stillwater Campground to the bike trail. I found leafminers on red maple, sugar maple, mountain maple, hobblebush, hazelnut, trembling aspen, big-toothed aspen, yellow birch, paper birch, goldenrods, parasol whitetop, bracken fern, lady fern, blackberry, and black cherry and galls on trembling aspen, goldenrods, winterberry, yellow birch, beech. I also found some green sweat bees, spider eating a bug, harvestmen, and bugs, but not nearly as many pollinators as I thought I would find. It looked like the edges of the trail had been brush hogged that morning, since the leaves on the cut branches weren't wilted.
In the evening the moth lights were lively. I found boldly marked archips, spruce looper, lettered habrosyne, beautiful woodgrain, unicorn, the beggar, painted lichen, dart, Quaker, sphinx, gray, lesser maple spanworm, Baltimore hypena, fanfoot, Idia, elegant grass veneer, common grass veneer, midges, Hilara flies, other small flies, caddisflies, Ichneumon wasp, katydids, and leafhoppers.
8/5/21. Sabin's Pasture, Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.9 miles today, 3435.6 miles total.
Categories: leafminers, galls, and arthropods
This morning I met up with Eve, Ed, and Melissa for our weekly bug walk. We met at the parking lot of Vermont College and purposefully ignored everything we saw on the edges of lot until we got to the trail heading down into Sabin's Pasture, or we never would have gotten to the trail. Once at the trail, we started looking for insects in earnest. We found syrphids, sweat bees, masked bees, bumblebees, honeybees, lygus bugs, Oriental beetles, Asian ladybugs, grasshoppers, katytdids, a pair of mating yellow-collared scapes, and a pair of mating ambush bugs. I also found leafminers in mint, multiflora rose, buckthorn, goldenrods, parasol white top, asters, trembling aspen, buttercup, blackberry, and Virginia creeper, and galls on goldenrods, parasol whitetop, trembling aspen, and Norway maple.
In the evening at the lights there were quite a few visitors. I found Large lace border, lettered habrosyne, painted lichen moth, little white lichen moth, Herpetogramma, Noctuids, fanfoots, rotund Idia, beautiful woodgrain, reticulated fruitworm, exasperating platynotia, darts, large mossy glyph, 2” beetle, May beetle, Ichneumon wasp, several katydids, midges, Hilara flies, caddisflies, and leafhoppers.
8/6/21. Groton State Park, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.9 miles today, 3437.5 miles total.
Categories: leafminers, galls, and arthropods
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Groton for more fun on the trails. I dropped him off at Fiddlehead Pond with his unicycle, then I continued on up to the North Parking Lot along the highway. From the lot, I walked north up the trail, then west on a little used side road/trail with grass and large frog ponds in the middle. I found leafminers on wild sarsaparilla, red maple, sugar maple, white birch, yellow birch, beech, blackberry, meadowsweet, mosquito bulrush, goldenrods, parasol whitetop, calico aster, bracken fern, sensitive fern, trembling aspen, big-toothed aspen and bunchberry, and galls on parasol whitetop. I found some large orbweavers with nests, bees, ants, and scorpionflies. I annoyed some dark-eyed juncos who seemed to be nesting in the footpath, and beside a frog pond (in the center of trail), I found tracks of a small mammal, perhaps raccoon, as well as some large fresh bear tracks.
From the parking lot, I drove down to Ricker Pond to do some snorkeling. I had tried swimming here the other day, but I couldn't get in past my ankles because the water was just too cold. Today the water was still cold, but I did manage to get in. As I stood at the edge trying to will myself to swim, I heard some kids a little ways up the pond talking about the turtles. Indeed, there was a pair of large snapping turtles cavorting in the water not far from me. And eagle swooped down to watch, then a loon called out at the eagle. When I finally got in the water, I found not a single fish, not even a minnow. In previous years, I recall seeing pumpkin seeds here, but there was not a trace of them today.
In the evening the moth lights seemed a little subdued compared to earlier this week. Was it the dry weather? Still, I had carrot seed moth, elegant grass veneer, Lymantria dispar, lettered habrosyne, variable fanfoot, Herpetogramma, sweetfern geometer, yellow-dusted cream, unicorn, painted lichen, dart, lesser maple spanworm, casebearer, micros, mosquito, syrphids, midges, caddisflies, orange beetle with black head, ground beetle, katydids, and leafhoppers.
8/7/21. Chickering Bog & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1 miles today, 3438.5 miles total.
Categories: fungi, leafminers, galls, and arthropods
This morning I met up with my 3 Saturday morning hike friends for the first time in several months at Chickering Bog. Now that my foot is finally feeling up to walking I figured I could go out on a walk with them and keep up. Except, I had a deer tick bite earlier this week, and I began to feel the effects as we walked up the access trail towards the bog, so I had to turn around early and go get some antibiotics. But before I turned around, we had a good time admiring all the mushrooms that sprouted during our wet weather this month, including jelly babies and several other kinds of myxos. I also shot a green sweat bee and recorded a winter wren.
We had several thunderstorms in the evening, but the rain had cleared by the time I went out to check for moths. I found gray spruce looper, lesser maple spanworm, lettered habrosyne, fanfoot, bicolored woodgrain, Noctuids, elegant grass veneer, large mossy glyph, arched hooktip, exasperating platynotia, blackberry looper, bristly cutworm, medium-sized brown beetle, fungus gnats, midges, and leafhoppers.
8/8/21. Chickering Trails & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 2.8 miles today, 3441.3 miles total.
Categories: odd flowers, leaf miners, galls, and arthropods
This afternoon I returned to the Chickering Trails, this time decked out in full sun-shading gear including gloves. Instead of heading to the bog, I took the side trail off onto the Chickering family trails that go through the deep woods. The woods are a mixture of boreal forest and hemlocks. I found leafminers on wild sarsaparilla, goldenrod, parasol whitetop, white birch, yellow birch, red maple, sugar maple, elm, and hop hornbeam. I found blooming pinesap, Indian pipes, and helleborine. A few red efts crossed the trail, and I encountered several juvenile winter wrens.
