June 2022
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
6/2/22. Tucker Rd, Calais, VT and Chickering Trails, East Montpelier, VT, 3.7 miles today, 4124.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, spring plants, road kill
This morning I started with a bird walk along Tucker Rd. I didn’t catch many birds with my camera, but I recorded an alder flycatcher, a raven, an ovenbird, a chestnut-sided warbler, an indigo bunting, a scarlet tanager, a phoebe, a bobolink and a hermit thrush. The birds I managed to shoot included a crow, a chipping sparrow, a chestnut-sided warbler, a robin, and a goldfinch. I found a snail-eating beetle, an owlet moth caterpillar, a tent caterpillar and 2 red efts in the road, plus 2 dead red efts. I searched for the showy orchis but couldn’t find it and instead shot the twoleaf miterwort, which was in bloom.
In the afternoon I went for a walk on the Chickering trails, starting from Chickering Rd and heading down into the swamp to the north of the Chickering’s house. Arthropods included an apple cuculio weevil, a Haploa moth caterpillar, a Rudiloria centipede, and a winter firefly. I managed to find a leafminer on elm and some leaf galls on red maple. Blooming today were garden yellowrocket, buttercup, and herb Robert. I heard some peeping along the trail and found 2 very young bluejays. They looked vulnerable and chilled along the trail, so I moved them together to a hole in a log. I don’t know if that was any help to them but it made me feel useful.
6/3/22 Route 12, Worcester, VT, and Chickering Bog, Calais, VT. 5.4 miles today. 4129.9 miles total.
Categories: birds, galls
This morning I drove out to Route 12 in Worcester for the last Nature Center birdwalk of the year. To my surprise, I didn’t see any other cars at the meeting point when I arrived. It was raining lightly. I started up the trail and had trouble finding birds visually, although I recorded oOvenbird, chestnut-sided warbler, magnolia warbler, veery, winter wren, blue-headed vireo, and black and white warbler. I found leaf galls on alder, red maple, balsam poplar, Amelanchier, and box elder, as well as an alder tongue gall. About halfway up the trail I finally found the Nature Center group, just 2 people. It turns out I had stopped at the wrong parking lot. I wanted to continue heading up the trail rather than turn around and retrace my tracks so soon, so after comparing notes with the other folks, we continued on our separate ways. I finally got to actually see a bird near the end of my walk, a single eastern phoebe.
In the afternoon I drove up the road to Chickering Bog to go see what insects I could find near the Bog. I found some ants in a dandelion, a clavate tortoise beetle, a common whitetail dragonfly, and a queen common eastern bumblebee. I also found several red efts, a green frog, and bullfrog. I recorded a Nashville warbler, white-throated sparrow, black-capped chickadee, hermit thrush, and a northern parula and found leaf galls on red maple and elm.
6/4/22 Lightening Ridge Rd, Calais, VT, and Osmore Pond, Groton, VT. 2.3 miles today. 4132.2 miles total.
Categories: birds, galls, insects, amphibians, road kill
This morning I drove up to the top of a George Rd and took a short bird walk along Lightening Ridge Rd. I recorded scarlet tanager, chipping sparrow, ovenbird, indigo bunting, yellow warbler, veery, American woodcock, Nashville warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, brown creeper, catbird, house wren, common yellowthroat, and black-and-white warbler. I also got to see a red-eyed vireo, mourning dove, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, indigo bunting, robin, goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, veery, purple finch, northern flicker, chestnut-sided warbler, and house wren. I noted that the field maple is mysteriously still present along the road—where did it ever come from? I also found a sawfly larva, eastern yellowjacket, and bumblebee. Road kill along this short section of road included a red eft, spring peeper, golden ground beetle, giant mayfly, white-banded toothed carpet moth, and garter snake.
In the afternoon, my husband and I drove up to Groton. While he rode his unicycle along the bike path, I took my electric scooter down to Osmore Pond. Once at the pond, I tucked the scooter into an abandoned campsite near the lodge, then proceeded on a bug walk along the northern end of the pond. I found chalk-fronted corporal, mining bee, sawfly, snipefly, blue bottle fly, Rhagio, field ants, house fly, Ichneumonid wasp, confusing wood fly, balloon fly, pithead fly, muscoid fly, longhorn beetle, variable duskyface fly, bufflehead mason bee, Plateumaris beetle, Gerris bug, milky backswimmer, root-maggot fly, Xylotina fly, eastern catkin fly, forest wolf spider, field ants, Aurora damselfly, brown-fovea miner bee, bot fly, and a sweatbee. I also found a bullfrog, green frog, and small fish, and leaf galls on red maple, Amelanchier, and yellow birch. The pink lady’s slippers were in full bloom, and also the Labrador tea. I found a great patch of black slime mold and recorded blueheaded vireo, winter wren, black-throated green warbler, Canada warbler, and black-throated blue warbler. Around the north side of the pond, I paused at remote campsite #1 to sit on a rock and look out over the pond. I was treated to the sight of a bald eagle carrying a fish, and then getting chased by a broad-winged hawk, which looked quite small in comparison to the eagle.
