April 2022: 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
4/1/22. Peck Hill, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3939.7 miles total
Categories: evergreen leaves, bingo
This afternoon enough of the snow was gone that I went searching for evergreen leaves as well as items for the new bingo cards. I found red clover, dandelion, bishop's weed, garlic mustard, broad-leaved dock, and fleabane. For my bingo cards, I found American elm, speckled alder, Christmas fern, sensitive fern, ostrich fern, white pine, Queen Anne's lace, and yellow birch.
4/2/22. Gray Rd, Calais, VT. 3.5 miles today, 3943.2 miles total
Categories: woody plants, bingo
This morning I drove up to the Calais school to meet up with 3 friends for our regular Saturday morning walk. My husband had our SUV since he had to work today, so I was driving the Prius. I didn't think I'd be able to get all the way to the school due to mud season, but to my surprise, the road crew had dumped some material down and the road was passable. We walked up Gray Rd, which has houses scattered along the west side facing farm fields on the east. We went over the top of the hill towards East Montpelier and continued along Factory St. Once over the hill, the hill sloped down to the south with lots of southern exposure, and all the snow was melted on the south facing slopes. We found juniper, leatherwood, script lichen, white clover, Porella platyphylla, willow pinecone galls, gray birch, artist's bracket, and honeysuckle gall.
4/3/22. Montpelier bike path, Montpelier, VT. 2.7 miles today, 3945.9 miles total
Categories: winter weeds, galls, bingo
This afternoon headed down to Adamant so that he could ride around Sodom Pond on his unicycle while I walked. However, the road was too muddy for riding, so we continued on to Montpelier and went to the bike path there where I walked along the eastern section of the path. I found cedar waxwings and some house sparrows, as a nest with an egg in it, some stoneflies and some wolf spiders in the grass. Winter weeds today were muskmallow, bird's foot trefoil, geum, echinacea, dogbane, yarrow, Silene, and several grasses. Green leaves today were a cinquefoil. Woody plants were red cedar (planted), gray birch, Norway spruce, poison ivy, speckled alder, and a dogwood. I also found an alder all and some Bryum argenteum.
4/4/22. Pekin Brook Rd, Calais VT. 3.4 miles today, 3949.3 miles total
Categories: winter weeds, galls, arthropods, bingo
This afternoon when I went out, the temperature was near 50F and the sky was sunny, but there was a blustery wind. I decided to walk west on Pekin Brook Rd for a change of scenery. The road crew has been dumping material along the road, but it's still quite sodden. I only saw 1 private car on it the entire time I was out, plus a school bus and the town truck going back and forth getting more material to spread somewhere further along. Near my planned turnaround point, a guy came out of his house when I walked past, noticed my camera, and invited me to walk up his hill to his firepit to see the view out over them mountains, so up I went. Indeed, it was a very nice view. Up near the firepit, I saw what looked like some flies flitting about, but when I got closer, I found they were actually Andrena bees. Hooray! Live arthropods! Coming back down the hill, I paused to shoot some Cladonia lichen and Schistidium moss on an exposed rock face and also found a red velvet mite. Now I am truly believing spring is on the way. I even saw some colt's foot in bloom. Other finds for the day included black knapweed, common juniper, common barberry, a stem gall on goldenrod, yarrow, a mature elm, pussytoes, a rattlesnake fern, a cinquefoil, some black-eyed susans, and signs of beavers cutting down large and small box elder trees along the brook. Beside a deep mudhole in the road, near the house of the guy who invited me to climb his hill, was a fresh sign that said "3 legged paraplegic lama racing starts 4/2: serving leg of lama at noon in the beer tent", while across the road high in a tree was a metal wind chime tinkling away, summoning lamas or llamas, I'm not sure which.
4/5/22. Pekin Brook Rd, Calais VT. 1.9 miles today, 3951.2 miles total
Categories: galls, arthropods
Today I returned to Pekin Brook Rd for my walk, but headed east instead of west. The road was in a little better shape, so there was more traffic, 7 cars when by, all heading out to the highway, but no buses or road crew. I didn't find any new plants for the season on this stretch of road, but I did manage to find a blackberry stem gall, a wolf spider, and a ruby tiger moth caterpillar.