In the evening we had another thunderstorm that cleared out before I checked my moth lights. I found Labrador carpet, red twinspot, four-barred gray, lettered habrosyne, elegant grass veneer, common grass veneer, bristly cutworm, fanfoot, rotund Idia, eight-spotted forester, Herpetogramma, slant line, lesser maple spanworm, Ancylis, Columbia pug, caddisflies, brachonid wasp, Hilara fly, fungas gnats, midges, crab spider eating a midge, small black beetle, garden beetles, leafhoppers, and quite a few very active katydids.
8/9/21. Dodge Rd Trail, East Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.5 miles today, 3442.8 miles total.
Categories: leaf miners, galls, and arthropods
This afternoon I took a leisurely stroll along the East Montpelier trail at Dodge Rd looking for leaf miners. Just as I got out of the car, an older man with his even older mother arrived for a walk. They saw me walking slower than them and asked what I was looking at. I told them about leafminers, and they were intrigued. They asked to see some, so I showed them a leafminer on raspberry. The man immediately found another on red maple. They carried away the samples to show other family members at home. More leaf miner enthusiasts! By the end of the walk, I had found leafminers on wild sarsaparilla, goldenrods, parasol whitetop, hop hornbeam, sugar maple, black cherry, pin cherry, choke cherry, stickseed, burdock, columbine, and grape and galls on choke cherry, basswood, and goldenrod. I also show some fantail moths and litter moths, and I found a spikenard in full bloom that was filled with pollinators, including several varieties of wasps and some green sweat bees. I recorded a hermit thrush and a peewee.
In the evening the weather was dry, and at the moth lights I had an underwing, yellow-collared scape, four-barred gray, elegant grass veneer, unfamiliar crambid, unicorn, boldly marked archips, Argyrotaenia, case bearers, Coleophora, bristly cutworm, lesser maple spanworm, gray spruce looper, rotund Idia, glossy black Idia, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, cream colored dichomerus, exasperating platynotia, green leuconycta, ruby tiger moth, fungus gnats, cluster flies, midges, Ichneumon wasps, giant brown beetle, large black beetle, garden beetle, bugs, leafhoppers, and lots of katydids.
8/10/21. Red Stone, Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.6 miles today, 3443.4 miles total.
Categories: leaf miners, galls, and arthropods
This morning I met up with Eve and Ed for our weekly bug walk. We met early because of promised hot weather. And we chose Red Stone because it is the shadiest place we could think of in town since I need to stay out of the sun for a while. We found a tricolored bumblebee and several small native bees, a green caterpillar, some syrphids (we are learning to tell the difference between eastern and common Toxomerus flies after our discussion in bug group last Monday), some ladybugs, some harvestmen, a grass spider, Japanese bettles, Oriental beetles, and litter moths. Ed found a large locust on the side of the building. I found leafminers on goldenrod, poison ivy, parasol white top, sugar maple, grass, grape, and Virginia creeper.
In the evening I had a crazy night at the lights with loads of tiny insects, midges, tiny wasps, leafhoppers, micros, micro caddisflies, small beetles, etc. For moths, I had sphinx, black zigzag, panthea, fanfoot, lesser maple spanworm, glossy black Idia, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, large mossy glyph, lettered habrosyne, angles, Scoparia, elegant grass veneer, common grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, Baltimore snout, unicorn, underwings, darts, blackberry looper, connected looper, boldly marked archips, arched hooktip, and lots of micros. I also found a cricket, katydids, green lacewing, mating garden beetles, sawyers, ladybug, tiny orange beetles, tiny orange wasps, Icheumon wasps, green bugs, caddisflies, and leafhoppers.
8/11/21. Dodge Rd Trail, East Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.5 miles today, 3444.3 miles total.
Categories: fungi, leaf miners, galls, and arthropods
I returned to Dodge Rd again today, this time with my mother and her friend who are visiting from Pennsylvania. We had a lovely walk along the trail enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest. My mother was quite excited about all the mushrooms, so we photographed some red Mycenas, some boletes, and quite a few polypodes, including some turkeytails. I also found some galls on grapes that I didn't notice the other day and a leafminer on avens. Plus I caught a scorpionfly and some littermoths.
In the evening the moth lights were quite active, but not as crazy with the small insects as last night. I found lesser maple spanworm, ruby tiger moth, darts, Quaker, large lace border, rotund Idia, elegant grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, blackberry looper, cherry scallop shell, Herpetogramma, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, bristly cutworm, and shy cosmet, plus lots of micros. Also, garden beetles mating again, a large Ichneumon wasp, a small black beetle, large leafhoppers, small leafhoppers, midges, fungus gnats, and Hilara flies.
8/12/21. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.1 miles today, 3444.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
The antibiotics made me sick this morning, and between that and the heat, I didn't get out for a walk. I had plenty of visitors at the lights at night, though. I had darker moodna, pale angle shades, ruby tiger moth, lesser maple spanworm, pale beauty, unicorn, blackberry looper, connected looper, four-barred gray, Virginia ctenucha, Lymantria dispar, elegant grass veneer, small grass veneer, Noctuids, Quaker, Idias, fanfoots, leafminers, casebearers, and micros, plus a giant horsefly, Ichneumon wasps, ladybug, a small spider/large mite?, bugs, caddisflies, green lacewings, katydids, and leafhoppers.
8/13/21. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.1 miles today, 3444.5 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
Another hot day and I had car trouble--my license plate fell apart and I couldn't find my driver's license, so I figured I should stay home. In the evening I had lots of visitors at the lights, including ruby tiger moth, Herpetogramma, elegant grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, pale beauty, maple spanworm, lesser maple spanworm, large mossy glyph, red twin spot, Columbia pug, Scoparia, Quaker, dart, fanfoot, arched hooktip, beautiful wood grain, exasperating playnotia, garden tortrix, casebearer, and other micros. Plus a ladybug, mayfly, 20 katydids, Carolina grasshopper, Ichnuemon wasps, bugs, giant brown beetle, garden beetle, leafhoppers, midges, fungus gnat, and a green lacewing.
8/14/21. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.3 miles today, 3444.8 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
This afternoon I took a short bug walk along the driveway while waiting for a guest to arrive. I found some bumblebees, some Lasioglossum bees, some Toxomerus flies, and several large monarch caterpillars, one eating the tip of a milkweed seedpod.
