July 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
7-1-17. Cranberry Lake, Byram, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 86.25 miles total.
Categories: flowering, fruiting, insects, herbs, shrubs, trees, lichen, moss, ferns
I dropped my daughter at camp and then stopped in a parking lot I've been driving past for 12 years and found a wonderful little patch of rocky woods above a (generally incredibly crowded) lake (which has nothing to do with cranberries).
I found my first ripe blueberries of the year (thank you, Erika, for reminding me to look for them), both a lowbush and a highbush variety. I found the totally new to me (and never reported in northern NJ on iNat) cow wheat. I found what I'm pretty sure is an American chestnut sapling, which I've never seen before. I found toadskin lichen (and I've never seen any umbilical lichens before). I actually think it's Pennsylvania toadskin, which has not been iNat-ed in NJ at all (or Pennsylvania, for that matter). And two more new to me plants that I haven't IDed yet.
Then there was a new to me damselfly, a new sedge, plus ebony spleenwort, lopseed, rattlesnake hawkweed, and a milkweed leaf beetle, all of which are rare for me. Plus the first blooming chicory and purple loosestrife, and first buttonbush fruit of the year. Very, very exciting.
7-1-17. Rest stops between Maine and Vermont. 0.3 miles today, 317.7 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invertebrates, ferns
Toured the perimeters of 3 rest stops today on my way home. To refresh my alertness for driving, I set a goal of 50 species for the first stop, and 10 each at the ones after that. I mostly made the goal, except that I found out while editing the photos that some of the birds I shot were all the same species. The first stop, an otherwise ho-hum rest stop in Hampden, ME, was on the edge of a very interesting wetlands, so it was easy to find a lot of species of there. But, wow, was it ever thick with mosquitoes! First open winterberry of the season today.
What a red letter day you had, Sara!
July 4, 2017 - ~4.8 miles, 41.6 miles total
went to Shelburne farms, the main purpose of the visit was to let Holly see the farm animals, which she loved, especially the sheep and chickens. The measurement is from a pedometer so some of it is probably chasing her back and forth between those, but that's ok. Saw 73 taxa, this is a great place for a high species list because it has a champlan valley forest with the high tree diversity, and also tons of various farm fields and pastures which have all the pasture species. Two pasture species for the life list: alfalfa and timothy. Also saw a pair of ospreys feeding babies near the parking lot, two plants I didn't recognize (hopefully someone else does), some small wetlands, swamp milkweed, and some other fun stuff
7-4-17 Merrill Creek Reservoir, Harmony, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 87 miles total
Categories: insects, flowering, woody, herbs, lichen, ferns
I've never been to this reservoir before. You can walk all the way around it, but I did maybe 1/10 of that in an hour. There were bugs. I was not fast. I saw my first dogbane leaf beetle of the year (a favorite) and the first blooming wild basil. I got my first ever picture of spotted wintergreen flowers (for some reason I always miss them). But the highlight of the trip was the first monarch caterpillar I've seen in years, and I think the first I've ever seen in New Jersey. Very exciting. Mind you I've yet to see an adult this year, either.
No walk yesterday as we threw a big fourth of July party (a day early) and no walk the day before, as I was baking for said party. I did get out and do bugs this evening, though.
I remember Shelburne Farms from a tour during college over 25 years ago. I'd never seen cheese made before (or since, actually); it was fascinating.
Is timothy uncommon up in Vermont, or just not something you recognize? I tend to see it everywhere down here. Alfalfa I've only seen once, though. I IDed one of your mystery plants, I think, Charlie.
I love rest stop plant ID, Erika. It drives my kids a little crazy, though. Pre-teens are very easy to embarrass.
I love rest stop plant ID too.
I think timothy is pretty common, but people don't spend a lot of time botanizing hay fields full of non natives compared with forests and wetlands. I was surprised it was the first time i'd seen it, actually.
7-5-17. Watchung Lake, Watchung, NJ. 0.5 miles today 87.5 miles total.
Categories: insects, herbs, shrubs, vines.
I went looking for alder woolly aphids and harvester caterpillars, but didn't find them this time (I've seen them here years ago). Perhaps it's a bit early. I did find some very large moonseed vines that I'd never noticed here before, and a lot of bees and damselflies.
I see timothy as an escape, in weedy edges and roadsides. I don't think I've ever seen a planted field of it.
the hay fields in vermont aren't seeded every year, they are mostly left to regenerate, though invasive or undesirable plants may be removed
7-2-17. Peacham Pond, Peacham VT. 2.5 miles today. 320.2 miles total
Categories: blooms, mosses, birds
Took my kayak out for a paddle on Peacham Pond today. I haven't been paddling there in years. I had forgotten how big it was, big enough to waterski on. Full of cottages and docks and people lying on their docks playing country music and talking to their neighbors across the way. Not my sort of pond. After a big of paddling, I came to a quiet piece of shore with just trees and rocks and moss and no cabins. I paddled up closer to see what kinds of mosses were growing on the shore, when a booming voice came from a nearby pond cruiser "What ARE you looking at? That's private property, you know. It's MY private property!" Well excuse me for looking at your moss, lady. It was boring moss, anyway. Nevertheless, some interesting flowering plants along the dam a little further on. Back on shore again tomorrow--boating just moves along too fast, and water people weird.