6/5/22 Pekin Brook Rd, Calais, VT, and Waterbury Reservoir, Waterbury, VT, and Portal Rd, Middlesex, VT. 4.2 miles today. 4136.4 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects
I started my day this morning with a short walk along Pekin Brook Rd, where I recorded common yellowthroat, winter wren, veery, ovenbird, blue-headed vireo, black-throated blue warbler, and northern cardinal. I also managed to shoot a phoebe, least flycatcher, broad-winged hawk, a flock of Canada geese, and a robin.
Later in the morning I drove out to the Waterbury Reservoir with the intention of doing some bugging and birding. I was more successful with the bugging than the birding, however, perhaps because it was already mid-morning by the time I got out there. I found a bot fly, eastern calligrapher, variable duskyface fly, lady bug, masked bee, southern pygmy clubtail dragonfly, marbled purple jumping spider, Canadian tiger swallowtail, metallic sweat bee, common eastern bumblebee, tricolored bumblebee, Condylostylus patibulatus fly, and hairy-eyed mimic fly. For birds, I saw an American crow, cedar waxwing, song sparrow, chesnut-sided warbler, turkey vulture, chestnut-sided warbler, and spotted sandpiper and recorded Black-and-white warbler, blue-headed vireo, and black-throated blue warbler. I found leafminers on broad-leaved dock, and elm and galls on riverbank grape, elm, basswood, and ash. The reservoir was quite crowded with lots of people launching boats along the dam. I walked out along the dam as far as the trail went, then turned around. At the edge of the dam I found a ranger waiting, swinging a net trying to catch dragonflies and looking for takers for a history tour of the dam. He recognized me the talk I gave at the naturalist ranger training last year and was quite excited when I consented to listen to his spiel about the dam, which was actually quite an interesting story about the Civilian Conservation Corps. After the dam tour, I did a short walk on the new trail down below the dam, then had a picnic lunch along the water.
After lunch, I drove to Portal Rd in Middlesex to meet up with 3 friends for our weekly bugwalk at the house of our troop. We had a very successful day, finding common blue mud-dauber, Dolichopus fly, white-winged march fly, mining bee, Araneoid spider, Eutomostehus ephippium sawfly, snipe fly, Eastern black carpenter ant, house fly, Donacia beetle, milk backswimmer, mason bee, common wood fly, nomad bees, Rhagonycha beetle, pithead fly, flower beetle, Hobomok skipper, common ringlet, bronze jumping spider, Machimus fly, six-spotted orbweaver, stripe-legged robberfly, sharp-lined powder moth, Stictocephala lutea leaf hopper, goldenrod crab spider, green immigrant leaf weevil, yellow nutsedge moth, Tetragnatha spider, Chrysopa oculate lacewing, honeybee, filmy dome spider, field ants, gracile nomad bee, Dichelonyx beetle, dusky cockroach, oblique-banded pond fly, hover fly, metallic sweat bee, and a globetail fly. We also got to see some painted turtles, green frogs, and newts in the pond, and I found galls on ground ivy, chokecherry, beech, and white ash.
6/6/22 Chickering Rd, East Montpelier, VT, and Adamant, VT. 2.8 miles today. 4139.2 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects, leafminers and galls
This morning I drove out to Chickering Rd for a bird walk, where I recorded chestnut-sided warbler, white-throated sparrow, northern parula, yellow-bellied sapsucker, ovenbird, alder flycatcher, black-throated blue warbler, eastern wood-pewee, black-and-white warbler, house wren, common yellowthroat, and phoebe. I also managed to shoot a phoebe, robin, tree swallow, and blue jay. I found a white spring moth, viceroy, and Photuris lightning bug crossing the road, and a golden ground beetle, dot-tailed whiteface dragonfly dead on the road.
In the afternoon my husband and I drove down to Adamant. While he rode his unicycle around Sodom Pond, I took an extended bug walk through the gardens of the music school near Adamant Pond. I found Fusca group field ants tending aphids, honeybee, winter firefly, Lasioglossum bee, wolf spider, tricolored bumblebee, nomad bee, Wilke’s mining bee, orange-spotted drone fly, flasehorn fly, goldenrod crab spider, chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly, Phanogomphus dragonfly, eastern forktail damselfly, metallic sweat bee, Cantharis livida beetle, ebony jewelwing damselfly, two-spotted bumble, peatland sheetweb weaver, Arabesque orbweaver, common drill moth, mottled tortoise beetle, cocklebur weevil, Sumitrosis inaequalis beetle, silvery blue butterfly, Tetragnatha spider, Ichneumonid wasp, New York carpenter ant tending Chaitophorus bugs, white-striped black moth, pufftail fly, green bottle fly, Milwaukee mining bee, little black caddisfly, Peck’s skipper Ancylis moth, and eastern carpenter bee. I also found leafminers on dogwood and balsam poplar and galls on willow and balsam poplar.
6/7/22 Montpelier Bike Trail, VT. 4 miles today. 4143.2 miles total.
Categories: insects, galls, leafminers, roadkill
This afternoon my husband and I drove out to Montpelier to enjoy the bike path. While he rode his unicycle along the path, I got out my scooter and headed east along the newest part of the path looking for bugs. I found lasioglossum, Asian lady bug, eastern tent caterpillar, elm sawfly, New York carpenter ant tending aphids, introduced pine sawfly, Ophraella conferta beetle, Podisus bug, dusky cockroach, wrinkled soldier beetle, harvestmen, double-lined longhorn beetle, Cresson’s sweat bee, Microrhopala excavate, Calligrapha rowena, Zadontomerus, six-spotted tiger beetle, white admiral, Evodinus monticola, lace bug, eastern calligrapher, Xylotina fly, viceroy, Augochlora bee, and a great tiger moth caterpillar. I also found galls on elm, ash, basswood, box elder, goldenrod, and grape, and a leafminer on elm. Roadkill today was a common aerial yellow jacket and a toad.
