August, 2017: Describe your walk by adding a comment below
Each time you go out and make observations for this project, describe your walk by adding a comment to this post. Include the date, distance walked, and categories that you used for this walk.
Suggested format:
Date. Place. Distance walked today. Total distance for this project.
Categories.
Brief description of the area, what you saw, what you learned, who was with you, or any other details you care to share.
Comentarios
8-1-17. Chicken Mill Pond Rd, Steuben, ME. 0.3 miles today. 400.2 miles total.
Categories: fungi, ferns, blooms
Class field trip to a National Bird Sanctuary on Chicken Mill Pond Rd. I walked with my mother along a trail that borders the sanctuary looking for fungi to identify. We found quite a few, including Phaeolus schweinitzii and Lactarius piperatus. We found some Dalibarda blooming in the wet areas, a new plant for me. It hasn't rained here for a week, so the mushroom species are limited and stressed.
8-2-17. Craig Pond, Orland, ME. 0.2 miles today, 400.4 miles total.
Categories: fungi, ferns, blooms
Class field trip to Craig Pond in Orland. Found some enchanter's nightshade blooming deep in the woods today, mainly in a dried up stream bed. I think the stream bed usually has a stream in it, but it's actually been a dry summer up here, unlike in Vermont. Working together, my mother and I found some interesting fungi, including Xylaria polymorpha and Clavulina cristata. After the mushroom hunt, we got to go swimming in Craig Pond, a much needed dip on a such a warm day.
8-1-17. Summit Camp, Honesdale, PA. 1.0 mile today, 98.5 miles total
Categories: blooming, fruiting, caught my eye
Went to pick my 13-year-old up from camp and she took me down their nature trail to the "lake" and back. She was so excited and practically ran down the path, so there was not much time for photography. Nipplewort was blooming, which always amuses my daughter. She spotted herb Robert. There was lots of hedgenettle, which I've just learned (we don't have it just 80 miles southeast of here). There was a lot of enchanter's nightshade, some meadowsweet, some black bindweed, and that was about it for blooms in the wood.
8-2-17. Mountain Park, Liberty Corner, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 98.75 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooms.
I went here because I heard there were butterflies, and happened across a very close friend who was walking her dog. We went to walk together when my husband called my cell phone: where are you, I thought you were dropping off the car for repair? Shoot! So I dashed off to turn the car in and only spent about 5 minutes with Laura.
8-3-17. Mountain Park, Liberty Corner, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 99.75 miles total.
Categories: blooming, insects
This was out do-over from the day before. This time I met up with my friend on purpose and we walked around the nature trail together. And we found mating monarchs, my first pair ever. As far as blooms there was a monkey flower I will need to key, a ton of horse nettle, blue vervain, purple loosestrife, mountain mint, queen anne's lace, early goldenrod, joe pye weed, some mint I need to key out, indian tobacco, hemp dogbane, milkweed, and swamp milkweed. And there were milkweed beetles, a milkweed caterpillar, two kinds of milkweed bugs, dogbane caterpillars, and a lot of skippers. And some new treehopper I need to get IDed.
8-5-17. Black River, Chester, NJ. O.25 miles today 100 miles total.
Categories: blooming, fruiting, insects
I made it 100 miles! This was a quick walk in a favorite spot, with my daughter waiting in the car for me, while on our way to pick my youngest up from camp. Lots of blooming weeds. More disturbed species than wetland as I stayed on the road, though this is a very swampy area. Just as I was about to get back to the car, a man I hadn't noticed spoke to me and scared the heck out of me! My daughter heard me shriek from the car. He wanted to complain about how "people" brought all these weeds here, and how different it would be if they weren't there. Which was quite true, though I had just been thinking how pretty all the wildflowers were, nevermind that they are invasive.
52.6
August 6,, 2017 - 4.2 miles, 56.8 miles total
After a pleasant hike up Stowe Pinnacle last week we decided to go up Spruce Peak today. I remembered that trail being further than Stowe Pinnacle, and it is - but it's also less elevation gain in a longer distance. A pleasant moderate hike. Of course we've been up there several times so my goal was to look for things I probably hadn't seen before - either things that bloom in the second half of summer (other visits had been spring or fall) or else plants I didn't know until recently. Most of what I saw was new to the Spruce Peak trail so that was successful. Also, Holly walked the last quarter mile on her own, her first hike under her own power really, at least not counting walking around our mini field trail.. Her journey of however many miles started today :)
8-7-17. Swartswood State Park, Stillwater, NJ. 0.5 mile today, 100.5 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming, fruiting
I parked at the edge of a lake and walked around the parking area, then moved to a pond and walked along the edge of that (and that parking area). I focused on insects, since I've done both of these spots before, but also found several plants I'd not recorded here.
Neat to see your daughter starting her own journey; imagine how many miles she'll eventually cover! Hopefully she'll get your love of the outdoors.
8-3-17. Dynamite Rd, Cherryfield, ME. 0.3 miles today, 400.7 miles total.
Categories: fungi, blooms, ferns
Class field trip with my mother through some woods off of Dynamite Rd looking for fungi to identify. I found quite a few snowberries ripe along the trail, which we enjoyed, at least 2-3 for both Mother and me. Yum! No invasives in the woods here, at least, none that I noticed. But since I was mainly looking for fungi, I may easily have missed some plants. We came home with several amanitas and boletes, as well as some very tiny mushrooms growing along the stream, some dead man's fingers and some Vibrissea.