7-3-17. Gould Hill Rd., Worcester, VT. 2.9 miles today, 323.1 miles total.
Categories: blooms, mosses, liverworts, butterflies
Hiked up Gould Hill in Worcester today and found out that's the ritzy part of town, a major contrast with Eagle Ledge Rd just a little ways up Calais Rd. Plenty of blooms out to admire, including the first open black-eyed susans of the year for me. The best part were the rafts of skippers, European skippers, I think. Thousands and thousands of them sunning along the road near the open fields. Terrific views across the spine of the Green Mountains from Gould Hill, but plenty of Japanese knotweed and bishop's weed filling the roadside ditches.
what a dongle. you can't tell people not to float in a boat and look at their land. I had fun botanizing via canoe on Flagg Pond which has friendly landowners (granted they knew we were there) and TNC land.
7-4-17. Kimball Pond Reservation, Dunbarton, NH. 1.9 miles today. 325 miles total.
Categories: blooms, dragonflies, mosses, liverworts
Snuck out for a quick walk in the woods before the masses arrived for the family picnic. Not so many blooms open in the woods these days, so when I heard a bumblebee, I followed it to see what it was pollinating. It led me to a small patch of cow wheat. While admiring the cow wheat, I looked up a few inches to examine the leaves shading the wheat...American chestnut! Several small saplings along the side of the pond. This is the second patch of chestnut saplings I have come across in Dunbarton. Apparently, there are more in Hopkington, the next town over, as well. It looked like at least one of these saplings may have been downed by a beaver.
7-5-17. Devil's Step Rd, Weare, NH. 3 miles today, 328 miles total.
Categories: blooms, dragonflies, ferns, mosses, butterflies
Explored a bit of a trail that Google thinks is a road in Weare today. I might have been able to drive my Jeep along it in 4WD, if it weren't for the signs that said "No ATVs". The trail appears to be a section of old canal road, with some cobblestones remaining. Very, very quiet, and very, very buggy. The mosquitoes and horseflies ensured that I kept up a good exercise pace. Lots of dragonflies in the sunny patches, and plenty of flowers. I found a small purple mint-like flower that I didn't recognize, and a large single-bloomed lily that I need to look up. (Isn't Canada lily multiply bloomed?). As I drove back to my mother's house in the car, I pulled 2 ticks off my legs. I found another inside my shoe. A tick check and shower turned up one more. Then we drove home to Vermont, where another tick check turned up 2 more, latched on. Fortunately, they were all dog ticks. No going back to the canal without full tick garb.
High summer is upon us now--I haven't managed to open my camera to download photos since Sunday, and probably won't have any time at all to do photos until Friday, if then. And then it's the weekend again, followed by a 3 day moss expedition down in Killington. Well, eventually, I will post some photos. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy reading your journal entries! Sounds like a great trip to Shelburne Farms, Charlie!
I'm over a week late in photos. Funny that back on Saturday when I found American chestnut seedlings, the unknown plant growing right beneath it turned out to be cow wheat, just like yours. Mind you, I haven't got those up yet, either.
My best friend's son was asked (by his art teacher, of all people) to figure out how to do some kind of group project to put his classmates in high school more in touch with the world around them, and he found iNaturalist and then found me on here (he had no idea I do this). So this afternoon he made an appointment with me to talk about the website and how it works. Didn't I sound important? I think I've convinced him to put together a school BioBlitz or something.
7-6-17. Washington Valley Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 88 miles total
Categories: blooming, fruiting, insects
I stopped at a park on the way home from the gas station to walk today, got about 1/4 mile into the park and my camera died. It was hot and buggy (and not the interesting kind), so I turned around. Not much interesting today, though Virginia stickseed was blooming for the first time this year.
But before the walk I had quite the morning. There was a deer nursing her baby in my driveway this morning, then a chipmunk sitting on my fence, then a cottontail right in front of my parking space at the rescue squad, then a big, interesting robber fly that looked like it was trying to oviposit on my car door gasket, and when I got home, a fledgling red bellied woodpecker on a different part of my fence! (and for the last, my camera was dead, sadly).
I saw a large Intermediate Fen today which was neat but didn't do iNat since it was on private land and i didn't have time.
7-6-17. Peck Hill and Fifer's Run, Calais, VT. 2.1 miles today, 330.1 miles total.
Categories: blooms, insects
Managed a quick dash up Peck Hill between errands today. Milkweed just starting to open, and black-eyed susans. I tried hard not to photograph ferns, mosses or liverworts today since I've already photographed them on this route. Still, I did end up with at least 1 photo of a liverwort.
Was it your camera battery that died or your camera itself? Oh no, oh no! I finally determined today that the focus motor on my lens is rapidly dying, again. I guess I need to get it rebuilt again for the 3rd time. That lens has seen a lot of use. At least the 1st rebuild was on Nikon's dime.
Your story about your son's friend asking to learn more about iNaturalist is very encouraging. When I was at Eagle Hill Institute in Maine last week, the moth class was all abuzz about iNaturalist. About half the class already use it, and the other half were excited about getting started. Even in the liverworts class, there were 1-2 other users this year, and the teacher mentioned it as a learning resource. Last year when I was taking a moss course there, I was asked to give a presentation about iNaturalist since no one else had heard about it but they were interested in learning about what it was. What a difference a year makes!