6/8/22 Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT and Quarry Rd, Adamant, VT. 3.9 miles today. 4147.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods, galls, leafminers
This morning I headed up Peck Hill searching for birds. I recorded common yellowthroat, house wren, indigo bunting, catbird, blue-headed vireo, ovenbird, and hermit thrush, plus a spring peeper. I also managed to see a phoebe, robin, song sparrow, cedar waxwing, chickadee, red-winged blackbird, barn swallow, and turkey.
In the afternoon I drove down to Adamant with my husband. While he rode his unicycle around Sodom Pond, I walked along Quarry Rd searching for arthropods. I found Zadontomerus, confused Haploa moth caterpillar, Lasioglossum, globetail fly, Siphona fly, field ants tending smoky poplar aphids, chalk-fronted corporal, eastern forktail, Symmorphus, eastern calligrapher, pair of Rannoch looper moths pairing, pufftail fly, pond spreadwing, racket-tailed emerald, aurora damsel, bluet, pufftail, Philodromus spider, grasshopper nymph, Ichnuemonid wasp, springtail, peatland sheetweb weaver, Condylostylus patibulatus, aster treehopper, double-lined longhorn beetle, pale green assassin bug, cocklebur weevil, bimaculate longhorn beetle, Phanogompus dragonfly, Siphona fly, mason bee, Panorpa, green bottle fly, leafwalker fly, Lygus bug, white-spotted pond fly, Asian ladybug, Hobomok skipper, Brachys aerosus, Hammerschmidtia fly, green lacewing. I also found galls on quaking aspen, red maple, basswood, beech, and leafminers on aster, sweetclover, sarsaparilla, cow parsnip.
6/9/22 Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 1 miles today. 4148.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods
This afternoon I went for a short walk down our driveway and up Peck Hill, going just as far as the school house. I recorded a veery, cardinal, chestnut-sided warbler, ovenbird, blue-headed vireo, and black-throated blue warbler, but I didn’t manage to shoot any birds with my camera. I also found a sawfly, ursine spurleg lady beetle, Canadian tiger swallowtail, striped leafhopper, and Philodromus spider, plus 2 different kinds of galls on basswood leaves.
6/10/22 Chickering Bog, Calais, VT. 2.5 miles today. 4150.6 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods
This afternoon I went for a quick walk out to Chickering Bog to check on the pitcher plants and the elfin skimmers. The flowers on the pitcher plants were gone, but I found quite a few skimmers—mission accomplished. I also found an Orgyia caterpillar, Pterostichini beetle, chalk-fronted corporal, common whitetail dragonfly, dark paper wasp, Rudiloria trimaculata millipede, Podabrus beetle, and a Dryomyza fly. I recorded a Nashville warbler, brown creeper, bullfrog, and green frog, and I saw a robin, goldfinch, and broad-winged hawk.
6/11/22 North Branch Nature Center, VT. 1.1 miles today. 4151.7 miles total.
Categories: Arthropods
Today I drove down to the North Branch Nature Center for the first day of our weekend course on wasps. There were about 12 students in the course, including Eve and Ed from our weekly bug walks. Late morning we went out as a group to search for wasps, but I was shooting anything with lots of legs. In the front gardens I found leafminers in goldenrod and lovage. Later, I also found a gall in a willow. During our walk, I turned up a diamondback spittlebug, field ants, leaf beetle larva, Uroleucon bug, flesh fly, nomad bee, casebearer moth, grasshopper nymph, margined calligrapher fly, confusing furrow bee, root-maggot fly, Amphigonalia gothica leafhopper Zadontomerus bee, Cloanthus leafhopper, white-winged march fly, dogwood-milkweed aphids, oblong running spider, bumblebee, brown stink bug, Wilke’s mining bee, Sinea bug, Myrmica ant, a pair of American rose chafers, goldenrod crab spider, beetle parasitoid wasp, greenish apple moth, Verdanus leafhopper, Condylostylus patibulatus fly, spurleg lady beetle, Dolerus sawfly larva, Hoy’s jumping spider, twirler moth caterpillar, Dolichopus fly, soldier beetle, Gymnosoma fly, Leptopterna bug, meadow katydid, fen fly, Arabesque orbweaver spider, four-spotted clover leafhopper, dusky cockroach, confused Haploa moth caterpillar, Panorpa galerica, Brachysomida beetle, pure green sweat bee, fan-foot moth, eastern pine elfin, Scudder’s bush katydid, Milwaukee mining bee, Mordellinae beetle, Lygus bug, and a twice-stabbed stink bug, as well as a few other creepy crawlies. When I got home, I found yet one more, a dog tick on my clothing.
6/12/22 Lightening Ridge Rd, Calais, VT and North Branch Nature Center, VT. 2.1 miles today. 4153.8 miles total.