8-4-17. Pigeon Hill, Steuben, ME. 0.3 miles today, 401 miles total.
Categories: fungi, slime molds, ferns, blooms
Class field trip with my mother to bird sanctuary on the end of the next peninsula. Although we came here to look for fungi, it has been very dry, and we had to look far and wide to find any. We were in moss covered spruce-fir woods, at an elevation of about 5 feet, mostly flat, on ledge. A large wet lands bordered the woods. I saw some sundew flowering on the marsh, but it was too far across the muck to photograph. In the woods, there were some sunny patches of almost bare ledge with blueberries and a single strand of cow wheat. We managed to find 4 different species of slime molds in our hunt for fungi.
8-5-17. Steuben, ME. 0.8 miles today, 401.8 miles total.
Categories: blooms, fungi, ferns
As we left camp to head to Bangor for a lunch date with relatives, I decided to make a side trip to take my mother to the shore, since we hadn't made it to an ocean beach all week. I retraced the route I took in June down the end of the Eagle Hill peninsula. Back in June I had done this route with a fellow camper searching for Labrador tea. We had walked to the shore in a few minutes from the parking area and bushwhacked through marsh and brush until we found the Labrador tea. This time, walking with my mother, it took us nearly 45 minutes to get close to the shore. We managed to find quite a few mushrooms along the way, many, many more than on yesterday's hike. This was the kind of forest our instructors had been looking for yesterday! In the stream where we had found some interesting liverworts in June I found a few chanterelles. I harvested one to take my aunt in Bangor. As expected, when I handed it to her several hours later, she shrank back, afraid to touch it. I suggested she dry it for a keepsake. To her great relief, I left it on her picnic table in the sun and didn't insist on sharing it with her for lunch.
8-6-17. Mansion Rd, Dunbarton NH. 1 mile today, 402.8 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invasives, ferns
Took a brief stroll up the road before dinner to stretch my legs after too many hours in the car. I headed down Mansion Rd, a direction I haven't taken on foot before. I found a few road species blooming, some fleabane and dogbane. For goldenrods, the early goldenrod and flat-topped were in bloom, and a toothed species as well (Canada?). The silverrod was well budded. Most of the ground cover was just 2 species, though: poison ivy and ragweed.
Congratulations on 100 miles, Sara! Way to go! And congratulations to Holly on starting her journey! Such terrific milestones!
8-7-17. Alexander Rd, Dunbarton NH. 0.2 miles today, 403 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects
Took a morning birdwalk along Alexander Rd. I mostly didn't photograph plants since I've walked along this road many times before. I found a red-bellied woodpecker in a nest at the top of a dead maple down the road and paused for a while to watch both parents bring food to the nest.
8-8-17. Cross Vermont Trail, Groton VT. 3.5 miles today, 406.5 miles total.
Categories: fruit, flowers, fungi, ferns, mosses
Returned to Groton today with my husband and parked at Kettle Pond. While he rode his bike on Rt 302, I walked along the rail trail south from Kettle Pond, down to the access road to New Discovery campground. Lots of berries ripe today and fewer flowers blooming, so I decided to start including fruits as a focus. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries all were great for eating. I also found bunchberries, Canada mayflower berries, false Solomon's seal berries and mountain maple samaras.
8-9-17. Hancock Brook Rd, Worcester VT 3.3 miles today, 409.8 miles total.
Categories: fruit, flowers, fungi, ferns, mosses, liverworts
Took a walk up Hancock Brook Rd this afternoon. The last time I was here was 19 years ago, when a friend took me and my husband here to show us Hancock Brook on our way to the airport to go to Dubai for the first time. The friend told us that the memory sight of the brook would sustain us when we became homesick for Vermont, and indeed it did. Today I found the brook looked exactly as it did before, the difference being I now can put names on all the plants around it. Down by the water, I found Pellia epiphylla. Along the road, I found chanterelles, Scutellinia, and some boletes. Zigzag goldenrod is joining the goldenrod mix. Swamp aster is opening as well as big-leaved aster.
8-10-17. East Hill Rd., East Montpelier VT. 2.9 miles today, 412.7 miles total.
Categories: fruit, flowers, ferns, invasives
Took a stroll through a far-flung corner of East Montpelier today. I had forgotten how dull East Montpelier can be. I saw plenty of road species, probably more species diversity than I have seen in the last few weeks. But nearly all blooming species were invasive or at weeds. At least there was no poison ivy or Japanese knotweed. Some Pennyslvania knotweed, though, as well as both kinds of barberry (Japanese and European), both kinds of burdock, and plenty of buckthorn, bishop's weed and honeysuckle. At the top of East Hill I turned left onto Clark Rd and followed it out as far as I could. It became a farm road, connecting some of the biggest corn fields I have ever seen in Vermont, part of the Fairmont Farms properties. Along the corn fields I found a varied collection of field weeds, including shepherd's purse, black (?) nightshade, and aweird plant I've never seen before, 24-30" tall, leaves like large quaking aspen, and bright yellow flowers like cucumber. Meanwhile, zigzag goldenrod is starting to bloom everywhere.
8-10-17. Duke Island Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.5 miles today. 101 miles total
Categories: blooming fruiting insects, weeds, shrubs, trees.