In the evening I checked the moth lights early before turning them off so that our guest could sleep. I found Scoparia, black-collared scape, black-smudged chionodes, elegant grass veneer, some other micros, midges, caddisflies, katydids, and a ladybug.
8/15/21. Montpelier, VT, Owl's Head, Groton, VT, & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.5 miles today, 3448.3 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
This morning we took our house guest into town and met up with Eve to show the guest the sites of Montpelier. We walked from Eve's house to Main St, then up State St, down the bike path to Hunger Mt coop, and then back to Eve's house, which is just about the whole town. Along the way, Eve and I got out our point and shoot cameras to shoot any insects we encountered. We found bumblebees and native bees. I shot a morning glory blooming in a storm drain while explaining the concept of unintended plants. A guy who saw us shooting some Japanese beetles at the edge of his yard invited us deeper into his yard to search for the preying mantises that he had seen, but we didn't fine them. We did find some more bees, though.
In the afternoon, my husband and I took our house guest out to Groton. While my husband rode his unicycle from Fiddlehead Pond down to Ricker Pond, I took our guest up Owl's Head to see the view. I tried shooting some leafminers along the way, but discovered that my camera hadn't actually charged when it was plugged in. My friend shot a bunchberry leafminer for me and said she would send me the photo.
In the evening, we had very little action at the moth lights, probably because the temperature and humidity has dropped back down to September levels, 50s F. I found some pale beauties, an exasperating platynotia, some lesser maple spanworms, an eastern panthea, lots of Scoparia, but none of the small insects like midges or leafhoppers, and no katydids. Very quiet!
8/16/21. Chickering Trails & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.1 miles today, 3451.4 miles total.
Categories: leafminers, arthropods, odd plants
This afternoon I explored a new-to-me trail in the Chickering family trail system. I walked through the access trails to Chickering Bog, took the spur trail into the Chickering family trail system, went straight instead of off to the left on Hawk's Climb, and straight again instead of off to the right on Hawk's Climb, and this new trail took me straight down to the Chickering's upper pond, my turnaround point for my Chickering Rd bird walks. There are so many more trails to explore down here. I don't think I've walked even half of them.
There weren't many insects visible in the woods, but I found a few wasps and beetles on some boneset near a stream. I found leafminers on sugar maple, violets, trembling aspen, hop hornbeam, hazelnut, goldenrods, parasol whitetop, bunchberry, agrimony, boneset, sensitive fern, and hawthorn, galls on basswood, parasol whitetop, and goldenrod. My favorite find of the day was a gigantic cecropia caterpillar on a cherry branch overhanging the trail. I also found a picturesque purple mushroom and a bolete with red scales and slugs.
In the evening there were a few more visitors at the lights than last night, but I'm afraid the glory days of summer are over. I found Scoparia, an underwing, a gray, a litter moth, red twinspot, marbled carpet, yellow-collared scape, lettered habrosyne, a Noctuid, elegant grass veneer, a harvestman, a caddisfly, a single katydid, midges, leafhoppers, and an Ichneumon wasp.
8/17/21. East Montpelier Elementary School, East Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.0 miles today, 3454.4 miles total.
Categories: leafminers and arthropods
This morning I met up with Eve and Ed for our weekly bug walk. We met at the grounds of the East Montpelier school. When we got there, we found about half the parking lot full for a school in-service day, but we didn't seem to be in the way. We headed from the parking lot up into the woods so I could have some shade. It was chilly with a light shower, not good for bugging. We were amazed by the outdoor classrooms set up in the woods. There in the deep woods, they had white boards, stump stools around fire pits, a handwashing station, a cloakroom, and lots and lots of room. Gosh, to be a kid at such a school, where you could be outdoors all day! Or a parent in Covid times, sending your kid to an outdoor school. And to have so much space as a school to simply shift outdoors, with woods and playing fields to access. But there were few bugs for us, other than mosquitoes in the woods. We moved out to the grassy margins of the woods where we found a pseudoscorpion wasp, a pale green assassin bug, some Japanese beetles, a Lygus bug, and a vagabond grass veneer. In the school garden we found some Mellisodes honeybees in the sunflowers and some small bees, also a white admiral. I found plenty of leafminers, including some on sugar maple, goldenrods, burdock, milkweed, buckthorn, red clover, sunflowers, broccoli, and bristly locust, and galls on white ash, goldenrods, and calico aster. There were tiny frogs in the grass everywhere, perhaps spring peepers.
In the afternoon one of my friends from the Saturday morning hikes came over to tromp through the woods behind our house. She is doing some historical research and was looking for the cellar hole of one of the people she has been researching. I showed a cellar hole not far back from our property line, but she didn't think that one was the one she was looking for. Then we followed the barely visible remains of an old road out to Chapin "road", which used to be a town road but is now barely a trail. I showed her a grand old apple tree along the road and a clearing by an old sugar maple. Although we didn't find a cellar hole there, she felt the apple tree was a good suggestion of habitation, so she is going to return with her metal detector to follow up. Along the trail I found a frog and a viceroy butterfly.
In the evening we had a gently rain shower and the weather was a little warmer, so the moth lights were quite active. I had ruby tiger moth, Herpetogramma, Labrador carpet, red twin spot, bristly cutworm, large mossy glyph, darts, maple spanworm, lesser maple spanworm, false hemlock looper, gray hemlock looper, elegant grass veneer, small grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, Lymantria dispar, Scoparia, lettered habrosyne, Coleophora, casebearers, Argyrotaenia, garden tortrix, and micros, also caddisflies, midges, small black beetle, garden beetle, Ichneumon wasps, giant craneflies, fungus gnats, harvestmen, katydid, and a sac spider.
8/18/21. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.1 miles today, 3454.5 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
I intended to walk some trails near U32 high school today, but forgot my camera when I went out to run errands, so I postponed my walk and then never made it out. The moth lights were active in the evening, though, with lettered habrosyne, ruby tiger moth, Herpetogramma, elegant grass veneer, vagabond grass veneer, fanfoot, maple spanworm, lesser maple spanworm, powder moth, Columbia pug, yellow-collared scape, darts, Noctuids, Quaker, Baltimore hypena, exasperating platynotia, large mossy glyph, bristly cutworm, and micros, plus mayflies, caddisflies, garden beetles (mating), midges, craneflies, Ichneumon wasps, katydids, and leafhoppers.