Categories: birds, road crossers, arthropods
I started the day this morning with a quick walk along Lightening Ridge near the intersection with George Rd. I actually had good luck spotting birds today and photographed a blue jay, robin, goldfinch, phoebe, black-and-white warbler, chickadee, red-eyed vireo, and song sparrow, and recorded a chestnut-sided warbler and an ovenbird. For road crossers, I found a Cantharis livida beetle, and a wandering broadhead planarian, which made my day!
After breakfast, I returned to the Nature Center for the second day of our wasp seminar. We went out for a walk searching for wasps and found a couple, an Ichneumonid wasp and an Ectemnius wasp. In the meantime, I shot all the arthropods I could find, including a honeybee, metallic sweat bee, bicolored striped sweat bee, Lasioglossum, sawfly, Condylostulus patibulatus fly, two-spotted bumblebee, blister beetle, Zadontomerus bee, Scaptomyza palida fly, root-maggot fly, fourteen-spotted ladybeetle, golden tortoise beetle, , annulate masked bee, Roesel’s bush cricket, Lygus bug, stripe-legged robberfly, Dolerus sawfly larva, Virginia ctenucha moth caterpillar, Nabis bug, twirler moth, striped leafhopper, quadrate snipe fly, freeloader fly, Symmorphus wasp, Augochlorosepsis viridula bee, Analeptura lineola beetle, nomad bee, Gymnosoma fly, striped cucumber beetle, Rhagonycha beetle, hawthorn mining bee, eastern black carpenter ant, sunflower maggot fly, imported willow leaf beetle, spotted thyrsi moth, ursine spurleg lady beetle, dusky cockroach, double-lined longhorn beetle, Papaipema caterpillar, white-winged march fly, diamondback spittlebug, geometer caterpillar, goldenrod crab spider, blood bee, Asian lady beetle, and Thevenetimyia fly. I also found galls on Virgin’s bower, grapes, and goldenrod and leafmines on plantain.
6/13/22 Quarry Rd, Adamant, VT and Osmore Pond, Groton, VT. 4.3 miles today. 4158.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods, herps
This morning I drove down to Adamant for a stroll up Quarry Rd. I saw a robin, mourning dove, blue jay, Cooper’s hawk, common yellowthroat, song sparrow, cedar waxwing, pied-billed grebe, and chipping sparrow. I also recorded a chestnut-sided warbler, northern parula, Blackburnian warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, ovenbird, blue-headed vireo, brown creeper, pied-billed grebe, catbird, and a bullfrog. And I found a dead frog in the road.
In the afternoon, I drove up to Groton with my husband. While he rode his unicycle on the rail trail, I took my scooter down to Osmore Pond. I stashed it in an former campsite near the lodge, then walked the circuit around the pond looking for bugs. I found a white admiral, chalk-fronted corporal, artic skipper, Laphria sadales, Hobomok skipper, eastern red damsel, stream cruiser, beaverpond baskettail, emerald dragonfly, black deer fly, common water strider, pair of Microrhopala xerene beetles, orange mint moth, Macaria moth, friendly probole moth, Plateumaris beetle, striped fishing spider, and ebony jewelwing. I also found some lovely wolves’ milk slime mold in glorious pink and lots of pink lady’s slippers still in bloom. There was a large snapping turtle on a log by the pond, and quite a few bullfrog tadpoles in the shallows. While I walked, I recorded dark-eyed junco, common loon, ovenbird, black-throated green warbler, and black-throated blue warbler.
6/14/22 Chickering Rd, East Montpelier, VT and Curtis Pond, Calais, VT. 4.3 miles today. 4162.4 miles total.
Categories: birds, bugs, road crossers, roadkill
This morning I enjoyed a leisurely walk up Chickering Rd looking for birds. I found Blackburnian warbler, phoebe, robin, cedar waxwing, catbird, goldfinch, chestnut-sided warbler, ruffed grouse, and ovenbird. I also recorded house wren, white-throated sparrow, alder flycatcher, common yellowthroat, Nashville warbler, northern parula, black-and-white warbler, black-throated blue warbler, winter wren, yellow-bellied sapsucker, golden-crowned kinglet, blue-headed vireo, chickadee, and a bullfrog. Road crossers this morning included a green caterpillar, a chalk-fronted corporal, and 2 red efts. Roadkill was a red-spotted admiral, toad, and red eft.
In the afternoon, my husband and I took our canoe out on Curtis Pond, paddling all the way up to the far end and back. Along the way, I shot a painted turtle, a loon, a dot-tailed white face dragonfly, aquatic leaf beetle, and a lilypad clubtail dragonfly.
6/15/22 Tucker Rd and Chickering Bog, Calais, VT. 5.1 miles today. 4167.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects, roadkill
This morning I drove up to the Chickering Bog parking lot and took a short walk up Tucker Rd past Jim Hogue’s house. I saw a turkey, Robin, chickadee, indigo bunting, goldfinch, chipping sparrow, and hummingbird, and recorded an ovenbird, winter wren, blue-headed vireo, scarlet tanager, indigo bunting, white-throated sparrow, chestnut-sided warbler, and black-and-white warbler. Roadkill this morning included a toad and an unidentifiable vertebrate. When I got back to my car, a young hare was standing beside the front tire, willing me not to notice it.