I walked at a park I've been to before but a section I've never photographed. There was a pond and a canal, lawn, woods. Not much blooming, mostly purple loosestrife and smartweeds. So many long-jawed orbweavers (which are pretty big spiders for our area). But mostly it was mugwort, everywhere.
Erika, we need to find you an "f" word for mosses, so you can do all "f's". I imagine your black nightshade was S. ptycanthum but I would love to see your yellow flowered plant (the one problem with journaling before we post).
8-11-17. Cross Vermont Trail, Groton, VT. 4.2 miles today, 416.9 miles total.
Categories: fruit, birds, flowers, dead herps
Walked another chunk of the Cross Vermont Trail, this time heading uphill from Kettle Pond in Groton. This trail took me out towards Marshfield Pond, where there have plenty of iNaturalist observations before. But not on the same day. Although the previous observations along the road look like a clear route that someone took, actually, it was several people on all different dates. Charlie listed some plants in 2015, Larry took some bug walks in 2012, 2014. Kent McFarland and Joshua Lincoln were there chasing bugs at different times in different years. It is certainly a beautiful stretch of road to walk. What struck me is that there were certainly road species, but they were mainly natives, mainly different types of goldenrods and asters. I've been trying to imagine what a roadside would look like without the usual invasives--this is it. But why haven't the invasives moved in? Is it really the lack of mowing? In any case, I saw a lot of dead frogs on the road today, and one dead snake. In general this year, I've seen a lot fewer dead frogs on the roads than in the past. I'm worried about the frogs--where are they? I wonder what the frog count would be on this road in a normal year, with beaver ponds, swamps and standing water on both sides of the road, and sometimes through the middle.
Yes, I need to get caught up on my photos. I'm just 30 days behind now....
I wonder if the granitic soils, the cold, the lack of heavier agriculture, or all of the above affect the Groton route. Watching the 'ecology' of our little field has been really interesting. right now it cycles through a pattern dominated by invasive galium mollugo in early summer, then a kind of neutral period with grasses when the galium smashes down, and then this time of year goldenrod mania with at least 3 species of goldenrod, plus flat topped goldenrod which isn't relaly a goldenrod... by now the galium is nearly melted away. There is also some queen anne's lace (not native, not too invasive) and of coures the milkweed, and dock in the wet areas. Then after the goldenrod goes to seed there's a time with lots of marsh aster in the wet parts of our land such as mystery spring, as well as jewelweed. Unfortunately the deer really hammer the marsh aster but i spray it with deer repellant in a few select spots and it is slowly spreading. In terms of animals there are weird fluctuations too. This year was not as good for fireflies, and was oddly awful for spiders. Though we have a huge bald faced hornet nest in our field this year and they eat spiders. (the hornets are not as aggressive as their reputation and you can walk right by the nest, they don't care). I have noticed tons of frogs around floodplain type areas this year. There was even a frog in mystery spring. So if they had a bad year i don't think it was everywhere.
8-12-17. Best Lake, Watchung, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 101.5 miles total.
Categories: blooming, fruiting, insects
Rather presumptuous to call this little, man-made pond "Best Lake", but there you go. The absolute biggest "McMansions" in a cluster in the area are on a bit of bluff overlooking the pond here. Years ago you could walk all the way around, but now that side belongs to them. It's still the best place nearby for an interesting collection of pond-side plants in a small area, and today an interesting heron (maybe green). Partridge pea, blue vervain, pickerelweed, several goldenrods, boneset, queen anne's lace, and bird's foot trefoil were the main things blooming. Lots of wasps and dragonflies around.
We had a very good year for fireflies here. Not sure about frogs. Years ago we had spring peepers, but not for several years now, basically since Hurricane Sandy knocked over about 20% of the trees in the swamp behind our house. Not sure if that was the cause of the decline, though. I've seen more rabbits than usual this year. and fewer yellow jackets (but I've also eaten outside less this year). The population fluctuations are interesting.
8-12-17. Alexander Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 0.3 miles today, 417.2 miles total.
Categories: birds
Took a short bird walk up Alexander Rd since I was too tired to walk any further. Saw the usual house sparrows next door. And I finally caught the barn swallows on a power line with the sun shining on them just right. I've been waiting for that moment all summer! I saw some other birds from a distance across the swamp. I couldn't see what they were without binoculars, or even through my birding lens. I think they were flycatchers of some kinds, or maybe wood peewees. We'll see once I download the photos and use the digital zoom.
8-13-17. The "Hickory" Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 0.6 miles today, 417.8 miles total.
Categories: fungi, salamanders
My mother and I set out today to try and find the "Hickory" Rd of her childhood in the 1940s. We started from the horse pasture across the street, then bushwhacked through the poison ivy into the woods. We followed a damp stream bed for about 0.2 miles, collecting fungi along the way. I was trying hard to imagine the woods through her eyes, trying to see both the woods as we found it today, superimposed against the trail of her memory from 70 years ago. We stopped following the stream bed when we came to a downed tree, headed uphill a little ways, then the trail appeared. I think I saw a hickory shell opened along the trail, and a rather sickly looking hickory tree. We found one chanterelle, several boletes, a few Suillus pictus, some witch's butter, a coral fungus, both black and gold earth tongues, some amanitas, and a yellow brainish-looking asco with stems growing on the ground. And dozens of red efts. Not a bad haul. The trail came out in the neighbor's yard. I think I'll try to follow it a bit deeper into the woods next time I'm in the neighborhood. No chestnuts today.
McMansions around Best Lake? What a story! Glad you were there to document what remains!