8/19/21. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.1 miles today, 3454.6 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
We had heavy rain most of the day, so I never went out for a walk. In the evening, there was a pause in the rain, so I went out to check the moth lights. I found beautiful wood grain, lettered habrosyne, large purplish gray, fanfoot, Idia, dart, Quaker, bristly cutworm, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, large mossy glyph, lesser maple spanworm, elegant grass veneer, vagabond grass veneer, Eucosma, Columbia pug, marbled carpet, four-barred gray, exasperating platynotia, casebearers, and micros, plus caddisflies, water beetle, medium-sized black beetle, Ichneumon wasps, bee (?), green bug, craneflies, mosquitoes, midges, fungus gnats, katydid, and leafhoppers.
8/20/21. Silver Ledge Trail, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.1 miles today, 3455.7 miles total.
Categories: arthropods, leaf miners, galls
This afternoon my husband and I went to Groton for an outing. While he unicycled from Fiddlehead Pond down to Ricker Pond, I explored the Silver Ledge Trail for the first time. The trail is 0.5 miles one way to the top of a low granite-edge peak with 2 massive sedimentary boulders on top. Who put those boulders there? I found this a delightfully quiet corner of the park, although from the top of the ledges, I could hear the power boats out on Lake Groton far below. Unfortunately, when I stopped for lunch near the stream at the beginning of the trail, my phone decided to commit suicide. It leapt out of my pocket and into the stream. I pulled it out of the water, shook it and did chest compressions on it. It spouted an enormous amount of water from all orifices. Then it began to buzz ominously before becoming completely unresponsive. Alas, it was a decent phone.
One of my first finds of the day was rattlesnake plantain, which was really cool. I found leafminers on wild sarsaparilla, beech, pink lady’s slipper, sedge, paper birch, and red maple, and galls on red maple. I also found a garter snake, a toad, and a flock of golden-crowned kinglets on top of the peak. And I shot some flies, a bee, and Pyrobombus along the way.
In the evening at the moth lights I had cream-edged dichomeris, ruby tiger moth, lettered habrosyne, maple spanworm, lesser maple spanworm, false hemlock looper, elegant grass veneer, vagabond grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, darts, fanfoot, Noctuid, underwing, and micros, as well as garden beetle, Ichneumon wasps, brachonid wasps, midges, fungas gnats, green bottle fly, caddisflies, leafhoppers, katydid, and a dragonfly with green eyes, but I don't think it was an emerald.
8/21/21. Adamant Pond, Adamant, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.4 miles today, 3456.1 miles total.
Categories: arthropods, leaf miners, galls
This evening my husband and I celebrated our anniversary (about a month late) with a BYOB (bring your own boat) dinner cruise on Adamant Pond. Given the times, we kept it to a small gathering this year, with just 4 other boats. As we cruised around the small bit of pond that is not covered with lilypads, we dined on our picnic meals and watched a black duck and a pied billed grebe, also dining.
Later, at the moth lights, I found pale beauty, Virginia ctenucha, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, maple spanworm, lesser maple spanworm, elegant grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, vagabond grass veneer, darts, rotund Idia, Quaker, Noctuids, elm spanworm, casebearers, and red twin spot, plus harvestman, midges, leafhoppers, katydid, bee, water beetle, ground beetle, lightning bug, bugs, caddisflies, and a mayfly.
8/22/21. North Branch Trails, Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.4 miles today, 3459.5 miles total.
Categories: arthropods
This afternoon my husband and I drove into Montpelier to explore the trails in the North Branch park, he on his unicycle and me on foot. I forgot my GPS watch and my phone was dead, so I knew starting out that I would only be able to put approximate locations on my photos, so I decided not to hunt for leafminers but just keep an eye out for interesting arthropods and plants. I found some yellowjackets, honeybees, cluster flies, saw flies, and a small brown beetle. I also found galls on white snakeroot, goldenrod and alder.
In the evening, at the moth lights I had large sphinx, large mossy glyph, lesser maple spanworm, quaker, dart, Noctuid, Hypenodes, American idia, Scoparia, red twin spot, angles, and case bearers, plus midges, leafhoppers, cluster fly, caddisflies, large stonefly, green lacewings, small sac spider, tiny brown beetle, katydid, tree cricket, green bug, and a brachynid wasp.
8/23/21. Groton State Park, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.8 miles today, 3461.3 miles total.
Categories: arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This afternoon my husband and I went to Groton for some adventures. While he rode his unicycle on the rail trail from Fiddlehead Pond to Ricker Pond, I walked a section of a park road that runs parallel to the highway. I drove my Prius as far up the road as I deemed safe (maybe a little further) and did a 10-point turn to get turned around facing the right direction to leave. I then walked down the road a ways, but I don't think I got far enough to get into new-to-me territory since I walked this road a few years ago. The road was rather monotonous for plants, with lots of yellow birch, some beech, some maples, and goldenrods in patches down below. I found some bald-faced hornets, yellowjackets, square-headed wasps, flower flies, Pyrobombus, common eastern bumblebees, tri-colored bumblebees, Lygus bugs, and an ornate red stinkbug. I found leafminers on milkweed, goldenrod, parasol whitetop, sugar maple, big-toothed aspen, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, blackberry, black raspberry, and coltsfoot and galls on meadowsweet, trembling aspen, and goldenrod.
In the evening at the moth lights I had Lymantria dispar, lettered habrosyne, yellow-collared scape, elegant grass veneer, Girard’s grass veneer, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, lesser maple spanworm, exasperating platynotia, darts, Quakers, fanfoot, case bearers, Coleophora, angles, and some micros. Other arthropods included ground beetle, May beetles, Ichneumon wasps, Brachynid wasps, katydids, leafhoppers, midges, fungus gnats, giant craneflies, green bug, harvestman, spider eating a midge, and caddisflies.
8/24/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT, Groton State Park, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 4 miles today, 3465.3 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
Yesterday we had quite a few warblers show up around the feeders, so I went out for a short bird walk this morning to see if I could catch a few. I walked as far as the bridge at the bottom of Peck Hill Rd, but it turned out most of the birds were on along our driveway, busy eating all our elderberries. I saw purple finch, goldfinch, hairy woodpecker, phoebe, black-throated green, common yellowthroat, chickadee, and robins, lots and lots of robins eating our berries.