After lunch, I returned to the same parking lot, but this time walked on up to the Bog searching for insects. I found a Pedilus beetle, metallic sweat bee, Philodromus spider, grayish fan foot moth, goldenrod crab spider, Gasteruption wasp, harvestman, Xiphydria sawfly, root-maggot fly, northern plantain flea beetle, Nemourinae stonefly, wolf spider, Virginia ctenucha caterpillar, spotted thyris moth, Zadontomerus bee, pair of cocklebur beetles, four-spotted skimmer, chalk-fronted corporal, pond spreadwing, Delaware skipper, elfin skimmer, and an amber-winged spreadwing. I also found leafminers on buttercup, burdock, sarsaparilla, white ash, and violet. While I walked I recorded black-throated green warbler, Nashville warbler, blue-headed vireo, hermit thrush, magnolia warbler, white-throated sparrow, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, winter wren, brown creeper, black-and-white-warbler, and white-tailed deer. I also found another smashed dead vertebrate on the road near the parking lot.
6/16/22 Rexhame Beach, Marshfield, MA. 2 miles today. 4169.5 miles total.
Categories: beach plants, washed-up critters
Today my husband and I drove down to Marshfield, MA to meet up with his family. We went for a walk together along the Rexhame Beach near our rental cabin soon after we arrived. We found beach pea, poison ivy, bayberry, red cedar, sheep’s sorrel, Rugosa rose, and woolly beachheather, a first for me. Out on the sand, we found West Atlantic surf clam, Jonah crab, Eastern oyster, lady crab and a bit of Irish moss.
6/17/22 Rexhame Beach and the Bridal Path, Marshfield, MA. 3.1 miles today. 4172.6 miles total.
Categories: birds, coastal plants, arthropods, galls, leafminers
This morning I took a walk up the marsh side of the beach between Rexhame and Humarock. I found a great black-backed gull, song sparrow, mourning dove, catbird, northern mockingbird, great egret, common grackle, double-crested cormorant, American crow, and northern cardinal. I also found cottontail (lots!), and white-tailed deer (several). Plants that caught my eye this morning included multiflora rose, biting stonecrop, pokeweed, cheatgrass, tansy, northern seaside goldenrod, staghorn sumac, bracted plantain, and eastern cat mint. I found common European bottle fly, bicolored striped sweat bee, and two-spotted bumblebee. I also found juniper apple rust.
Later in the morning, I went on a walk up and down the short cross streets in our neighborhood. I found a skimmer dragonfly, ants tending aphids, margined calligrapher, Zadontomerus bee, masked bee, shore fly, and banded wing fly, as well as a robin and house sparrow. I had a great time inventorying the weeds in people’s yards and driveways, since many were new to me. I found Virginia creeper, spotted spurge, plains flatsedge, lesser hop trefoil, ribwort plantain, annual knawel, ragwort, silvery cinquefoil, horseweed, corn spurrey, Oriental bittersweet, knapweed, red sand spurrey, eastern black knightshade, honeysuckle, marsh elder, orache, meadow rush, sea thrift, green carpetweed, purslane, evening primrose, blue toadflax, hedge bindweed, Phragmites, sweet alyssum, procumbent pearlwort, and Mexican tea.
In the afternoon, my husband and I stopped by a section of the Bridal Path that runs behind my husband’s brother’s house. While he rode his unicycle, I walked along the path and found groundsel, mugwort, Norway maple, hedge bindweed, wild geranium, black locust, wrinkle-leaved goldenrod, white vervain. The insect hunting was great—I found stripe-legged robberfly, leaf beetles, Nomada erigeronis, Zadontomerus, varied carpet beetle, least skipper, Myzinum maculatum, blood bee, brown leatherwing beetle, eastern black carpenter ant tending aphids, two spotted grass bug, running crab spider, free loader fly, and meadow spittlebug. I also found leafminers on goldenrod, plantain, Cerodontha grass, and garlic mustard, and galls on multiflora rose, grape, red maple, and American elm.
6/18/22 Rexhame Beach and the Bridal Path, Marshfield, MA. 5.8 miles today. 4178.4 miles total.
Categories: birds, coastal plants, beach finds, arthropods, galls, leafminers
This morning I took another bird walk along the marsh side of Rexhame beach, but this time I returned along the beach to our cottage. I found song sparrow, house sparrow, northern cardinal, European starling, robin, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, northern mockingbird, great egret, willet, American crow, belted kingfisher, pigeon, osprey, mourning dove, catbird, blue jay, herring gull, red-winged blackbird, chimney swift, and brown-headed cowbird, as well as lots of cottontails and a few deer. I also took note of perennial sowthistle, field sagewort, Carolina sea lavender, pickleweed, bittersweet nightshade, beachplum, and sand-loving Iceland lichen. I found galls on blackcherry. Out on the sand near the tide line I found European green crab, blue mussel, Jonah crab, and a barnacle.
Later in the morning I returned to the beach with my husband. He decided to pedal way down the beach on unicycle and back. Meanwhile, I searched for critters on the sand and in the tidal pools. I found common periwinkle, barnacle, rough periwinkle, blue mussels, and Atlantic jackknife, plus a double-crested cormorant and a piping plover. I also found a single Asian lady beetle.