No worries, it was just the battery. Though the plug socket (or whatever you call it) on my camera has gotten finicky so sometimes when I think it's charging it's not. And the end of the switch to turn the power on and off broke off a year ago, so it's a bit challenging to turn. But otherwise it's working well.
It's neat to see more and more people learning about iNaturalist. I ID all the NJ posts and have seen both The College of New Jersey and Kean College set up iNaturalist programs this year, that were not in place the year before. Then again, Union County (which is quite close to me) has a big bioblitz every June and no one has yet hooked it in to iNat. I hope to remember in time next year, to talk to someone in charge about it.
7-7-17. East Hill Rd, Woodbury, VT. 0.7 miles today, 330.8 miles total
Categories: blooms, ferns
Set out for a brisk walk on East Hill Rd past the Woodbury country club today, but I had hardly got out on the road when thunder started rumbling in the distance. I turned around immediately and returned on the double to the car--it was barely out of sight. I managed to snap a few photos of blooms along the way. Lots of vinca along the road, and several other escaped cultivated plants like day lilies near the country club.
7-9-17. Hicks Track, Millington and Dewey Meadows, Lyons, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 89.25 miles total
categories: insects, blooming, fruiting
No walk yesterday as we had company (though there was a raccoon after dark on my bird feeder). No walk the day before as I was on duty (though my husband found me a box turtle in the garden). So today I walked in two different spots: behind an elementary school (where there was a ravine I didn't know about) and along a swampy power line cut (where I found both kinds of cattail. I've never seen the narrow leaved before).
7-10-17. Watchung Lake, Watchung, NJ 0.75 miles today, 90 miles total
Categories: insects, flowering, fruiting
Walked the other side of the lake today, still hoping for alder aphids, still unsuccessful. I must have the timing wrong. I did find hazel nuts where I had no idea they were growing. Someone has cut down all the brush along the lake bank and it looks awful (and is already growing up to invasive weeds). I'm thinking they were trying to improve the view of the lake from the road (this is the center of town), but, yuck!
7-8-2017 ~2 miles, 43.6 total.
Trip to Magog in Quebec! There is a huge and awesome wetland boardwalk in Magog. I'd been there before but before i got obsessed with iNat so only had a couple 'scavenged' observations. Fixed that with a ton more. They have their equivalent of Northern White Cedar Swamp, Red or Silver Maple-Green Ash Swamp, Dwarf Shrub Bog, Sweet Gale Shoreline Swamp, etc. Holly got to see turtles and peek at all kinds of other neat stuff. Missed a few observations because once we were in the open bog we saw a thunderstorm barreling down on us. I didn't have my radar app going since i don't have data in Canada. We barely made it to the car in time. Later i learned that a severe thunderstorm hit Montpelier and blew down a bunch of trees around the same time (though our trees escaped unscathed except a few twigs). Kinda pissed i missed it though overall the trip was worth it!
7-11-17. Monument Park, South Plainfield and New Market Pond, Piscataway, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 90.75 miles total
Categories: flowering, insects, fruiting, shrubs, weeds, wetland plants.
Went with my son to walk at Monument Park, but he decided it was boring, and we turned to leave, at which point the president's helicopter (probably without the president in it) and two others flew in close formation right over our heads. We stopped instead at New Market Pond which was much more interesting, plant-wise, but only featured a freight train. I found the first blooming buttonbush and tall meadow rue of the year and lots of bugs on daisy fleabane and Queen Anne's lace. There was leafy spurge and sweet annie, both of which are rare for me, and a big patch of dodder.
I found out today that last weekend I found forked nailwort and green (comet) milkweed, neither of which I'd even heard of before.
7-9-2017 - 4 miles, 47.6 total. Went on a little hike in Mont Orford National Park of Quebec. The first part of the hike was on wide multi use trails with pleasant forest trees and roadside plants, but nothing too interesting. the last part of the hike we started up a steeper trail up a mountain. Things got much much more interesting, the base of the mountain turned out to be rich hardwood forest and rich talus/ledges. Plant diversity got much higher and i found some calciphiles, some of which are apparently uncommon in Quebec. there was rattlesnake fern and plantain leaved sedge and jack in the pulpit which is somewhat rare in quebec! odd since it is so common in vermont. we did not go a long way up the trail because it got too steep and wet to want to navigate with a baby carrier and anyhow my battery was dying in my phone. Still... we will have to go back to this park which is beautiful and less than 2 hours from home, not counting border crossing. speaking of which we sat at the border for an hour and a half trying to get back into the US because they were doing construction and did an awful job of routing traffic. Not fun. Holly was a good sport but i was getting a bit cranky.
This week I have 3 field days, 2 of which are in the nulhegan basin (including the one yesterday) so tons of neat stuff this week, but not adding work stuff to this project. yesterday i saw my first spruce grouse ever and a couple of sedges i keyed out that i hadn't keyed out before.
7-12-17 Sourland Mountain, Hillsborough and Papaianni Park, Edison, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 92 miles total
Categories: blooming, insects, fruits, shrubs, weeds, birds,
In the morning I walked by a pond, some woods, and a powerline cut. The mountain mint was blooming and was the main attraction for insects, though there were dragonflies and a killdeer at the pond. Vervain and loosestrifes have just started blooming, and I found a swamp rose, water hemlock, and a trumpet creeper as well, and a sundrop (which is very unusual here in NJ).