In the afternoon, my husband and I went out to Groton. While he rode his unicycle from Fiddlehead Pond to Ricker Pond, I walked a stretch of the rail trail from Kettle Pond south. Now that I have finished my course of antibiotics, I am trying to eat a wide variety of plants in hopes of reintroducing some microbial diversity in my gut. So I was looking for anything remotely edible to put in my mouth. I nibbled on blackberries, hobblebush berries, bunchberries, Oxalis leaves, yellow birch twigs, and dewberries. I found a stink bug, a hemlock looper, a leafhopper, a black jacket, and a yellow jacket. I found leafminers in buttercups, violets, hazelnut, yellow birch, paper birch, gray birch, sugar maple, mountain maple, beech, goldenrod, parasol whitetop, quaking aspen, big toothed aspen, balsam poplar and galls on meadowsweet.
In the evening at the moth lights I had false hemlock looper, elegant grass veneer, vagabond grass veneer, pond Crambid, red-twin spot, casebearers, lesser maple spanworm, pale beauty, darts, Quakers, connected looper, Scoparia, reticulated fruitworm moth, garden tortrix, angles, pink-barred pseudeustrotia, and some micros, plus a male spider, harvestman, picnic beetle, tiny brown beetle, garden beetle, winter lightning bug, dance fly, fungus gnats mating, midges, male mosquito with fluffy antennae, katydids, leafhoppers, mayfly, caddisflies, and Brachynid wasps.
8/25/21. Wrightsville Reservoir, Middlesex, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.8 miles today, 3466.1 miles total.
Categories: arthropods, leafminers, and galls
I met up with Eve and Ed early this morning for our weekly bug walk. Early because of the hot weather. We met at the boating access for the Wrightsville Reservoir, where the morning fog was still hanging around. But soon after we arrived the fog lifted and it began getting hot. Although there was plenty of goldenrod, Joe Pye weed, and moisture, there was surprising little bug life. We found a large yellow garden spider, a Lygus bug, some mating ambush bugs, an ambush bug with lots of mites, an eastern forktail, some Brachynid wasps, a Haploa caterpillar and a few bumblebees. I found leafminers on Joe Pye weed, jewelweed, meadow rue, and Clematis, and galls on alder, jewelweed, and goldenrod. I kept my eyes out for any wild edibles but didn't find a single one. The closest I got was a barely red black raspberry.
In the evening at the moth lights I had cream-edged dichomeris, lesser maple spanworm, darts, Noctuids, Quaker, Scoparia, exasperating platynotia, unicorn, elegant grass veneer, pond Crambids, angles, casebearers, and other micros, plus tiger cranefly, giant cranefly, midges, dance flies, mosquito, Hilara flies, caddisflies, katydids, very large brown beetle, small brown beetle, firefly, leafhoppers, Ichneumon wasps, Brachynid wasps, red bug, and green bug.
8/26/21. Calais Town Forest & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.4 miles today, 3466.5 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This afternoon I made a brief stop at the Calais town forest near Old West Church on my way to pick up our CSA provisions for the week. I found a honeybee, a common eastern bumblebee, and a geometer moth, as well as leafminers on jewelweed, goldenrod, calico aster, swamp aster, and sugar maple and galls on red maple, choke cherry, blackberry, and elm. For nibbles, I tried a wild apple, a raspberry, and a Canada mayflower berry. That was my first taste of Canada mayflower berries, which I've always heard were edible but not very good. The berry was sweet but with a definite bitterness. Barely edible.
In the evening at the moth lights I had Scoparia, elegant grass veneer, darts, quakers, underwing, lettered habrosyne, Columbia pug, lesser maple spanworm, maple spanworm, emerald, garden tortrix, fanfoot, and micros, plus ladybug, leafhoppers, midges, house fly, fruit flies, caddisflies, mayfly, small brown beetle, lightning bug, katydid, pygmy cricket, Melanoplus grasshopper, harvestman, and Ichneumon wasps.
8/27/21. Groton State Park, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.6 miles today, 3468.1 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This afternoon my husband and I went up to Groton for an outing, he with his unicycle, and me with my bike. After dropping him off at Fiddlehead Pond, I drove up to the North Parking Lot along Route 232 and rode my bike in near New Discovery Campground. I skirted around the campground and out past the trail head to Big Deer Mountain. On the maps, it showed this as a campground that deadends in the forest and has no iNaturalist observations. On the ground, I found it was a very navigable road in better shape than many in the park. I left my bike by the side of the road and walked a little ways down the road exploring. At one point I heard a lawnmower, so I think this road gets rather close to Peacham Pond, which is crowded with cabins. I think it probably continues on and connects to the roads around Peacham Pond, but I'll need to push on with my bike next time to find out.
In the meantime, I found a bumblebee, what looked like 2 bugs mating, although I wasn't sure, an Ichneumon wasp, and a large monarch caterpillar. Also, leafminers on jewelweed, sugar maple, red maple, wild sarsaparilla, calico aster, goldenrod, blackberry, and trembling aspen, and galls on blackberry and jewelweed. Nibbles for the day were blackberries and yellow birch twigs.
In the evening, it was cool at the moth lights and I actually put on a jacket to check the lights. I found a plume moth, Noctuid, quaker, Columbia pug, tussock, elegant grass veneer, another grass veneer, black-smudged chionodes, and more micros, plus a katydid, leafhoppers, midges, Brachynid wasp, giant cranefly, and a tiger cranefly.
8/28/21. Stranahan Forest, Marshfield, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.0 miles today, 3471.1 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This morning I met up with my three friends for our regular Saturday morning hike. We walked through the Stranahan Forest. Unfortunately, my GPS watch ran out of battery half-way through the walk, so I don't have an accurate track for the second half of the walk. It would have been great to have one since we a loop that was new to me. Hopefully, the watch will do better next time. There weren't many insects today since it was cool, but I found a bumblebee, a false hemlock looper, and a black and white wasp. There were lots of interesting mushrooms in the woods, but I tried to contain my enthusiasm and only shot a few, including some clumps of purple coral mushrooms. The highlight of the day was ginseng, which was in full fruit scattered about the forest. I found leafminers on jewelweed, sugar maple, red maple, calico aster, snake root, trembling aspen, and blackberry, and galls on violets and calico aster. I nibbled on blackberries, yellow birch twigs, false Solomon's seal, and apple.