8-14-17. Hollister Hill Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3.6 miles today, 421.4 miles total.
Categories: flowers, fruits, ferns, fungi, invasives
Finished walking the remainder of Hollister Hill Rd today, from the cemetery to Rt 2. This last section was mostly farmland, cow pastures with loudly clicking electric fence lines close to the road. There plenty of road species in bloom today, goldenrods, chicory, thistles (bull, Canada, and sow). Lots of honeysuckle and buckthorn along the road. And tons of barberries, both Japanese and common, often invading the cow pastures as well as the stonewalls. I saw my first mugwort of the season in bloom today.
8-13-17. Clover Hill Farm, Fallston, MD. 0.75 miles today, 102.25 milest total.
Categories: insects, blooming, fruiting, not documented before.
Walked at our aunt's horse farm, looking mainly for insects, as I've done the vast majority of the plants here several times. Lots of bees, butterflies, and crickets/ grasshoppers. Joepye is blooming, a Rudbeckia, ironweed, cardinal flower, red clover, queen Anne's lace.
8-15-17. Green Mountain Cemetery, Montpelier, VT. 1.2 miles today, 422.6 miles total.
Categories: blooms, fruits, fungi, invasives
Took a quick walk through the back of the cemetery today on the way back from some errands. I hoped to find some trails off into the woods heading on up the hill. But the woods were clearly marked no trespassing. I did find one unmarked trail behind the maintenance shack, but it quickly deadended a short way up the hill. I found the usual roadside species throughout the cemetery, goldenrods, asters, and clovers. Some silverrod, which I don't think I've found in Vermont before. And some escapees wandering off into the forest, including some burning bush. One tiny patch of Japanese knotweed up by the maintenance shack.
8-16-17. Norton Rd, Worcester, VT. 3.2 miles today, 425.8 miles total.
Categories: fruits, flowers, invasives
Norton Rd winds uphill, connecting Rt 12 to the top of Gould Hill Rd, which I walked a few weeks ago. It had all of the usual road species, as well as Joe Pye, boneset, and turtle head in the ditches and wet spots. At the end of a driveway was a patch of may apple, which seems to be spreading out into the woods. Saw my first heart-leaved aster of the season open today.
8-15-17. Mount Vernon, VA. 1.5 miles today, 103.75 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming, fruiting, not planted, I don't recognize it.
Walked around George Washington's Mount Vernon with relatives, particularly searching for insects in the gardens and weeds in the few places they were allowed to grow. I'd not been there since 1976. It was amazingly uncrowded, but very hot and humid, and everything was wet from torrential rain earlier in the day. Still, lots of interesting plants.
8-16-17. Clover Hill Farm, Fallston, MD. 0.5 miles today, 104.25 miles total.
Categories: insects, not documented here before.
More walking around the horse farm. It was very wet with dew and earlier rain. So many grasshoppers and crickets! Lots of invasive field species.
8-16-17. Passaic River Green Acres, Long Hill, NJ. 0.5 miles togay, 104.75 miles total.
Categories: weeds, flowering, fruiting, insects.
I was early to meet friends for dinner and saw this little path along the river that I'd never been down. I found what I think was whorled milkwort, though I've never seen it in real life before, so I'll have to wait until I download the photos to confirm it. At any rate, it's some new plant for me. Unfortunately, I was wearing flip flops and I think I may have brushed up against some poison ivy, so I'm off to wash my feet.
8-17-17. Hawk Rise Sanctuary, Linden, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 105.75 miles total.
Categories: blooming, fruiting, insects, weeds, birds
I walked in this salt marsh behind my son's trucking school after helping him pick up job applications. At first it just looked like degraded woods with tons of mile-a-minute weed. But in the marsh itself I found marsh fleabane (which I'd never seen before) and egrets. There were more woods and another section of the marsh, both of which were mostly invasives, but I still had a lot of fun checking it all out. I always like to find a new place with lots of species, that hasn't been i-Nat-ed to death yet.
8-17-17. Allen Brook Trail, Winooski, VT. 3.2 miles today, 429 miles total.
Categories: fruit, flowers, ferns, fungi, frequently encountered mosses, invasives
Explored this trail system after dropping off my camera lens for further repair. They thought they had fixed, but it wasn't right yet. Meanwhile, the other lens is also in the shop. It seems heavy use doesn't agree with my lenses. I'm left with an 18-55mm lens, so I will be shooting lots of trees this week, but no birds or butterflies. The trail system seems to be a great community resource, connecting playing fields with various neighborhoods across wetlands. Plenty of common road species along the trail in the sun. In the wetlands I only saw 3 patches of purple loosestrife and no Japanese knotweed. Plenty of honeysuckle and buckthorn. Only a little poison ivy. I found and collected some artist's conk for my mother to sketch on. She was quite taken with that idea while we were at fungus camp.
8-18-17. Jerusalem Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3.5 miles today, 432.5 miles total.
Categories: fruit, flowers, ferns, fungi, mosses
Hiked up Jerusalem Rd today, the road that leads to the Lord's Hill old growth forest patch. I stuck to the road, though, and didn't visit the old growth forest today. The road was simply lovely, fairly good condition, no traffic at all. It was lined with the typical road species, but an impoverished assemblage since the road is so lightly traveled. Plenty of ferns, Diervilla, goldenrods. Some boneset and turtlehead in the ditches. Big-leaved asters, swamp asters. Lots of honeysuckle, but no Japanese knotweed or poison ivy. And one chanterelle.