In the afternoon I went with my son to another pond, this time an urban, weedy one. He counted 7 trains (6 passenger, one freight) while we were there (it was right up against Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor). The ducks and geese walked right up to us, expecting hand-outs. I saw my first adult monarch of the year, and my first ever bracted plantain (though I've IDed it a fair amount). Mullein was blooming and knapweed. And the first blooming goldenrod of the summer. It's the peak of wineberry season, and the blackberries are just coming ripe now (though they pale in comparison)
Both my sister (in Boston) and my daughter (at sleep away camp) sent me pictures of things to identify today (balloon flower and a jumping spider), so that was fun, too. And my in-laws spent the day in NY City without me today; it was nice to have time for walking.
7-8-17. Ray Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 2.8 miles today, 333.6 miles total.
Categories: blooming, butterflies, ferns
Started at near Stark Pond at Clough's State Park and walked out Ray Rd towards Rt 77. I was surprised to find the road so wide and well maintained for a not-maintained road. It was in better shape than many Vermont Class 3 roads. It gets a lot of traffic, since it is the main road to the parking area for ATVs in the park. There wasn't much diversity of plants along the road, just the usual cow vetch, fleabane, buttercup mix. But as I was coming back into the park, I remembered to check every beech tree, just in case it wasn't a beech. Sure enough, near Stark Pond, I found another American chestnut tree. Dunbarton is a hot spot for chestnuts!
7-9-17. Alexander Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 1 mile today, 334.6 miles total.
Categories: butterflies, birds, blooms
Took a slow, slow meander up and down Alexander Road looking for insects. I found surprisingly few. I only found a few new blooms to photograph, mainly enchanter's nightshade, which is just coming out here. The pokeweed is also starting to bud up.
7-10-17. Hiking Trail C, Killington, VT. 3 miles today, 337.6 miles total.
Categories: mosses, liverworts, blooms, insects, ferns
Participated in a bryophyte inventory project in Killington, together with Dorothy Allard, Bob Popp, Matt Peters, and Micki Colbeck. We took the gondola up to the top of Killington, hiked to the peak, then hunted for bryophtes all the way back down to the parking area. We were hoping to find alpine species. I don't know what we found for bryophytes, since they all need to be checked under a microscope for IDs. But I really didn't see that much for alpine vascular species. I might perhaps have found a Minuarta, but I won't know for sure until I get a chance to download my photos from my camera. Most of what we saw for blooms were various invasives, mainly wild chervil, hogweed, self-heal, wild parsnip, daisies. And some pink lady slippers, still in bloom.
7-11-17. Deer Leap Ledge and Thunderbrook Falls, Killington, VT. 2.2 miles today, 339.8 miles total.
Categories: mosses, liverworts, blooms, fungi, insects
Continued the bryophyte inventory with Dorothy Allard, Matt Peters, and Micki Colbeck with the hopes of finding some acid-rock and stream species today. The morning hike up Deer Leap Ledge was rather wet with a continuous mist. It was great for the byrophytes, but limited the views from the top of the ledge. The bloom of the day was ramps, which were very thick along the lower portion of the trail. Making us wonder how acidic our cliffs actually were. Well, maybe the cliffs on top were acidic. The hike out to the waterfall in the afternoon was on an excellent boardwalk. Lined with abundant queen of the prairie and forget-me-not.
7-12-17. Cross Vermont Trail through Ricker State Park, Groton, VT. 4 miles today, 343.8 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, fungi, mosses, insects
Continued exploring the Cross Vermont Trail through Groton today. It was a good day to be in the deep woods, since it was warm and the sun was bright. In the sunnier portions of the trail, there was plenty of whorled loosestrife and a stretch of sun drops. Yellow! That's the color of the month. At the far end of the trail, down by the parking area near the dam at the south end of Ricker Pond there was a huge patch of great rhododendron, still in bloom. A pleasant surprise!
7-13-17. Governor Chittenden Rd, Williston, VT. 3 miles today, 346.8 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, gastropods
Had to go to Williston today to drop off my camera lens for repair. Not far from the camera shop was a dirt road along the Winooski River, so I took my walk there today. Wouldn't you know, the road was posted with a sign for the Cross Vermont Trail again. It seems I'm finding quite a few sections of the Cross Vermont Trail for my daily walks. This was my kind of road--it started off between the woods and the river, then opened up to some neatly groomed horse pastures, then to a real farm, then was posted as closed from November to April. A few house sparrows near the horse fields, but I also saw a red-winged blackbird and heard a veery calling, and a red-winged hawk. Lately, I've noticed that the species diversity on my roadside walks seems to be surprisingly high, usually much higher diversity than I see on walks through the woods. I should run some statistics. I bet I saw twice as many different species on today's walk along a rural road in Winooski than I did on yesterday's walk that traversed Groton State Forest. Certainly many of the plants I saw today were invasives, but there were some natives as well, like a magnificent Canada lily at the edge of the horse pasture. Today's tally included 3 kinds of loosestrife, 2 evening primroses, and 2 mulleins. All non-natives, but I guess I find the distribution of non-natives just as interesting as the distribution of native plants.
yeah there is a lot of diversity along roads, more so than in a normal forest if you include non-natives, but less so than a lot of wetlands. A lot of the non-natives along roads aren't invasive and are valuable for pollinators anyhow. however their distribution doesn't seem as keyed in to environmental conditions and soils and such than forest plants since they are generalists. I still like the forest walks better, but I also find the urban/ag ecology interesting!