4/6/22. North Branch Nature Center, Montpelier, VT. 0.6 miles today, 3951.8 miles total
Categories: arthropods
Today I met up with Eve and Ed for our first bug walk of the season. We met in the parking lot of the nature center and shot bugs for a leisurely 1.5 hours between the parking lot and the community gardens, several hundred yards down the path. We found wolf spiders in the grass, a cricket, a pygmy grasshopper, some sepsis flies on decomposing brussels sprouts stalks, some leafhoppers, and the find of the day, an ant mound under a rock with a queen.
4/8/22. Tucker Rd, Calais, VT. 1.4 miles today, 3953.2 miles total
Categories: bingo and fungi
Today we had alternating misty showers and sun when I went out. I drove up the road and parked at the Chickering Bog parking lot. When I got to the lot, someone from Massachusetts had parked straight in rather than off to the side. It's a tiny lot that holds 6 cars, and it's not obvious which way you should park when you drive in. But when you go to leave, if you park straight in, it's likely that you'll fall into the ditch on your way out. I parked to the side, then walked up Tucker Rd since I wasn't sure if the trail to the Bog was free of ice yet. I found turkey tails and several other polypores, plus dogwood golden canker. For my bingo card, I found Anomodon attenuatus, Hedwigia ciliata, red elder, and some snakewort. Other finds for the day were Rhodobryum ontariense, Caulophyllum, and some lichens.
When I came back from Tucker Rd, the other car was still in the lot. Later when my husband drove home from work, he found that other car stuck in the ditch and the couple was waiting for a tow truck. They were too far stuck for him to pull them out with his winch. I need to get some spray paint and mark some proper parking space lines on the gravel in the lot.
4/9/22. Jerusalem Rd, Marshfield, VT. 1.9 miles today, 3955.1 miles total
Categories: bingo and fungi
This morning I met up with my 3 friends for our regular Saturday morning walk. We parked by the ball fields below Twinfield school and walked up Jersualem Rd, pausing on the way to admire the cascading waterfall in the midst of a forest of Canada yew. We found some alders in bloom, plus last year's pinesap, various polypores, some puffballs, a Ramaria fungus, trailing arbutus, a brown creeper, a Euura gall on willow, a cottonwood leaf, some Bartramia pomiformis, Dicranum scoparium, Conocephalum salebrosum, and some Cladonia pyxidata. We also found our first roadkill of the year, parts of a bird and squished woodfrog.
4/10/22. Adamant, VT. 2.4 miles today, 3957.5 miles total
Categories: bingo, birds, and fungi
This afternoon my husband and I headed down to Adamant for an outing. While he rode his unicycle up Sodom Pond Rd, I walked Quarry Rd looking for bingo finds. The ice is just starting to melt on the ponds, and I found some geese, a pair of hooded mergansers, and a ring-necked duck on the water, plus my first yellow-bellied sapsucker of the season up in the trees. The bingo cards got updated this week, with new plants to look for, so I added buckthorn, evening primrose, and leatherleaf. I also found a leafminer on bunchberry, some snowberry, partridgeberry, Phragmites, marsh pennywort, and a handful of lichens and polypores. Plus 2 kinds of bagworms on the side of the church.
4/11/22. Chickering trails, VT. 2.4 miles today, 3959.9 miles total
Categories: bingo, birds, and vernal pool life
This afternoon the weather was spring-like, so I took my cameras off to the Chickering Bog trails to check on the frogs. But I got distracted on my way out the door by flies buzzing in the compost, so I had to check them out too, and even found a bee of some sort under an orange peel. Up at the Bog parking lot, I parked properly so as not to fall in the ditch. The trails to the bog were almost ice free, much better than last week. I could hear the wood frogs chirping from a half mile away, and veered off from the bog trail to visit one of my favorite vernal pools. I sat there watching the frogs and water bugs for about a half hour. I recorded both wood frogs and spring peepers, and shot wood frogs, an eastern newt, several water spiders, and several water beetles. I also saw a winter wren, a hermit thrush (first of the season!), a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a golden-crowned kinglet, and a dark-eyed junco.
4/12/22. Sabin's Pasture, Montpelier, VT. 1.9 miles today, 3961.8 miles total
Categories: bingo, birds, and city creatures
This afternoon my husband and I headed into Montpelier for an outing. He dropped me off at Vermont College, then continued on down to the bike path to ride his unicycle. I wandered the grounds of the college looking for arthropods on the south facing brick walls and attracting all sorts of attention from the grounds staff since they are between sessions and no one is on campus. After I inspected all the walls, I headed down into Sabin's Pasture to look for plants and more insects. The rickety footbridge across the stream was out and I didn't want to get my feet wet, so I explored the trail down to the bike path for the first time, crossing the road and also taking in the field below the distillery.