In the afternoon, we returned to the Bridal, my husband on his unicycle and me on my own 2 feet. I found a cabbage white, nomad bee, Bombylius incanus fly, Zadontomerus bee, Clausicella fly, metallic sweat bee, dance fly, twelve-spotted skimmer, meadow spittlebug, St. John’s Wort beetle, aphids, katydid nymph, Japanese beetle, and two-spotted bumblebee. I also found Deutzia, roundleaf greenbriar, whorled loosestrife, bear oak, Canada frostweed, sheep laurel, flat-topped goldenrod, trembling aspen, sassafras, Japanese honesuckle, spotted lady’s thumb, yarrow, field sagewort, black tupelo, poison ivy, hop trefoil, and mugwort. Galls today were on white oak, red oak, goldenrod, fox grape, black tupelo, and witch hazel, while leafminers were on white oak, black cherry, winterberry, and bear oak.
6/19/22 Ferry St, Marshfield, MA. 0.6 miles today. 4179 miles total.
Categories: insects, plants, galls, leafminers
This afternoon I took a break from the family gathering at my husband’s niece’s house for a short walk up the street looking for bugs. I found lesser variegated snipe fly, Banasa bug, three-lined leafroller moth, and Ophiderma leafhopper, and also a ring-necked snake. Plants included sassafras, calico aster, beggarticks, poison ivy, and sycamore maple. I found leafminers on aster, heath speedwell, Cerodontha, broad-leaved dock, goldenrod, and white oak and galls on poison ivy, black oak, red maple, red oak, goldenrod, and white oak.
6/20/22 Rexhame Beach and Ferry St, Marshfield, MA. 3.5 miles today. 4182.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods, plants
This morning I got up early and took a long walk along the marsh side of Rexhame beach looking for birds. I found a grackle, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, chickadee, pigeon, red-winged blackbird, willet, goldfinch, European starling, double-crested cormorant, brown-headed cowbird, mourning dove, great egret, osprey, and a house sparrow, as well as a lot of cottontail rabbits hopping around in people’s front yards. I also found Asian ladybug, seaside dragonlet, American copper, Gryllus cricket, bluebottle fly, common eastern bumblebee, and two-spotted bumblebee.
Later in the morning, I went with my husband to the First Parish Cemetery in Scituate to meet his family and hold a memorial service for his mother. The service was supposed to be held several years ago, but was delayed due to Covid. At last we were all able to gather together. At the end of the service, a red-tailed hawk flew in and perched on a nearby gravestone for several minutes.
Later in the afternoon, we returned to Ferry St. in Marshfield to continue visiting with family members. I took a break to stretch my legs and wandered around the block through a new housing development. The development turned out to be quite boring, with lots of overly managed lawns, but I did manage to find a few bugs and weeds in the margins. I found immigrant pavement ant, two-spotted bumblebee, lady beetle larva, margined calligrapher, eastern miner bee, common eastern bumblebee, cabbage white, skin beetle, Hemihalictus bee, and Zadontomerus bee, as well as a chipmunk. For weeds, I found rabbit clover, Deptford pink, wild pansy, bird’s foot trefoil, a volunteer basswood, and Japanese knotweed.
6/21/22 Rexhame Beach, South River Trail, and Brant Rock, Marshfield, MA. 4.5 miles today. 4187 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects
This morning I returned once again to the marsh side of Rexhame beach to look for birds. On my way there, I saw plenty of cottontails eating the grass in people’s lawns, and also a gray squirrel. Birds today included red-winged blackbird, European starling, song sparrow, northern mockingbird, house sparrow, house finch, mourning dove, pigeon, robin, northern cardinal, chickadee, brown thrasher, great black-backed gull, willet, great egret, double-crested cormorant, belted kingfisher, pair of ravens, American crow, common grackle, and catbird. I also found seaside dragonlet, aphids, American lady butterfly, bluebottle fly, common eastern bumblebee, and a cluster fly.
After breakfast, I went on a long walk up the beach towards Brant Rock. I saw a cottontail on my way to the beach. On the beach, I found Irish moss, a slippersnail shell, Jonah crab, Asian shore crab, and a lobster tail, as well as a seaweed fly, freeloader fly, Cajus aguayoi beetle, and Pentacora fly. Birds on the beach included double-crested cormorant, herring gull, and piping plover.
In the afternoon, my husband and I took a walk together on the South River Trail, exploring some side trails towards Willow Street. We kept running into a person with purple hair and black clothes that seemed to be cutting school and just wandering, wandering the trail system. We found sycamore maple, Wisteria, Oriental bittersweet, skunk cabbage, Japanese knotweed, sensitive fern, green arrow arum, purple loosestrife, tall meadow-rue, Joe Pye weed, royal fern, Amerian holy, blue flag, water hemlock, pink ladyslipper, cinnamon fern, bush clover, white sweetclover, and black oak, and we also saw a white-tailed deer. Insects in the woods included eastern black carpenter ant, black firefly, red-banded leafhopper, robber fly, Rivelia fly, and margined calligrapher. We also saw a catbird and a red-winged blackbird in the marsh.
6/22/22 Rexhame Beach, Marshfield, MA. 2 miles today. 4189 miles total.