You probably noticed that i track species by a natural community field when i am in a recognizable natural community. Maybe we should throw together some 'unnatural communities' like roadside upland, roadside wetland, hayfield, mowed lawn, urban area, etc. if we standardize the names we could start uilding species lists for those just like the natural communities. Could be an interesting side project.
also @erikamitchell i can't see any observations from you since July 1. Are you just posting before you upload or am i missing something
I see tons more diversity in roadside "edge" communities and other disturbed areas than in even our most remote (which is not saying much) woods, but my species counts come out about 60 % invasive (and that's if I include the mostly native trees behind the edge). Because it's what I'm most exposed to, "unnatural community" species lists really interest me. I have several books along those lines, like Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast. Just as I have guides to the shore species and wetland species.
I always post my walks ahead of my observations; otherwise I will forget the details as I'm running about 5 days behind.
@erikamitchell @srall I was talking with my friend @jogarton about a project she is working on and I am actually thinking we should define some 'unnatural communities' and create a field so we can start tracking different types of human influenced landscapes where species occur. We could sort them just like this: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?field:Natural%20Community=Sweet%20Gale%20Shoreline%20Swamp . But i think i'd make a drop down with defined choices for now so we can be consistent. We can start that experimentally and then work on defining or adjusting them after that. Anyone want to join in? I am thinking for a start:
road/railroad/trail right of way
mowed lawn (yuck but sometimes there's something there)
Human-created open field
mowed wetland
agricultural area
urban neighborhood
suburban neighborhood
landscaping or garden
managed forest
hedgerow
etc.
might need to limit to the Northeast and create different categories for different areas.
the point is not to assign value or lack of value to these areas, but just to catalog what is there. Different species - native and invasive and naturalized (non-native but not invasive) are all found in those sorts of places.
if I do it i will create a different blog post or something
I'd make it "mowed lawn or playing field" I get lots of common lawn weed on sports fields that I have to cross to get back to my car (generally).
I also walk powerline cuts, which are not mowed often and get shrubby before they come through again and slaughter them, but don't really have a road to them, either. And they come in both wetland and not. Not sure where they'd fit in your scheme.
And what about the edge of a mowed lawn, like the woods' edge around a playing field?
hmm... isn't a playing field a mowed lawn though? are there other types of playing fields? I could call it mowed lawn/park/playing field or something.
Powerline cuts need to go on the list. Edges do need some sort of name, maybe Edge Habitat or something.
road/railroad/trail right of way
utility right of way
mowed lawn (includes home lawns, sports fields, playgrounds, etc)
Human-created open field (cut every year or two, but not a mowed lawn. Like many fields around homes in VT)
Disturbed wetland (cut over every year or two like open field but is wetland
agricultural area (farms)
Dense Urban Center (parking lots, cracks in sidewalk, etc)
Abandoned Urban Center (vacant buildings etc)
landscaping or garden (where plants are planted, pollinators may appear, weeds, etc)
managed forest or plantation (this one can intergrade with wildland since most areas are managed in some way but thinking of high intensity managed areas)
hedgerow
Invasive Species Infestation
Brownfield
Storm Drain/Channelized Waterway
Artificial Pond
sounds good. We have a lot of parks with closely mowed grass and big specimen trees, would that be "mowed lawn"?
We have catch basins (or are they "cache basins"?) in most of the suburban developments around here, which are manmade, mown, grassy circular depressions designed to pond for less than a week or two a year. Not sure where that would fit in your scheme. Most of them don't really support wetland species, just, say "damp lawn" species.
catch basins sound like our stormwater ponds so yeah we need to add something like that. i am actually going to some next week.
7-14-17. Dirt bike trails, Marshfield, MA. 1 mile today, 347.8 miles total.
Categories: blooms, fungi, invasives
Walked my brother-in-law's dirt bike trails with my husband and brother-in-law today. The trails are on sandy soil through rolling oak-white pine forest in southeastern Massachusetts. The underbrush is all blueberry and huckleberry, with small patches of poison ivy here and there. No blooms whatsoever in the woods right now, although some whorled loosestrife has gone to seed. The trails came out onto an old railroad bed, where I finally found some blooms--false indigo, a single red clover, cow wheat. Across the railroad was the "sandpit", a former favorite motorbike riding area for the two brothers, but off limits to motor bikes now because the town water wells are located there. Deer and coyote tracks through the sand, few footprints besides our own. A few more invasive blooms, like common mullein. And there, under a scarlet?/pin? oak, was a patch of spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata), the first (and only) native bloom of the day. On the bright side, I didn't see any honeysuckle or Japanese knotweed. But there is a huge and spreading patch of vinca adjacent to the house.
As for posting observations--I'm following Sara's lead of trying to keep up with journal entries day by day, since I'll never remember them otherwise. I haven't had a chance to download any photos from my camera since July 1--life has been too fast lately. This coming week, I think I may get 5 whole days at home, so I may be able to look at some photos at last.
Charlie, I caught your discussion about human-made community types on Facebook before I saw it here. I think it's a fascinating topic, and a great idea. Definitely worth pursuing.