August 14, 2017 - 4 miles (estimate), 60.8 total
Visiting the Thousand Islands area of Ontario, east of Kingstone. Tried on two occasions to go hiking, but were driven out of the woods by mosquitos. perhaps more specifically, were driven out of the woods because poor little Holly was getting eaten up and getting huge welts. She usually loves hiking but that was too sad. Still, got in maybe 3 miles of hiking then did maybe another mile of walking around Gananoque where I got a few more observations.
Very interesting area, at least from what I saw. The vegetation is rather similar to that of the Champlain Valley, which makes sense, except less clay soils and less hyper calcareous rock. Has red and white oak and shagbark and bitternut hickory, redcedar, even a handful of pitch pines. I was most surprised by the presence of Mayapple which is almost entirely absent from Vermont. More common are red and sugar and silver maple and yellow birch and beech, just like the Champlain Valley too. The Saint Lawrence is a truly odd river which resembles a long lake more than anything - miles across, full of islands of course at least in this area (thus the name - a bit like Grand Isle County except rockier) and no meanders or sediment erosion or deposition. It must follow an old fault or something. Very neat, wish we had more time and less bugs to explore it more fully.
August 15, 2017 - 2 miles (estimate), 62.8 total.
This day we mainly walked around Kingston, since there were less bugs there. Saw a few interesting things around town, mostly the typical urban nature species, both animal and plant, but not a ton of iNat observations here so it was fun to add those. The best observation was seeing a heron hunting from above on a bridge, never saw a heron from that angle before, it was neat (http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7515249).
August 16, 2017 - estimate of 2.2 miles, let's round this off. 65 miles total.
Several small walks on this travel day, one on an island in Canton, NY, one in Saranac Lake ,and one in Lake Placid. More urban nature for the most part. An odd sighting of a bur oak in Saranac Lake, way out of range up there in the icebox of the northeastern US. Almost certainly a landscape escape just like the also out-of-range one in Montpelier. I'm not sure if the cold is an issue for it or not but the lack of deep clay soils almost certainly is. The similar one I saw in Canton may be an escape or may be a 'real' one as that's still kind of in the Saint Lawrence Valley
august 17, 2017, around 8 miles, 73 total. A marathon iNat day, because Holly was loving the hiking and it included a playground (maybe stretching it for this project but that's ok) and a stroller friendly path around Mirror Lake. This day had over 100 species, though non were life listers. We hiked up The Cobble and around Echo Lake and a mix of montane species, hardwood forest species, wetland species by echo lake, and human-disturbance-lovers around Lake Placid meant tons of diversity. This was a fun iNat day because Lake Placid had barely anything before and now has this nice species list. Highlights include little patch of labrador tea in pool on the little peak; leatherleaf and swamp horehound on echo pond; and a loon right in busy and developed Mirror Lake. Though looking at inat there are even loons around LA, so i guess they don't mind people. (What the heck are loons doing in coastal California???)
August 18, 2017, ~6 miles, 79 total. Walked around a trail network near Lake Placid that is mostly used for xc skiing but is open to hiking too. Nice open trails so we didn't get soaked by wet plants after heavy rain overnight. Highlight was some gentain, though i'm not sure what species... also some black ash, probable white spruce, etc. Not as diverse an area as the day before and also my number of observations was cut down a bit because Holly wanted to hold my hand while she was in the carrier on my wife's back - soooo sweet but not good for lots of iNat observations. The vegetation of this area is very similar to that of another XC ski area, the Craftsbury outdoor center. Mostly fir, birch, and maple; not as much ash, beech, or understory herbs. The fields were full of goldenrod and an aster i didn't recognize. Also walked across Crown Point Bridge because why not and stroller friendly, which Holly really liked. Nothing too exciting there, but it was pretty.
8-19-17. Hardwood Flats Rd, Elmore, VT. 3.2 miles today, 435.7 miles total.
Categories: flowers, ferns, fruits, fungi, and some bryophytes
I knew I was in the right place when I saw a thalloid liverwort as soon as I stepped out of the car. I drove as far along Hardwood Flats Rd as I dared, since I didn't know if I would be able to find a turnaround at the end (actually, there would have been plenty of room to turn around at the end of the mapped road). As I hoped, the end of the mapped road was just the beginning of the technical 4-wheeling trail. The trail through the woods was gorgeous. Goldenrods, asters, ferns, and mosses. Some Indian tobacco. No honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed, purple loosestrife or poison ivy. The only clover was in the lawn of the last cabin on the road. I saw my first rough goldenrod of the season open today. Plenty of fungi to marvel over, but no chanterelles.
A 100-species day, Charlie? Way to go! It sounds like you're having a terrific vacation!
yeah it was awesome. We are home now. First real vacation with Holly aside from visiting family, so didn't want to make it too long. She did great. We mostly got caught up on chores today, did a little walk around downtown Montpelier, but these days we see several people we know any time we do that so i didn't even get time to do iNat :)
Also I am glad you got out to Green Mountain Cemetary. I kept meaning to go there and walk around and do some iNat on the edges but hadn't gotten to it yet. And yeah that whole hill behind there is owned by one landowner and it's all posted. Too bad because there's some oak forest up there. You can see it from national life building in fall. Probably a few pocket wetlands too.