In the evening at the moth lights I found marbled carpets, four-barred gray, Scoparia, darts, quakers, Noctuids, common grass veneer, Hypenodes, tussocks, lesser maple spanworm, fanfoot, casebearers, and a few micros. Other arthropods included harvestman, a bug, midges, caddisflies, brown lacewing, and Ichneumon wasps, but no leafhoppers or katydids.
8/29/21. Codling Rd, East Montpelier, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 1.6 miles today, 3472.7 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, trees, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This morning I took a walk up Codling Rd on my way home after going into town for some errands. On the map, Codling connects to Wheeler Rd. I wanted to see if that was the reality on the ground, but it wasn't. Codling runs parallel to Route 2, a busy highway, so there is lots of constant highway noise along Codling. On both sides of the road are hayfields with small sections of woods in between. The road deadends after a farmhouse with no signs of any connections to Wheeler. I'll have to walk Wheeler to the end to see how close it gets to Codling. The weather was 60F and cloudy after a morning shower. I found a common eastern bumblebee (male?) sleeping under a flower and a winter firefly. I found leafminers on grapes and Joe Pye weed and galls on box elder. Trees along the road included balsam poplar, trembling aspen, red maple, box elder, and American elm. The only nibbles I could find were grapes, sour with tough skins. I also found quite a bit of Physalis.
In the evening at the lights it was 60F and damp since we had another shower in the late afternoon. I found darts, quakers, other Noctuids, American idia, Scoparia, Virginia ctenucha, divided olethreutes, geometer, lesser maple spanworm, maple spanworm, gray spruce looper, and micros, plus ladybug, bug, midges, fungus gnats, Hilara flies, caddisflies, katydid, leafhoppers, Ichneumon wasps, Tetragnatha spider, garden beetle, and a lightning bug.
8/30/21. Woodbury Mountain Rd & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3 miles today, 3475.7 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, trees, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This afternoon I returned to Woodbury Mountain Rd to hunt for leafminers. The weather was sunny and 70F, ideal for walking. I found a tricolored bumblebee, a large orbweaver, some bald-faced hornets, some yellowjackets, and some syrphids. I found leaf miners on sugar maple, mountain maple, beech, white birch, yellow birch, coltsfoot, blackberry, thimbleberry, jewelweed and goldenrod, plus galls on jewelweed and goldenrod. Nibbles along the trail included thimbleberries and blackberries.
In the evening at the moth lights I had a very large underwing, lesser maple spanworm, false hemlock looper, common grass veneer, Scoparia, common Idia, and micros. Other arthropods included a giant cranefly, small craneflies, midges, leafhoppers, caddisflies, harvestman, tiny brown bug, and a small green bug.
8/31/21. Depot Brook Rd, Groton, VT & Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 3.6 miles today, 3479.3 miles total.
Categories: nibbles, trees, arthropods, leafminers, and galls
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Groton for some more adventures. While he rode his unicycle down from Fiddlehead Pond, I drove to South Branch Rd near Noyes Pond. I walked up a closed snow mobile trail that met up with Depot Brook Rd and continued all the way up to where I had turned around in previous years heading south. This area of the park is beautiful (as they all are) and quite quiet. There was absolutely no one else on the trail, and no human-produced sounds whatsoever, no highway noise, no airplanes. The road itself (not the snow mobile trail) was in fairly decent shape, drivable with 4WD much of the way, but with enough washouts that I wouldn't take our 4WD SUV on it. There were recent vehicle tracks, perhaps a tractor or ATV along the road.
I found some interesting wild roses full of hips along South Branch Rd, and lots of spikenard with ripe fruit, although I didn't pick any. I nibbled on blackberries, thimbleberries, and hobblebush berries. I found leafminers in jewelweed, beech, sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, goldenrod, milkweed, Clematis, blackberry, calico aster, whorled wood aster, violets, and basswood and galls on jewelweed, willow, parasol whitetop, blackberry, and white ash. Arthropods for the walk included wolf spider, tiger beetle, bumblees, and a false hemlock looper.
After my walk I drove to Ricker Pond to pick up my husband, and also to pick more of the yummy huckleberries I found along the pond the other day. I also found some checkerberries, the first of the season.
In the evening at the lights I had tussock moth, pale beauty, Scoparia, angle, quaker, and micros. Also, harvestman, medium-sized brown beetle, caddisflies, midges, fungus gnats, fruit flies, and leafhoppers.
8-1-21,Duncannon, Wildwood Park, Boyd Big Tree, Peter's Mountain, Hawk Mountain, all in PA. 2.5 miles today, 1085.25 miles total.
This was the second day of my Pennsylvania trip. In the morning I walked a few blocks through the town of Duncannon, through a railroad underpass to the Susquehanna River. Favorite finds included ivy leaved toadflax, four o'clocks, and a mayfly on my car.
I walked at Wildwood Lake, which had truly spectacular wetland flowers and then a boardwalk through the marsh. I took a neat shot of a kingfisher and found a big old yellow garden spider. I particularly liked cup plant and germander, but the marsh rose mallows stole the show.
I walked in Boyd Big Tree preserve. I didn't go far, as it's a heavily used upland forest and not all that exciting. The trees (at least the ones I saw) were not particularly big, either. Still, I found sweet joe pye weed, and lopseed, which was in full (delicate) bloom and very pretty.
I walked briefly along the Appalachian Trail on Peter's Mountain, where I spotted a cache set out for through hikers. Here I was most excited about some tulip tree scale and all the various wasps attracted to the honeydew. But there was purple flowering raspberry and wild hydrangea as well.
And I checked out Hawk Mountain, which charges $10 a person for the privilege of walking on their mountain top trails. I did not think it was at all worth it, but I saw fragrant sumac, sweetfern, currants, and spikenard.