Powerline cuts. How do they differ from other types of roads/railroads/trails? Are powerline cuts more different from roads than railroads are? Do we distinguish between powerline cuts with trails/roads/mini-bike trails and those without trails? Do powerline cuts ever not have trails? BTW: in the UAE, you would often find camel farm squatter camps located directly below the powerlines. Would such farms be classified as farms, or powerline cuts? What would the reasoning be to support the classification in such cases? What about other cases where more than 1 habitat type could be applied?
Ski trails. Like the one I hiked down the other day in Killington. Where would they fit in? They are paths. They are sports-related. They are vertical, well-irrigated wetlands. Mowed infrequently. The ski trail in Killington was overwhelmingly dominated by invasives, mainly wild chervil. With a few lady's tresses (or some other tall white orchid) thrown in for good measure.
This stuff is so interesting! That's why created another thread, feel free to tag others there... so i don't ruin this one. but, what i am struggling with now is how many types to make. I wanted a dropdown because there isn't standardization otherwise and then my 'lawn' won't query with your 'mowed lawn' or whatever. But maybe a web page listing them all is enough. And given the large number of differnet human activities in the world would we try to make it global or just Northeast-based and have others make other ones in other areas. Hmm....
I do want to differentiate the wetlands for sure. And, in fact, those are the sorts of places I need to find and sample for work too. I am working on gathering data on wetlands in all conditions, including the most impacted. Lately every time i go to a wetland that looks disturbed on the air photo it ends up an amazing fen or something. That area between Route 2, I-89 and I-91 is full of incredible wetlands that are not well visited or studied. Some on public land even (even aside from Groton park complex).
7-15-17. Rexham Beach, Ferry St. "bridal path", Brant Rock Beach, Marshfield, MA. 5.9 miles today, 353.7 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invertebrates, invasives, birds
Started the morning with a walk along Rexham beach at low tide with my husband and in-laws, his brother, sister-in-law, niece, and 2 grand nieces. We explored the tidal pools and found at least 3 species of crabs. The dunes are well-fenced off on this beach. They sport some attractive beach roses in pink and white.
In the afternoon, I went for an exercise walk up the "bridal trail" (old railroad bed) behind Ferry St. I found the usual collection of sun-loving non-natives, from Queen Anne's lace to dandelions. Also, some Japanese knotweed, honeysuckle, and poison ivy. Plenty of butterflies to chase.
In the evening, I strolled around downtown Brant Rock, the Brant Rock beach, and the new Harbor park with my husband. Harbor Park appears to be a tidal mudflat. Some phragmites there, but it hasn't taken over yet. The mudflats look like a great birding hotspot.
7-16-17. Horn of the Moon Rd, East Montpelier, Vt. 3.3 miles today, 357 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invasives, butterflies
Walked Horn of the Moon Rd from the Wrightsville Dam up to Sanders Circle. The sunny section of the dam had the same sunny road species that I saw in Massachusetts--black-eyed Susans, yarrow, birds foot trefoil, etc. Not much blooming in the woods these days. Some monkey flower in a ditch up by Sanders Circle.
Hey @Erikamitchell, when i look at your calendar I see nothing since July 1. Are you just backlogged or is iNat bugged?
7-17-17. Access Trail, Groton, VT. 3.1 miles today, 360.1 miles total.
Categories: blooms, downed trees, butterflies
Hiked along a Groton trail that runs parallel to Rt 302 in Groton today. The trail appears to be a continuation of the rail bed trail that I walked along last week. Very pleasant trail just out of sight of the paved road, sometimes graveled, sometimes not. A few dewberry blossoms open today, but most other blossoms are non-native road species.
7-18-17. Minister Brook Rd, Worcester, VT. 3 miles today, 363.1 miles total.
Categories: blooms, butterflies, ferns, birds
Walked along Minister Brook Rd this morning. I was surprised to find the road paved all the way out to my turnaround point at 1.5 miles. That meant plenty of speeding pick-up trucks to deal with, but also that the dogs were well penned. Lots of blooms today, since so much of the road is sunny. And virtually every one non-native. I even found some sand spurrey at the beginning of the road, the first I've found in Vermont. I'm looking forward to returning to Minister Brook, picking up where I left off, to see whether the plant mixture is different once the pavement ends.
7-18-17 Shohola Falls, Shohola, PA; Delaware River, Damascus, PA; and Lake Superior, Bethel, PA. 1.0 mile today, 94 miles total.
Categories: blooming, fruiting, insects, shrubs, trees, herbs, lichen
What a week I've had. Just before my in-laws left, my 18 year old daughter sprained her ankle so badly she cannot bear weight on it 5 days later and has to have surgery. And it's workman's comp, and they won't cover the surgery, so far. But today I took her 13-year-old sister to sleep-away camp in the Poconos. We stopped together to see a waterfall, where I found broad leaved helleborine (I've never seen it before) and a mint I don't know, as well as fringed (I think) loosestrife and blooming rattlesnake root.
On the way home I stopped at a fisherman's lot on the Delaware, and someone actually asked me what I was photographing, and assumed it was invasive species. Then we talked about the new purple loosestrife leaf beetle (which I saw lots of). This was a junky spot with nearly all invasives. But there was both pale and orange jewelweed. The joe pye is just starting to bloom, and I found a willowherb, too. Plus there was a tiger moth caterpillar and a scorpionfly.