I found 3 kinds of jumping spiders on the campus buildings, plus some Ichneumon wasps, calyptrate flies, a stonefly, and lots of Colletes bees in the dandelions (first blooms of the season). Vertebrates today included a robin, some song sparrows, and house finch who was performing for the entire neighborhood, and some beaver sign by the stream. Plants included multiflora rose and another kind of rose, Japanese barberry, buttercups, soapwort, and a planted Clethra. In the other side of the yard by the Clethra they had a juniper collection, with all 3 types, J. virginiana, J. horizontalis, and J. communis in broad stripes running down their lawn. At least they didn't have any grass to mow.
4/13/22. Chickering Bog, VT. 2.5 miles today, 3964.3 miles total
Categories: bog plants, bryophytes, fungi
This afternoon was damp and chilly, a great day for moss hunting. I drove up to the bog parking lot, just as 2 other visitors were arriving. Fortunately, they had parked correctly, so I had no fears of them dropping into the ditch on their way out. I took my time getting up to the bog, pausing to examine many, many moss clumps and lichens along the way. When I finally got up to the bog, I found the other folks still there on the board walk, reverently listening to the wood frogs. At the bog, I found Labrador tea, bog rosemary, bog goldenrod, cranberry, and pitcher plants. Mosses for the day included Hypnum imponens, Fissidens, Appalachian penny moss, Plagiomnium cuspidatum, and Polytrichum commune. Lichens included British soldier lichen, several other Cladonias, and some fluffy lichens.
4/14/22. Chickering Rd, VT. 2 miles today, 3966.3 miles total
Categories: signs of spring, arthropods
Today I took advantage of a brief spot of sun during an otherwise rainy day to go for a walk along Chickering Rd. I took the small trail that connects Chickering to Foster Rd and was delighted to find some actual signs of spring, with spring beauty and hepatica in bloom, and Virginia waterleaf and toothwort sprouted. I think spring comes a little earlier in East Montpelier--no signs of these flowers yet at Chickering Bog yesterday. I also found some amphibian eggs (and 3 dead wood frogs), some spring elfin cups, and some more lichens. And I came across a pile of compost that someone had dumped that was full of broken eggs shells, coffee grounds, as well as some dung flies, a rove beetle, and some odd little larvae. The property that has been for sale for the last year or two is now being developed.
4/15/22. Dover Rd, Montpelier, VT. 0.6 miles today, 3966.9 miles total
Categories: arthropods
This afternoon Eve and I met at Ed's house for a bug walk, together with Ed's wife. We inspected the house siding, the early spring crocuses in the garden, the ant mound where the crows bathe (but no bathing today), and the compost bin. After we had seen all we could find, we went across the street to another friend's house to inspect her garden. She had lots of blooms open, including more crocuses, winter aconite, spring daphne and snowdrops. We found several bees in the flowers, including Andrena, Colletes, and a large Bombus terricola queen. Other finds for the day included wolf spiders in the grass, ants, and leafhoppers.
4/16/22. Railroad Bed West, Marshfield, VT. 2.7 miles today, 3969.6 miles total
Categories: bingo
This morning I met up with 2 friends for our regular Saturday morning walk. We walked a section of the rail trail from Jerusalem Rd in Marshfield past the Twinfield School. It's a good time for searching for commonly overlooked plants, since there are no distracting leaves. We found lots of leatherwood along the trail, as well as lots of pippsissewa and some patches of gay wings and lots of interesting fungus.
4/18/22. Chickering Trails, Calais, VT. 1.7 miles today, 3971.3 miles total
Categories: bingo
This afternoon we had some sun and temperatures near 60F. I decided to walk Hayden Rd near #10 Pond and headed out in that direction, but within a mile discovered I wasn't going to get there due to mud. So I turned around and went back up the road to the Chickering Bog parking lot, where I parked and inspected the colt's foot blooms, which were full of flies. For Plan B, I decided to seek out the vernal pool that I had visited 2 years ago for my amphibians course. I started down Tucker Rd, but rather than hike straight up the hill as I did last time, I followed an almost visible old logging trail that went up into the woods at a gentle slope. The ghost of the trail ended in a lovely patch of boreal forest. I continued a short bit in the same direction, and the pool appeared quite quickly. I sat for a while at the pool, listening to the spring peepers and watching caddisflies in the water. Some syrphid flies came to check out my black camera equipment. When I finally got up from the pool, I intended to look for the maidenhair spleenwort on the cliffs, but got distracted, walked over the top of the ridge, and found myself on the Chickering Trail system. I walked the trail for a while, where I found some fungi, and eventually I also spotted some dogtooth violet leaves coming up.