August 20, 2017 - 3.25 miles, 82.25 total. Walked around barre town forest using a different route than last time. More of the same, nice northern hardwood forest and quarry stuff. Less seeps and wetlands on this site. We walked on a vast trail that is also a summer trail. Holly walked almost a half mile on this wider trail! Also looked at the overlook which is a really nice spot, and you can kinda see our field from up there (or at least nearby ones). Berries on red and white baneberry. A few pretty 'fall' leaves on the ground. Nothing new or unusual but it was pretty.
8-19-17. Somerset County Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 106 miles total.
Categories: insects, not yet blogged here
Walked in the park next to my rescue squad as I was short on time. Found a monarch caterpillar, which was cool.
8-20-17. New York Renaissance Faire, Tuxedo Park, NY. 2.5 miles today, 108.5 miles total.
Categories: insects, flowering fruiting, not planted on purpose
I took three of my kids (and two friends) to the Renaissance Faire (we go every year, but not usually this early). It's been iNat-ed before, but only a little, so I had fun doing all the common weedy species. Nice thing about ren fairs is that you can be as nerdy and weird as you like and no one cares. Had a lovely day for it, if a bit hot. We left about 3 hours later when my 10-year old started getting cranky.
Asters and goldenrods are just starting to bloom, there was lots of purple loose strife and tick trefoils. They've planted spindle tree and red osier dogwood, both of which I rarely see. There was a big patch of fruiting indian pipe, some white mints I'm not sure of, and I found my first vipers bugloss of the year.
8-20-17. Valley Pond (Dog Pond), Woodbury, VT. 2.6 miles today, 438.3 miles total.
Categories: flowers, fruits, ferns, bryophytes
Kayaked around the perimeter of Valley Pond (aka Dog Pond) in Woodbury today. It's a beautiful, quiet pond, with a few cabins spread out along the shore. It was remarkably quiet compared to Peacham Pond. But I bet there is a lot of lawnmower noise there on most days since most of the cabins have well manicured lawns right down to the water line. Too bad. I saw my first bluestem goldenrod in bloom of the season. Around the pond was Joe Pye weed, turtlehead, goldenrods, not a lot of invasives. I didn't see any purple loosestrife or Japanese knotweed on this pond. But there was a patch of Phragmites alongside one of the carefully manicured lawns.
The Barre Town Forest sounds great, Charlie. I hope to make it up there some time!
I haven't seen any monarch caterpillars yet this year but I've seen a few monarch butterflies, even in Vermont. Viper's bugloss...I don't remember what that looks like. I'll have to look it up!
oddly... our neighbors recently planted swamp milkweed in their new raingarden and today we found a monarch caterpillar! It's big and they only planted it ~a week or two ago so I am guessing it must have come in with the plant, or at least the eggs did. I don't really ever see monarchs here, but was wondering if they prefer swamp over common milkweed. I gotta get some too, for mystery spring. I didn't add the caterpillar to iNat since I don't know if it originated here or not.
8-21-17. Northfield, VT. 0.1 miles today, 438.4 miles total.
Categories: weeds
Stopped in Northfield briefly to run errands while driving south. While my husband did his errands, I counted sidewalk and gutter weeds. I came up with knotgrass, hop clover and smartweed. A few others, but those were the highlights.
Just 5-6 years ago we used to have bumper crops of monarch caterpillars in our common milkweed patch in our yard. Now it's a big moment if we see one.
8-22-17. North St, Medford MA. 3.6 miles today, 442 miles total
Categories: gutter plants and sidewalk weeds
Paused to admire all the blooming weeds as I walked with my husband to and from the T station in Davis Square. Plenty of knotweed, smartweed and puslane. Some butter-and-eggs, rose of Sharon, and a vine with brilliant purple flowers. Beastly hot day for a stroll. I got a glimpse of some goldenrod along the railroad tracks, but it was too far away to even begin to identify. I was surprised to find Ailanthus around the corner. I didn't know that grew here.
I keep running into black swallowwort in the Boston suburbs; and I never see it anywhere else. But I wouldn't call the flowers brilliant purple. The only really purple vines I can think of are bittersweet nightshade and clematis.
8-21-17. Washington Valley Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 109.25 miles total
Categories: insects, blooming, fruiting
Walked at the closest park while my daughter was in physical therapy. There is a knapweed here that is not spotted knapweed and I've yet to conclusively ID it.
8-23-17. Frizzle Mountain, Calais, VT. 0.3 miles today, 442.3 miles total.
Categories: birds and bees
I intended to walk Boston Common today while my husband was at his appointment, but he finished before I even got to the Common. We drove straight home after that, so I wandered out to our back field to see who was there. I caught quite a few bees on camera and even a couple of birds as well, so I guess it was a birds and bees kind of day.
My sister showed me black swallowwort when we were on a walk in Concord, MA. Actually, she showed me the plant in fruit rather than flower, so I'm not sure I would know the flower. But I think the vines with the deep purple flowers that I was seeing in the gutters and crawling up the telephone poles were some kind of morning glory. I guess I"ll have to check next month when I have time to download the photos at last. Knapweed--as I recall, the feature to check is the bracts, close up. Black knapweed has fringed bracts but brown knapweed has toothed ones. I think most of what I see around here is black knapweed.
8-24-17. Terrace St, Montpelier, VT. 3 miles today, 445.3 miles total.