Categories: birds
This morning I took one last bird walk along the beach before packing up to head north to Vermont again. Today I found mockingbird, grackle, great blue heron, black skimmer, willet, brown-headed cowbird, barn swallow, double-crested cormorant, snowy egret, great black-backed gull, European starling, red-winged blackbird, herring gull, catbird, cardinal, house finch, house sparrow, and raven, as well as a meadow katydid nymph and some aphids. And of course, lots of cottontails and a brown-lipped snail.
6/23/22 Curtis Pond, Calais, VT. 0.7 miles today. 4189.7 miles total.
Categories: insects
This afternoon I took my kayak up to Curtis Pond for a short leisurely bug hunt along the western shore. I found click beetles, midge, lace bug, crab spider, Donacia beetle, philodromus spider, and a damselfly eclosing on a lilypad. I found a white waterlily in magnificent full bloom and some galls on basswood.
6/24/22 Chickering Rd, East Montpelier, VT and Ricker Pond, Groton, VT. 4.4 miles today. 4194.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, herps, insects
This morning I started the day on Chickering Road looking for birds. I found red-breasted nuthatch, robin, common yellowthroat, chickadee, hooded merganser, chestnut-sided warbler, olive-sided flycatcher, blue jay, purple finch, hairy woodpecker, hummingbird, and northern cardinal. I also recorded olive-sided flycatcher, pewee, ovenbird, northern parula, and black-throated blue warbler, plus a red squirrel. Along the road, I saw a deer, a snowshoe hare, and 54 live red efts, plus a single dead one and a dead northern short-tailed shrew. I also came across a breath-taking tragedy—the little pool beside the road that had been chirping with wood frogs earlier in the season was now nearly dried up. All that remained were thousands of wood frog tadpoles, occasionally wiggling to show that some were still alive. Could I save some by returning with a five gallon bucket of water? I had no idea. Is it right to step in when creatures lose the evolutionary roulette wheel, when they put all their eggs in the wrong pool? Would stepping in encourage more frogs to lay their next year? Would stepping in enable a new generation of frogs to survive on Chickering Rd? It saddened me to see so many young frogs dying, but I was completely unsure whether I should act or not.
In the afternoon I dropped my husband off at Marshfield Pond so he could ride his unicycle along the rail trail. Then I continued on down to Ricker Pond with my kayak. I made a complete circuit of Ricker Pond, finding loon, alder flycatcher, mallard, kingbird, raven, song sparrow, great blue heron, and hairy woodpecker, plus calico pennant, Phanogomphus clubtail dragonfly, and chalk-fronted corporal. I also found a painted turtle and a bullfrog, plus galls on serviceberry. And I recorded a wood thrush.
6/25/22 Lightening Ridge Rd, Calais, VT and Paine Mt, Northfield, VT. 3.3 miles today. 4197.4 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects, road kill, other critters
This morning I drove up to the Chickering Bog parking lot and took a short walk along Lightening Ridge Rd looking for birds. I found song sparrow, robin, cat bird, common yellowthroat, indigo bunting, red-breasted nuthatch, house wren, chestnut-sided warbler, and yellow-bellied sapsucker and recorded raven, winter wren, indigo bunting, black-throated green warber, hermit thrush, alder flycatcher, and oven bird. I also found a few insects, including rose chafer, Virginia ctenucha moth, and brown leaf weevil, as well as a deer and red squirrel. Road kill today included red eft, giant eastern crane fly, and Leptoceletes basialis.
After breakfast I drove down to the Northfield Park and Ride to meet up with a Vermont Entomological Society field trip to the bog with the showy lady slippers. Last year, this trip was packed, but this year we only had a few folks, including Eve, Melissa, the president of the VES, the newsletter editor, one other person, and our 2 hosts. We had a wonderful hike up to the bog and found a muscoid fly, chalk-fronted corporal, stripe-legged robbery fly, familiar bluet, Condylostylus patibulatus, common whitetail, Ectemnius wasp, field ants, weevil wasp, four-spotted clover leafhopper, aurora damsel, Draeculacelphala leafhopper, mining bee, crescent butterfly, Strangalepta flower longhorn beetle, masked bees Crabronina wasp, Newman’s mathildana moth, banded olethreutes moth, ichneumonid wasp, wolf spider, net-winged beetle, Lauxaniid fly, sedgesitter fly, Panorpa, dogwood twig borer beetle, crab spider, Iris weevil, Pissonotus fly, katydid nymph, bufflehead mason bee, delta-spotted spiketail dragonfly, Microrhopala excavata beetle, brown leatherwing beetle, and yellow-dusted cream moth. I found galls on basswood, poplar, and willow, and leafminers on cinnamon fern, bush honeysuckle, goldenrod, groundsel, ragwort, and showy lady’s slipper. As usual, the showy lady’s slippers were absolutely gorgeous. In the bog we also found a pickerel frog. On the trail up the hill, we found a thrush nest with 2 blue eggs, right about the place we found a nest on last year’s hike to the bog.
6/26/22 North Montpelier Pond, Calais, VT. 1.2 miles today. 4198.6 miles total.
Categories: birds, herps
Last this afternoon my husband and I took our canoe out for a leisurely paddles around North Montpelier Pond. We found turkey vulture, green heron, kingbird, and mallard, plus a bullfrog and painted turtle. The only insect I photographed this afternoon was a blackjacket.
6/27/22 Adamant, VT. 0.8 miles today. 4199.4 miles total.