4/19/22. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2.7 miles today, 3974.0 miles total
Categories: storm damage
The snow from the early morning's heavy spring snow fall was still on the ground when I went out this afternoon. We had about 2" of snow total, but it was extremely heavy. I decided to go out to Center Rd and walk the East Montpelier trail towards Dodge Rd. However, I had to turn the car around before I even got down to the bottom of the driveway because there was a tree across the road. Fortunately, it was just a small tree, a 4" hemlock tip-up, but it still required some chainsaw work. For Plan B, I walked up Peck Hill Rd, inspecting all the branches and trees across the road for lichens and fungi. Peck Hill itself had 2 trees across the road, one a 6" fir, the other a huge bush red maple tip-up, entirely blocking the road from both directions. I cleared hundreds of small branches up and down the road as I walked, finding lots of interesting lichens. Other finds for the day included a stem miners on fir and white pine, red maple blossoms, and a pair of northern flickers, the first of the season for me.
4/20/22. Pekin Brook Rd, Calais, VT. 4.8 miles today, 3978.8 miles total
Categories: bingo
I decided to walk Pekin Brook Rd today since I didn't think there was much chance of my driving very far on it, given all the mud it had on Monday. To my surprise, though, it had received a lot of attention recently, and a lot of fill as well. I probably could have driven it, even in our Prius. There was still plenty of snow on the ground in our yard and along our driveway when I went out, but as soon as I got to the bottom of the driveway, I found the snow had melted elsewhere. I was looking for a poplar gall for my bingo card that I recall having seen on this stretch of Pekin Brook Rd some years ago. I never found the gall--perhaps the beavers had taken down the group of infested poplar trees. But I did find some false helleborine, the very last berries of last year's false Solomon's seal, some black ash, and some steeplebush. I also saw my first broad-winged hawk of the season and chatted a bit with the neighbor whose house looks out over the broad valley above the new beaver impoundments.
4/21/22. #10 Pond, Calais, VT. 2.3 miles today, 3981.1 miles total
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I decided to try again to get up to #10 Pond for a walk. Since the roads were in such good shape yesterday, I thought it should be possible in the Prius. It was, but just barely. Wherever there was a steep slope adjacent to the road, there were now thick patches of mud, despite being so well maintained yesterday, and no rain overnight. I think the moisture must simply roll down the slopes into the road bed, all underground. #10 was quiet. I walked G.A.R. from end to end, then along #10 up to Bayne Comolli Rd and back. My goal for the day was to see if the loon was back--it was--and add it to my bingo cards. I also found a big toothed aspen, which suddenly appear on my card yesterday, some swallows, some tiny horsetails, and an escaped forsythia, far from blooming.
4/22/22. Vermont College, Montpelier, VT. 0.5 miles today, 3981.6 miles total
Categories: arthropods and lawn weeds
This afternoon Eve and Ed and I had a date to meet up at Vermont College for a bug walk. The sun was shining brightly on my drive into town, but it clouded over right as I got to Montpelier. It had actually been raining there, and Ed decided not to come to the walk. Eve was already there when I arrived, checking for spiders on the south facing cement and bricks walls. We managed to find a jumping spider, a small spider in its nest, several ants, and a lone mining bee in the dandelions. Every time we ventured near the west side of the buildings, we were smacked with a harsh cold wind. Brrrr! I also checked the lawns for any small weeds. I found a few, but the one I recognized was some speedwell.