Categories: fruits, flowers, invasives
Walked along Terrace St today with my husband to see another edge of Montpelier. The street was lousy for walking once the sidewalk ended. Paved, busy, no sidewalk or shoulder. It was fun to compare the selection of gutter weeds from Medford with the gutter and ditch weeds from here. Some of the weeds common to both places were ragweed, bird's foot trefoil, black medick, and various Persicarias. Here we had goldenrods and asters in addition, and apples. Also goutweed, Japanese knotweed, and buckthorn. I think I may have found my first New England aster of the season today, all budded up and almost open. We saw a deer rather close up in someone's lawn. It watched us but never budged. Also, a dead mole in the road.
did you see the stupid confederate flag house up there?
8-25-17. Pike Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3.1 miles today, 448.4 miles total.
Categories: flowers, fruits, ferns, fungi, invasives
The beginning of Pike Rd didn't seem very promising--trailers, trash and Trump signs. Odd how they go together. No confederate flags in the yards, though. As I worked my way down the hill, the road got narrower and much nicer. And then as I was passing a house, a woman came out carrying a basket of compost and demanded to know why I was wearing a shirt with an Estonian flag on it. It turns out she was Estonian. She invited me in for tea with her sister, and we had a delightful conversation for an hour in mixed Estonian, Finnish, and English. A good trick, since I don't speak any Estonian. And a very Vermont afternoon. Along the road again I saw the usual late summer species, goldenrods, asters, choke cherries. Plenty of bishop's weed, but no poison ivy or Japanese knotweed. Below the Estonian woman's house was a very scenic waterfall. And some escaped baby's breath.
8-26-17. Kimball Pond trail, Dunbarton, NH. 1 mile today, 449.4 miles total.
Categories: fungi, ferns
Went collecting polypody ferns for a research project with my sister and her Chinese exchange student. Since I had walked this trail earlier in the summer, I didn't photograph flowering plants, at least, not many flowering plants. We found plenty of interesting mushrooms. And each time we found one, the exchange student asked, "Can we eat it?". Each time, I had to say "no". Except, there were some boletes that didn't stain blue which we might have been able to try, or at least bring home and try to identify. I wasn't up for the challenge, so we left them. I brought home a lovely purple gilled mushroom for my mother to identify. And we eventually did find our polypody ferns.
August 26, 2017 -~ 1.75 miles, 84 total. After Holly's recent interest in hiking on her own, we took her to Red Rocks in South Burlington with one of her toddler friends. Holly walked a ton, over a mile. Soon I'll have trouble doing iNat and keeping up with her :) Her circuitous path is represented in the strange and irregular trail of observations. Her baby friend had experienced a bad nap schedule and wasn't feeling as energetic.
Red rocks has changed a lot, they put in several new roads and parking. Even though it was just highly disturbed forest I was disappointed that so much of the open space fragment was further torn up to do that. It also costs to come in now. Oh well. Didn't explore all that thoroughly, between chatting with our friends and worrying over one of the toxicodendrons along the trail to keep Holly away from. Got a white oak, but missed the shagbark hickory. Others had done iNat in that park but I got some new species for the park (i think including the bluestem goldenrod). It was a beautiful day.
August 27, 2017 - 2 miles, 86 total. Walk up to Middlesex Notch, another trail Holly was able to do lots of walking on. I've already done a lot of iNat on this area so focused on late summer bloomers, fungi, and a few colorful fall leaves. Nothing too unusual but a beautiful fall-like late August day. And it's all new to Holly.
8-27-17. Farrington's Park, Danbury, CT and Brewster, NY. 1.0 mile today, 110.25 miles total
Categories: insects, flowers, fruit
Living in New Jersey, I don't think I've ever walked from one state to another before. This is a newish park with mountain bike trails, mostly in planted pine on a hill, but with a swampy area, too. Not much new and interesting, but it had never been iNat-ed before, so that was fun.
Love the Estonian attack.
I did not realize you had more than one Toxicodendron sp. up in Vermont (well, if you don't count poison sumac). We only have poison ivy, except on the dunes "down the shore". One of the wonderful things about children is how they make everything old new again.
August 27, 2017. Alexander Rd, Dunbarton NH, and Smith Pond Bog, Hopkinton NH, 1.8 miles today, 451.2 miles total.
Categories: fungi, mosses, flowers, fruits, dragonflies, birds
Went for a walk in the woods with my sister and her son in the morning, basically following the same trail that I did with my mother a few weeks ago. Only this time, there were even more fungi but no salamanders. We found quite a few hickory shells this time, so my mother's old name for the trail, "Hickory Trail", rings true.
In the afternoon, I visited Smith Pond Bog for some quiet time before getting on the highway to head home. I've been there looking at flowers before, so this time I took a new trail, "The Border Trail". "Trail" is being generous since the Audobon Society doesn't seem to be encouraging visitors. Although they have a parking lot (in good condition), the wood walkways through the bog have been abandoned. I managed to find a few trail blazes along the edge of the bog today and imagined a trail to connect them. To find the remnants of the trail, I had to bushwhack through a phalanx of autumn olive. Past that, it was all highbush blueberry and witch hazel. According to the sign post, the trail was supposed to go through chestnut forest, but all I could find was beech. I saw a kingfisher (I think) over the pond.
August 28, 2017. Hampshire Hill Rd, Worcester, VT. 3.2 miles today, 454.4 miles total.