8-3-21, Millstone Aqueduct, Lake Pemberton, Brendan Byrne St. Forest, Batso Village, Lake Lenape, and Brigantine, all in NJ. 2.25 miles today, 1087.5 miles total
This was the first day of my two-day South Jersey trip, again alone. First stop was the Millstone Aqueduct, on Lake Carnegie and the Delaware Raritan Canal, where I saw a team rowing crew with a chase boat instructing them, plus barn swallows and a yellow warbler, dogbane beetles, and marsh skullcap, senna, cardinal flower, and purple stemmed cliffbrake.
Next was Lake Pemberton, very flat, wet and sandy. The highlight here was tropic croton.
Then I got stuck in Brendan Byrne State Forest when my sand road had a "pothole" that was bigger than the entire road and filled with water and I tried to take a side road around it and got blocked again, and ended up backing nearly a mile down a sand road just barely as wide as my minivan. I was picturing having to call for a tow way back in there and not happy about it, but I made it. I got out by a brook and took some photos. Here I found red chanterelles, swamp azalea, carolina redroot, and dangleberry.
Next was one of the highlights of my summer: Batso, in Warton State Forest on the Mullica River. Here there were cow wheat, blue toadflax, nuttal's lobelia, sand myrtle, veilwort, low st. john's wort, two kinds of beaksedge, goldenclub, Virginia meadow beauty in full bloom, lance leaved rose gentian, spoon leaved and round leaved sundews, pipewort, redroot, three-way sedge, cross-leaved milkwort, purple and humped bladderworts, fetterbush, a beakrush, pine-barrens sandwort, little floating hearts, yellow eyed grass, and pink lady's slipper (in fruit).
next was a brief stop at the lighthouse on Lake Lenape (not that there is any need for a lighthouse on what is just a big pond), where the most interesting things were three square bullrush and Virginia st. John's wort.
Finally, near sunset, the first half of the best birding of my year: I drove around the Wildlife Dr. at Brigantine. Here I saw a totally new-to-me plant called giant bristle grass, plus rush skeletonweed, but of course the highlights were the birds. Unusual ones for me were American avocet, black-bellied plover, black crowned night heron, Forster's tern, glossy ibis, dowitchers, semipalmated sandpipers, black skimmers, snow geese, snowy egrets, and greater yellowlegs, whew!
8-4-21. Brigantine, Dennis Creek, East Point, Maurice River Bluffs, and Scotland Run in New Jersey 1.25 miles today, 1088.75 miles total.
Day two of South Jersey. I started with a before-breakfast drive around Wildlife Dr. again, spotting a whole family of turkeys on the way in and a bunny on the way out. Birds I hadn't seen the day before included clapper rail, boat tailed grackle, and semipalmated plover.
Next was the boat landing on Dennis Creek (Jakes Landing), where I saw a marsh wren singing its heart out, plus squirreltail grass, seablite and glasswort.
Then the lighthouse at East Point which had ridiculous numbers of mosquitoes plus sandbur and searocket.
Next were the Bluffs over the Maurice River. In the parking lot was a family with three young children, all of whom were screaming their heads off as I arrived. There were several interesting mushrooms here that I can't ID, plus sweetbay, serviceberry, and southern red oak.
Finally, I stopped at Scotland Run, a lake with a swimming beach but also a bit of natural shoreline with skullcap and buttonbush, among other things.
8-5-21 Green Brook Park, Plainfield, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 1090 miles total.
My husband and I explored the woods behind this urban park after dinner tonight and got rather lost, finally having to walk back along some suburban streets. He's a much faster walker than I am, so I did not have time for many pictures, but found goutweed and Perilla, jimsonweed and Japanese hops.
8-6-7-21, Paulina Lake, Blairstown, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1090.25 miles total
On the way to pick Katie up from camp, I stopped and walked across a rickety bridge below Paulina Dam. Here I found arrowleaf and ticktrefoil in bloom as well as a lot of long-leaved pondweed.
8-8-21. Lord Stirling Park, Basking Ridge, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 1091 miles total
Today I walked with Carl and Katie at this lovely swampy forest with a pond and boardwalks. Carl was impatient and Katie was angry and so it was not the most pleasant of outings, but I saw a dogday cicada and a coppery leafhopper, plus dense blazing star, ditch stonecrop, fringed loose strife, and cornmint, all in bloom.
8-10-21. Rahway River Pkwy, Cranford and East Co. Pk., Warren, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 1091.75 miles total
I had an errand in Roselle Park, so walked along the nearby Rahway River Parkway today. Here I saw lizard's tail and Japanese tree lilac in fruit, plus a tiny painted turtle and a deer with a very young fawn.
In the evening, Chuck, Katie, Carl and I walked at East County Park in town and spotted Episyron, Cerceris, and Tachytes wasps, plus clustered mountain mint and seedbox in bloom.
Wow! You saw a lot this week. I loved the way you checked your car for mayflies and other treasures before driving off. And how you were most excited about the tulip tree scale. I wonder how many other hikers recall that as the highlight of their visit. Great find on the purple stemmed cliffbrake! That must not have been fun getting stuck in the state forest--glad you got out OK in the end. Your trip to Batso was amazing, such wonderful plants. I've certainly never seen lance-leaved rose gentian. And your birding finds at Brigantine were great, seeing American avocet, black-bellied plover, black-crowned night heron, clapper rail, all at the same place. On the other hand, the trip to Maurice River Bluffs with the wild children calling sounds a bit scary. Good finds on the jimsonweed and Japanese hops!
8-12-21. Millstone Aqueduct, Princeton and Green Brook Park, Plainfield, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 1093.25 miles total
Katie and I drove down to the Millstone Aqueduct, originally to look for birds. We found barn swallows, a goldfinch, catbirds, mallards, a titmouse and a hummingbird, but also largemouth bass, sunfish, cooters, sliders, a snapping turtle, amberwings, skimmers, and dashers, plus senna, cardinal flower, mimosa, meadow rue, and hempvine in bloom. And I saw a blue-gray gnatcatcher, but Katie was listening to music on her phone and didn't hear me trying to get her attention.
On the way home (well, rather out of the way, really) we stopped at the hidden pond in Green Brook Park where we saw the wood ducks and the kingfisher plus curly pondweed and some very pretty blue vervain.