Categories: insects, leafminers, galls
This afternoon my husband and I drove down to Adamant for an adventure. While he rode his unicycle around Sodom Pond, I took my camera on a bug hunt through the gardens by Adamant Pond and a little ways up Quarry Rd. I found tricolored bumblebee, Meromyza micro moth, striped leafhopper, flower weevil, Lygus bug, Saint John’s wort beetle, ambush bug, Villa fly, eastern forktail, field ant, widow skimmer dragonfly, waterlily leaf beetle, bot fly, green bottle fly, rose chafer, Lasioglossum bee, muscoid fly, spotted Thyris moth, Cylindromyia fly, Thrips, ligated furrow bee, tufted globetail fly, flesh fly, European drone fly, red milkweed beetle, mining bee, Ceratina bee, golden-tailed leafcutter bee, common eastern bumblebee, bufflehead mason bee, European earwig, azure butterfly, Xylotina fly, yellow-banded bumblebee and eastern calligrapher fly. I also found leafminers on lilac and colt’s foot, a gall on goldenrod. In the brook I saw a creek chub.
6/28/22 Adamant, VT. 1.5 miles today. 4200.9 miles total.
Categories: birds, roadkill
This morning I returned to Adamant for a bird walk up Quarry Rd. I found song sparrow, blue jay, catbird, goldfinch, chickadee, white-throated sparrow, red-eyed vireo, cedar waxwing, kingbird, common yellowthroat, chestnut-sided warbler, phoebe, and wood duck, and recorded northern parula, catbird, and veery. Roadkill this morning included a red eft, 2 toads, and poplar and willow borer.
6/29/22 Chickering Rd, East Montpelier, VT and Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 2.6 miles today. 4203.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects, road crossers
This morning I took a quiet walk along Chickering Road looking for birds. I found phoebe, dark-eyed junco, robin, goldfinch, scarlet tanager, catbird, chipping sparrow, kingbird, black-throated green warbler, hairy woodpecker, cedar waxwing, yellow-bellied sapsucker. I also recorded common yellowthroat, ovenbird, black-throated blue warbler, winter wren, northern parula, and white-throated sparrow. Crossing the road today were poplar and willow borer, Rudiloria trimaculata millipede, 6 red efts, a chipmunk, and a snowshoe hare. Road kill included 2 red efts and a ring-necked snake.
In the afternoon I took a bug walk down our driveway and was pleased to find quite a few bugs. I found a threadwaisted sand wasp, Lasius ant, metallic sweat bee, freeloader fly, pair of green immigrant leaf weevils, Megachile pugnata bee, harvestman, meadow spittlebug, Diaphorini fly, Condylostylus patibulatus fly, honeybee, Sumitrosis inaequalis, brown leaf weevil, wrinkled soldier beetle, house fly, stiletto fly, New York carpenter ant, crescent butterfly, bristle fly, spotted thryus moth, eastern calligrapher fly, arabesque orbweaver, simple wave moth, eastern forktail, Philodromus spider, Uroleucon aphids, Trixagus beetle, Leptoceletes basalis beetle, garden fleahopper, Strangalepta flower longhorn beetle, Plateros beetle, Lygus bug, Panorpa nebulosa Olethreutes moth, Aedes mosquito, paper wasp, Wilke’s mining bee, widefooted treehopper, Lepyromia coleoptraia spittlebug, Citrus flatid planthopper, and golden tortoise beetle. I also found leafminers on goldenrod, bracken fern, and yellow birch.
6/30/22 Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT and Power Plant Rd, Montpelier, VT. 1.5 miles today. 4205 miles total.
Categories: birds, arthropods, galls, leafminers
This morning I took a short walk up Peck Hill looking for birds. I only went as far as the bridge towards the school house since I was short on time. I found a mourning dove, robin, feral pigeon, broad-winged hawk, red-winged blackbird, and cedar waxwing, and recorded northern cardinal, chestnut-sided warbler, and veery. I also found a Haploa moth in the road and a bullfrog in the lagoon by the dairy farm.
Later in the morning I met up with Eve and Ed on the new section of the Montpelier bike path that runs along Power Plant Rd. As usual, with our cameras along, we didn’t get very far. We turned down a side trail almost immediately, so we hardly saw the new bike path at all. We were trying to figure out why the side path was even there, but just as we were turning around some guys showed up to go fishing, so that explains the existence of the path. We found cedusa hopper, flea beetle, field ant, Lygus bug, Uroleucon aphids, Mirini bug, scarlet plant bug, topiary grass-veneer moth, margined calligrapher, striped leafhopper nymph, eastern calligrapher, casebearer moth, Asian lady beetle, obscure plant bug, bristle fly, Ophraella conferta beetle, Hemicrepidius decoloratus click beetle, goldenrod crab spider, New York carpenter ant, firefly, Condylostylus patibulatus fly, stripe-legged robberfly, greenbottle fly, paradise jumping spider, tiger crane fly, meadow spittlebug, fraternal potter wasp, brown stink bug, inornate ringlet butterfly, masked bee, Mordelistena cervicalis beetle, Amphigonia gothica leafhopper, Saint John’s wort beetle, and ambush bugs. I also found galls on goldenrod, poison ivy, willow, grape, basswood and leafminers on balsam poplar, and black-eyed Susan. And we were entertained by a very young fawn that wandered across the path in front of us.
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