Categories: flowers, ferns, fruits, invasives, bryophytes
This road was recently mowed, so there weren't a whole lot of flowers blooming close to the road today. Still, within 100' of starting my walk, I had 3 kinds of asters and 3 kinds of goldenrods. I found my first calico aster of the season in bloom. On the west side of the road, there were very few invasives. Except for one spot of Himalayan jewelweed--the first I have ever seen it. If you hadn't told me to watch for it, Charlie, I wouldn't have been able to put a name on it. The east side of the road was covered with bishop's weed, Japanese knotweed, and vinca the whole way. And then some red berries caught my eye. Hanging down close to the road was an American mountain ash in full fruit. I checked the trunk to see how big it was, and found the ash was rooted 12' up in the crotch of a large red maple. And almost right beside it were bright red drupes--American plum, in full fruit. I picked a couple of plums. Thin fruit, slightly bitter, somewhat sour, but very plummy. I brought home a pit to plant in my yard and planted the other pit a little way further down the road in hopes that conditions might be right there.
oh bummer, that the himalayan balsam is up there too.
We have a european mountain ash growing out of a silver maple, though that maple is a multi stemed one so not quite an epiphyte.
August 29, 2017. Brook Rd, Plainfield, VT. 2.7 miles today, 457.1 miles total.
Categories: flowers, fruits, invasives, birds, ferns
Walked through downtown Plainfield this afternoon, then headed up Brook Rd a little ways (until the end of the pavement). I found plenty of sidewalk weeds downtown, but it was also interesting to see the mixture of rural road weeds in the downtown area as well. In general, there was a great variety of weeds, from self-heal to bird's foot trefoil. Some snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) as well. On up the road there were lots of goldenrods and asters. Even though the road was paved, traffic was relatively tame.
8-29-17 Dead River, Lyons, NJ. 1.0 miles today, 111.25 miles total.
Categories: insects. blooming, fruiting.
This road has been closed all summer and finally reopened (the parking area is between two bridges that were being replaced). I walked along the road, and back, then through some (boring) woods I'd not been in before, then out into the power line cut. I figured I just needed to bush-whack a little bit and I'd be on the trail. Which was true, but didn't take into account the fact that I was wearing shorts and the area was covered in tearthumb (as well as a few blackberry and rose bushes). My legs are a mess, though not bloody. I was rewarded, though, by finding what iNat is calling field milkwort, Polygala sanguinea, which I have never seen before (though apparently both of you have!). And there was purple false foxglove, purple loosestrife, red clover, and a New England aster just about to bloom. I don't even generally like purple, but the purple flowers today were spectacular.
8-30-17. Vincent Flats Rd, East Montpelier, VT. 3.1 miles today, 460.2 miles total.
Categories: road weeds, agricultural weeds, dead insects
I had hoped to get into the woods today, but I had to settle for a quick walk near downtown Adamant. So that's what brought me to Vincent Flats Rd just as school was getting out. Not at all comfortable for walking, paved, with a narrow shoulder and no one obeying the the posted school zone speed limit of 35 mph. This road had the thickest buckthorn I have ever seen--every single patch of trees or hedgerow was nearly solid buckthorn, sometimes with trees growing above or grapevines over it, or honeysuckle under it, but always buckthorn. The sight of the day was a New England aster nicely open, just starting to bloom by the looks. Along the corn fields was a lot of nasty prickly Solanum--horse nettle? Complete with Colorado potato beetle larvae.
Sounds like you had a great adventure, Sara, if a bit prickly. I had entirely forgotten the field milkwort on my list. I had to look it up in my photo database. It seems I saw it down in Dunbarton New Hampshire, along a powerline cut. Wouldn't you know!
I had to look mine up too. It was in Victory Basin! On a disturbed roadside. I guess it cares more about disturbance than temperature... Victory Basin is way colder than these other places
8-31-17. Benjamin Falls, Montpelier VT. 0.5 miles today, 460.7 miles total.
Categories: flowers, fruits, ferns, fungi, bryophytes, lost balls, invasives
Hiked Benjamin Falls today with my husband and a friend. I had never heard of these falls until my friend told me about them. It was a gorgeous walk in the deep woods along continuously cascading waterfalls. Not much blooming in the woods, although I found quite a few weeds in the parking lot before we started up hill. Along the falls, I found one clump of turtlehead and plenty of thalloid liverworts. Lots of Fissidens moss. We found deer tracks, but no coyote tracks. And lots of lost balls, golf balls, tennis balls and a basketball.
8-30-17 Dead River, Lyons, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 111.5 miles total.
Categories: insects (only)
I had a short time on a sunny afternoon so went back to the power lines (and stayed on the trail) to get insects this time.
Even though my legs didn't bleed, they have scabbed over, and now I have a little stripe of poison ivy. I don't think I'll be doing any bush-whacking for quite a while.
8-31-17 Quassy Amusement Park, Middlebury, CT. 1.25 miles today, 112.75 miles total.
Categories: weeds, insects
My youngest two spent 4 days with my parents in NH. I met my dad halfway between their house and ours, in CT, and drove the girls the rest of the way home. But we stopped first at the amusement park. We'd never been to this little one before, but it was perfect and not crowded. It was nicely landscaped and well-weeded, but I still managed to find a very large variety of unintentional plants, and a few insects (mostly yellow jackets, though). I was interested to see that they used sweetfern (among many other things) as a landscape shrub; I'd not seen that before. Quassy hasn't been iNat-ed by anyone before, though someone found a snapping turtle less than a mile away 4 years ago.
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