4/23/22. Stranahan Forest, Marshfield, VT. 2 miles today, 3983.6 miles total
Categories: signs of spring
This morning I met up with 2 friends at the Stranahan Forest in Marshfield for our Saturday morning walk. We headed up Thompson Rd (a foot path) for an out and back hike. The road had quite a few wet muddy patches with thick mud, but fortunately we were all wearing tall boots. We were delighted to find that the spring ephemerals were starting to appear, especially along the west side of the top part of the road. We found some squirrel corn leaves and even some buds. We also found spring beauty in bloom, Virginia waterleaf leaves, and red trillium buds. Near our turnaround, we paused to admire a butternut tree and its buds. We also took a long look at the buds of 3 saplings side by side, a red maple, a sugar maple, and a white ash. On the way back, I broke off from the group to hike up the south facing ridge to look for the other sedge that looks just like Carex plantaginea since one member of our group said she had seen it there. I didn't find any sedges at all on the ridge, but the ridge was covered with spring beauty in bloom in the sun, and I found several spring beauty miners, what a joy, in their pink pollen pantaloons. I also found a small wasp and several flies.
4/24/22. Pekin Brook Rd and Adamant Pond, Calais, VT. 6.3 miles today, 3989.9 miles total
Categories: birds, signs of spring
This morning I took my first bird walk of the year, heading west along Pekin Brook Rd. I found a kingfisher, some goldfinches, some bluejays, a pair of crows mobbing a raven, some phoebes, some yellow-bellied sapsuckers, a pair of wood ducks, a pair of geese, and loads of ruby-crowned kinglets. I was amused by the sight of the pair of domestic white ducks chasing a mallard out of the farm pond on the corner of Pekin Brook and George Rd. I also got glimpses of a a red fox wandering along Pekin Brook Rd, much to the ire of some crows in the tree tops.
In the afternoon I went down to Adamant with my husband. While he rode his unicycle around the pond twice, I managed to walk around once. It's my first full circuit of the pond in quite a while. I was hoping to find the patch of rhubarb on the north east edge that I had seen before, near the Calais/East Montpelier town line, but no luck today. Still too early in the season. I saw a pair of ring-necked ducks on the pond and lots and lots of ruby-crowned kinglets. I also saw a couple of people parked along the road near the intersection of Center Rd and Sibley harvesting the abundant ramps there. I have no idea if they had permission to harvest. And how come they weren't harvesting the garlic mustard that was also thick by the road?
4/25/22 Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 4.6 miles today, 3994.5 miles total.
Categories: birds
This morning I headed up Peck Hill for my bird walk. When I passed the farm at the intersection of George and Pekin Brook Rds, the old gray dog came out to greet me and then decided to join me for my walk. Even though he wasn't my dog, I was well aware of his impatience and found him urging me to go faster. Meanwhile, the birds kept calling me to go slower. I found ruby-crowned kinglets, phoebes, chickadees, robins, a hairy woodpecker, some yellow-bellied woodpeckers, and some wood ducks, as well as some geese in the field along Peck Hill.
In the afternoon I drove up to the other end of George Rd for a quick walk out to the Chickering Bog. I found an Andrena bee in some colt's foot at the edge of the parking lot. A couple returning from the Bog remarked quite happily that the pitcher plants were in bloom. Hmmm...that won't be for another 6 weeks or so. I think maybe they were fooled by the red color leaves and thought the leaves were the flowers. I hope they make it back some time to see the real pitcher plant flowers, which are even more impressive. I found some Leskella and Sphagnum mosses, some staghorn clubmoss, and a tricolored bumblebee queen. I also shot the painted turtles up at the Bog.
4/26/22 Sodom Pond and East Montpelier Town Forest, Adamant, VT. 2.9 miles today, 3997.4 miles total.
Categories: birds
This morning I drove down to Adamant for my bird walk. I walked along Sodom Pond where I was delighted to hear the bittern pumping. As I was trying to chase some ruby-crowned kinglets with my camera, I saw the surface of the water moving near the edge of the pond and waited to see what might appear. I was quite surprised when a Virginia rail strode into view. Cool--I didn't even have to call it with my bird app on my cell phone. I also saw some butter butts (yellow-rumped warblers), goldfinches, phoebes, ring-necked ducks, geese, hooded mergansers, and chickadees, as well as a queen tricolored bumblebee.
In the afternoon I returned to Adamant for a stroll through the East Montpelier town forest. I explored the trail along the northeast edge of the forest near the wetlands. I found the water much higher today than it was last fall, with a new beaver pond. On the new pond was a female hooded merganser doing contact calls.
4/27/22 Pekin Brook Rd and Hayden Rd, Calais, VT. 4.3 miles today, 4001.7 miles total.