The last stop was a state park beach on a lake (New York's "Lake Superior" which is really more of a pond, not the "real" Lake Superior). The woods here were very different from my usual, all blueberries and hemlock with acres of blooming rhododendron. I found at least three species of ripe blueberries and the most delicious blackberries I can remember (I'm not usually a fan). Lots of mushrooms, a new-to-me horsetail (which is not saying much), more heleborine, a little whorled-leaved herb I havent' figured out, some swamp candles about done, my first scarlet lychnis of the year (though I suspect that one was planted) , a different mint I don't know, and my first ever spreading dogbane, complete with dogbane leaf beetles, which I love.
This was the first time I've walked in 6 days and it was so nice to get out, even though I ended up coming home to a surgery-scheduling crisis that might have been averted if I'd gotten there sooner. Gosh, I can't wait for things to settle down! I think I'm over a week behind with posting observations at this point.
7-16-2017 - 1.8 miles, 49.3 total.
Heard there was a newly marked (?) trail off Powder Horn Glen road in East Montpelier. Also saw Erika had been there in the past. We only had time for a short hike so decided to give it a try. The trails aren't all fully marked yet, we wandered around the two loops, some VAST trails, and a segment of the East Montpelier Trail that seemed to end in a cornfield (I think Erica just walked through it since at the time it was January. Now there is corn). Nothing too unusual but nice yellow birch and hemlock and white pine forest with some spruce and maple too. I noticed that there was barely any white ash and only one or two white cherry too. A couple of red pines that might have been planted but it wasn't obvious that they were. Not the normal place you'd see them native. Typical understory plants and roadside plants near the entrance. I expected some wetlands or vernal pools due to the very irregular topography of large hollows and hills, but didn't see any. A nice spot, albeit not a lot of distance, would be a good place to take Holly soon now that she likes to walk on her own sometimes. We didn't see all the trails either, not the 'gullyjumper' VAST trail or the East Montpelier trail heading away from the corn field.
7-19-17. Sherwood, Forest, and Robinhood Drives, Montpelier, VT. 2.5 miles today, 365.6 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invasives, ferns, birds
Walked a back corner of Montpelier today on my way to an errand. I had seen Sherwood Dr. on maps before, but I had no idea that Forest and Robinhood came off of Sherwood. Cute. Sherwood is a paved residential street, a steep drive that connects the top of hospital hill to shopping plaza boulevard. Not particularly interesting, but at least we can say that someone has been there now. The assemblage of plants was much the same as yesterday's walk on the paved road in Worcester, except the variety was less, and there was a hefty patch of poison ivy today.
Hope your daughter's surgery goes well, Sara! What a miserable experience for her!
As for the trails off of Powder Horn Glen, the access trails from Powder Horn Glen belong to some of our regular Saturday morning hikers, which is how we first got out there. They are quite happy that their trails will be connecting to the new section of the East Montpelier trails. The trail across the corn field is part of the VAST trail in the winter, and I ski it often. We also hike it with the Saturday morning group at least 1-2 a year. The woods back there are beautiful, but I've never found any wetlands in the woods between the corn fields. On the other hand, there is a small marsh with a stream running through it on the edge of the East Montpelier Town Forest off of Haggett Rd, which you can access from the town forest trail system. You can also get there by parking near the Templeton Rd fire station and sand piles and taking the trails back from there. And the corn field itself starts with soggy spots and a stream running through it near Haggett Rd. Probably the same stream, which eventually ends up in the beaver dam on both sides of Center Rd below Templeton.
7-20-17. Forest road off of Rt 232, Groton, VT. 3.6 miles today. 369.2 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, fungi, butterflies
Explored more of the trails/roads on the west side of Rt. 232 in Groton, this time a dead-end park road across from New Discovery State Park. Not much blooming in the woods at all right now. The only blooms were along the road itself when it got a little sun or opened up into a clearing. And basically, the very same plants I saw in Worcester and Montpelier, just a lot less variety. Except, I did see one clump of Indian pipes. Much greater variety of mosses and ferns in the woods though compared to what I saw along the paved roads this week.
So here's my initial hypothesis about species richness and human trails: the species richness curve is inverted U-shaped, with little plant variety in simple woodland trails. As more people and cars pass through, there is a much greater variety. But when there is a huge amount of traffic, like on busy highways or busy urban streets, species richness falls again. That's just going by species counts, however. If you were to separate out native from non-native species, the relatively undisturbed trails would have lots more native species. What's making them species-poor compared to trails or roads that have car traffic and connect destinations or roads is that the less disturbed trails tend to have fewer non-native species. What do you think? Is this what you see? Or are patterns different elsewhere? Or am I jumping to conclusions based on too little data?
To me it is just the amount of light and disturbance on larger roads that brings in more diversity. Also more mowing and car traffic means more species get introduced. But with the biggest roads you are looking at very frequent mowing and disconnection from native habitat (more houses etc) so the diversity drops again. I think it's kind of a deceptive type of biodiversity because you could roam over all of eastern north america and beyond and see the same few dozen roadside plants whereas the hillsides and wetlands vary a lot more. Still interesting though!
I've peeked into that east montpelier town forest wetland before, but haven't explored it in detail! would be fun to go check it out.