8-14-21. Scherman-Hoffman Preserve, Bernardsville, NJ. 1.25 miles today 1094.5 miles total
Katie and I went to the morning birding walk (it's called a nature walk, but it's at the Audubon Society, and I was the only one not all that interested in birds). I didn't successfully photograph any birds (though I tried hard for a yellowthroat) but we saw butterflies and bees, a dogwood sawfly larva, chicken of the woods, sumac galls, cutleaved coneflower, white baneberry, Krigia, spearmint, interrupted fern, beechdrops, angelica, wild licorice, partridge pea, maleberry, bur cucmber, coltsfoot.
8-15-21. Fairview Farm, Bedminster, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1094.75 miles total
I was exploring hotspots on eBird, and found that a very big one for our county was one I'd never heard of before, so went to check it out. There's a nice mix of woods, fields, and pond, but it was hot and buggy so I didn't stay long. I saw a tiger beefly, lots of goldenrod galls, and panicled tick trefoil.
8-16-21. Finderne Wetlands, Bridgewater, NJ. 1.0 miles today, 1095.75 miles total
These are the wetlands behind my son's work. I bush-whacked along what used to be a mown access road to a bridge that's fallen in and closed as well. All this area was under feet of water two weeks later in the big flood. I saw rice flatsedge, pinkweed, yellowcress, big bluestem, and a carrion beetle.
8-17-21. Negri-Nepote Grasslands, Franklin, and Duke's Park Parkway, Manville, NJ. 2.0 mile today, 1097.75 miles total
Katie and I walked at this maintained grassland on a former farm. It's been heavily planted with wildflowers, so I have no idea what's natural and what was put there. I saw giant ragweed, amaranth, bur marigold, nodding spurge, indiangrass, a dogday cicada, sumac galls, grasshopper sparrow, and a mantis eating a lanternfly.
In the evening, my husband and I walked just across the river from where I was yesterday. I found a Cepaea snail, spotted sandpiper, killdeer, cedar waxwing, deer, great egret, wingstem, arrowhead, and Hydrilla, but the highlight was a new to me plant: water star-grass.
8-18-21. Old Quarry, Lindabury Park, Little Brook, all in Bernardsville, and Komline Park, Gladstone, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 1098.75 miles total
I explored several spots I found on eBird today, first being the edge of an old quarry pond, now surrounded by an industrial complex. Here I spotted a calico pennant and a lot of waterstriders.
Next was the pond next to the town hall, which was lovely with blooming purple loosestrife, knapweed, ironweed, and pickerelweed. Here I found dotted smartweed, waterpepper, peppermint, cornmint, and a Guinea paper wasp.
Then a trail along a brook in a deep ravine, with nipplewort, hooked buttercup with leafmines, and some still-blooming (or reblooming?) dames rocket.
Finally, a ballfield with a lot of brushy and wooded edge to it, which had creeping thyme, scarlet pimpernel, planthoppers, a chipping sparrow and a house finch.
8-19-21. Great Swamp, Harding Twp., NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1099 miles total
Today I walked briefly at two spots along the main access road at this wildlife refuge. Here I found hedgenettle, an eastern blubird, swamp smartweed and wild rice.
8-21-21 Lincoln Ave. Park, Manville, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1099.25 miles total
I went to Walmart, and so walked briefly at this park nearby. This is another one that was underwater less than two weeks later in the big flood. Here I saw lots of starlings, lots of smartweeds, beggar ticks, and sneezeweed.
8-23-21. Middlebrook Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 1100.75 miles total
My husband and I walked through the wet fields here, and ended up heading down a couple dead-end trails. It was farther than I'd intended to go and getting dark by the time we were done. There were a ton of ripe wild grapes, and you could smell them everywhere. I saw a stinkbug, a weevil, a Sphex wasp, and lots of smartweeds.
8-24-21. Lenape Park, Westfield, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1101 miles total
I dropped off a wheelchair for my step-father-in-law, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia (and ended up not needing the chair, thank goodness) and so then walked at this nearby park with a dammed brook making a pond. Here there were a number of dragonflies, a turtle, a great blue heron, buckthorn, arrowhead, groundnut, and peppermint.
8-25-21. Amwell Lake, Ringoes, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1101.25 miles total
Today we dropped Molly's stuff off at college (she was not allowed to live there for another 5 days) and afterward Katie, Molly and I walked at this little pond. Here Molly found a bunch of Belostoma water bugs in a puddle, and I saw nodding beggar's ticks, slender false foxglove, waterchestnut, ditch stonecrop, and Papsalum grass.
8-26-21. Highland Park Wildflower Preserve, Highland Park, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1101.5 miles total.
On the way back from getting my car inspected, I took a quick walk at this wildflower garden and down to the river behind it. Here I found trumpet vine, ninebark, and blue mist flower, with baldfaced hornet, pearl crescent, and a duskywing.
8-28-21. Celery Farm nd Crestwood Park, Allendale, Wycoff Gardens, Wycoff, and Fireman's Field, Rockaway, all in NJ. 1.25 miles today, 1102.75 miles total.
I drove up to northern NJ today to walk at the Celery Farm, a heavily used trail around a lake. Here I saw lots of smartweeds, alders with aphids and ant, some kind of warbler, marsh pennywort, a green heron, and painted turtles.
On the way home I stopped first at a highly developed park, with a little weedy patch by a drainage ditch which had a blue dasher dragonfly and waterpepper. Then I went to Wycoff Gardens, which has a swampy pond and woods, where there was more pennywort, milfoil, dwarf St. John's wort, lots of smartweeds, and crickets. Then finally at a ballfield with a weedy outbuilding (and, thankfully, a portajohn), which had thistles with leafmines and bittersweet nightshade.
8-31-21 Dock Watch Hollow, Warren, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1103 miles total
Today I parked at the quarry and walked uphill, mostly to see the richweed blooming and the Japanese aralia in fruit. I also saw Spanish needles and poison ivy with flower galls.
What a busy month you had, so full of adventures! Great finds on the cardinal flower and bluegray gnatcatcher. It's so funny to hear that Audubon thinks a nature walk is all about birds. Yes, birds are fun, but it's so hard to stay focused on the birds when the plants are constantly distracting. As for the giant ragweed--I hope that wasn't planted! A neighbor had some pop up in her garden and she nurtured it all summer because she found a magnificent plant. Nice to hear about the grasshopper sparrow, green heron, water stargrass, and hungry mantis.
Adicionar um Comentário