Categories: birds
This morning I walked along Pekin Brook Rd towards the east. I had forgotten how heavy traffic can be on this road on weekdays. I think I'll return here only on weekends from now on (until I forget again). The birds were quite cooperative, in between the cars. I shot a belted kingfisher, some starlings, some goldfinches, some pine siskins, and a purple finch. I also saw a flock of turkeys in the field across Pekin Brook. I think they were "our" turkeys, since when I called to them they responded. I recorded some ruby-crowned kinglets, some white-throated sparrows, a blue-headed vireo, a cardinal, and a brown creeper.
In the afternoon I took a quick walk up Hayden Rd to see if I could find the lily of the valley that I've seen up there. I found something that looks like lilies in the right location, but it more looks more like daylilies than lily of the valley. I wonder if they look the same as young shoots. I also found some Orthotricum moss, some vinca major, some Canada mayflowers, and a slug.
4/28/22 Tucker Rd and Robinson Hill Rd trails, Calais, VT. 4.5 miles today, 4006.2 miles total.
Categories: birds, phenology
This morning I drove up to the Chickering Bog parking lot so I could walk along Tucker Rd looking for birds. It was a chilly morning with fresh snow on the ground. I found some blood root almost open, some hepatica, wild ginger, and bellwort. The long distance views towards Groton were spectacular this morning. There weren't many birds, but I managed to shoot some song sparrows, chickadees, robins, and turkeys. I also spotted some deer at the back of Doug Liley's field, behind the turkeys.
In the afternoon I drove out to Longmeadow Rd to walk some of the Robinson Hill Rd trails, and also to see if I could spot the comfrey growing along the south end of Robinson Hill (I found it, but not the black locust that I also thought I would find.) I shot several flies, some spring beauty, some daphne in full bloom, and some marsh marigold starting to bud.
4/29/22 Chickering Rd, East Montpelier, VT and Sand Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 4.3 miles today, 4010.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, phenology
This morning I drove out to Chickering Rd for my bird walk. As usual, there were plenty of birds to see and hear. I shot some robins, ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and chickadees. I recorded a barred owl, some winter wrens, and some white-throated sparrows. I was surprised that I didn't see or hear any phoebes this morning. I also spotted the remains of last year's angelica. As I walked, I pondered why this road has such good birding, especially for warblers and forest birds. I think perhaps it's because it's such a large patch of undisturbed boreal forest. I sure hope that the planned logging doesn't destroy too much habitat for the birds.
In the afternoon I took a quick jaunt up Sand Hill Rd to see if I could find the mayapples I have found there in the past. No luck--perhaps it's too early. I did find some vinca, bloodroot, spring beauty, and red trillium. I also found a spider crossing the road, and the source of the road's name. Truly, the steep banks of the road are sand, which is quite unusual for this area. I wonder how that happened--an ancient lake bed, perhaps?
4/30/22 Lightening Ridge Rd, Calais, VT, Dodge Rd, East Montpelier, VT, Marshfield Pond, Marshfield, VT. 3.4 miles today, 4013.9 miles total.
Categories: birds, phenology
This morning I drove up to the Chickering Bog parking lot and walked along Lightening Ridge Rd. Since it was Saturday, there was blessedly little traffic on the usually busy road. I saw some butter butts, ruby crowns, 4 crows, 4 phoebes, robins, chickadees, song sparrows, and chipping sparrows. I also recorded a mystery bird whose song I didn't recognize. I noted that the logging operation along Lightening Ridge is quite extensive, although they have left most of the trees standing along the road frontage. This section would be contiguous with the boreal/northern hardwood forest along Chickering Rd, if the forest were still standing.
After breakfast I drove out to Dodge Rd for our Saturday morning hike, but I was the only one who showed up today. I found out later that one other person tried to make it, but went to the other end of Dodge Rd instead of the trailhead parking lot. Too bad--the spring ephemerals were just starting to open. I found dog-toothed violet, blue cohosh, spring beauty, and bloodroot all open, and the shoots of wall lettuce. I also shot a blue bottle fly and a syrphid.
In the afternoon, my husband and I drove out to Marshfield Pond. While he rode his unicycle along the railroad bed, I walked the short trail out and back on the back side of the pond. I shot some ring-necked ducks, a red squirrel, a bee fly, a syprhid fly, an Andrena bee, a dark-eyed junco, a phoebe, and a broad-winged hawk. I also found some Cladonia, black ash, wild raisin, red elder, and American honeysuckle.
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