7-21-17. Route 214, East Montpelier, VT. 3.1 miles today, 372.3 miles total.
Categories: blooms, birds, ferns, invasives
Not much time for walking today, so I squeezed in a walk close to home. Although Route 214 is a highway, it gets relatively light traffic. Maybe that's why drivers seem to allow walkers a little extra comfort space on this road. For a paved road, it wasn't bad walking at all, a lot better than Rt 14 or County Rd, and more comfortable for walking than Minister Brook or Sherwood Dr. Same old road species as I've seen all week. I'd estimate 2nd in variety after Minister Brook. The bird species were quite diverse, but I only caught photographic records of a few, some indigo buntings, a robin, a raven, a mourning dove. I also heard hermit thrush, veery, chipping sparrows, chickadees, chestnut-sided warblers, and more. As for plants, the wheel is rapidly turning to mid-summer. A few early goldenrod open, flat-topped goldenrod in bud ready to go, and another goldenrod with toothed leaves open today--I need to get my goldenrod notes open in order to ID it. Found big-leaved aster open today for the first time this season, and heart-leaved and flat-topped aster in bud. No Japanese knotweed or poison ivy along this road, but plenty of wild chervil gone to seed and some bishop's weed here and there.
Mowing frequency and diversity--there's an interesting topic for study. I'm hoping I can get a few of my current work-related research projects out the door so that I can look into these plant questions some more.
7-22-17. Connecticut River Rd, White River Junction, VT. 3.3 miles today, 375.6 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invasives, birds, ferns
Stopped off in White River Junction on the way to New Hampshire for a break from driving. Connecticut River Rd is an extension of South Main St, a road that eventually dead ends at a quarry. The road was very lightly traveled, so I wondered as I wandered why it was paved. The quarry traffic? Or is paving simply more common down south? In any case, this layer of pavement was so fresh that there was tar on living leaves along the road and no painted lines. I found many of the same road plants as I've been seeing up in Washington County all week, with a few southern additions like poke weed. And more sand spurrey. Having said earlier in the week that I haven't seen any sand spurrey in Vermont before, I've seen it every day this week.
And an additional 1.3 miles, 376.9 miles total.
Walked down the back path in Dunbarton to Clough's State Park. Not much blooming in the woods. It was still interesting to see what was there, and not there however. The back path was a dirt road 50 years ago. So if there ever were the usual road species of plants, they're not obvious now. Much of the path was in the deep woods, but even in the sunny spots, I didn't find many blooms. When the path opens up to the old paved road, I expected to find some more road species, but still there weren't many, even though this section of road is in full sun. This road was the main road through downtown Weare 50+ years ago, when the dam was built, everyone was moved out, and the town became a flood plain. The roads in the former town have received no maintenance in 50 years. So explorations through the town are always interesting, to see which roads have survived and which have disappeared. This main road through former downtown Weare is still in quite good condition, with no pot holes, maybe because it gets very limited vehicular traffic, and none in winter or spring. The pavement is cracked, though, and plants are growing up thickly through the cracks within 2 feet of either side of the road. No mowing. And few of the usual road species. Hmmm... Lots of button bush beside the ponds. Blueberries are in high season.
7-23-17. Powerlines off of Burnham Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 2 miles today, 378.9 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, insects, birds, mosses
Took off down the powerline trails across the street from where we have always gone blueberrying. The trail was extremely rich both in berries and birds. Just over the first hill, I began finding sundews in bloom, then the trail was blocked by a small pond. I tried detouring around the pond by heading out into the brush under the powerlines, but the brush was too tall, too thick, and too mucky to make any headway. As a plan B, I ducked into the woods, and was quickly able to circumvent the pond. The woods were oak-beech, with little underbrush, but a few tiny American chestnut saplings. Back on the powerlines again, the second hill rose above 2 large ponds that filled the entire area under the powerlines. The trail down to these ponds was filled with blooming and fruiting plants, all manner of blueberries, huckleberries, highbush cranberries, buch berries, juniper, clethra, wood lilies, and several small flowers I have never seen before. Also a clubmoss I am unfamiliar with. And I finally got a good look at an eastern towhee, a life bird for me! Overall, a delightful tour through the powerlines and the woods. I hope to return here to explore some more if I get time.
7-23-17 Pheasant Run, Warren, and Burnt Mills Park, Pluckemin, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 94.5 miles total.
Categories: shrubs, trees, vines, herbs, flowering, fruiting, insects
Finally got out for the first walk since last Tuesday, before my daughter's foot surgery. She's finally much better and on the mend. I walked around the backside of the mini-mall where my grocery is located. I've driven back there, but never checked out the woods. I'm not sure I found a single native species (I'll have to check, surely there was something). Then, later, I walked the edge of a parking lot at a ball field near where I picked up lunch. This had a bit more diversity, and a surprise katydid (a big one) that I didn't notice until I was right on top of it. It was so nice just to get out again at all, never mind that it was hot, muggy, and overcast.
7-24-17. Couts Pond Rd, Cabot, VT. 3.1 miles today, 382 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, invasives
Walked a section of Couts Pond Rd today from a 4-corners intersection towards Couts Pond. This was a very species-rich road, with a wide variety of non-native road species as well as some native species mixed in, like red baneberry. In fact, I would estimate that this section of road had a greater variety of species than any road I walked last week. Now I'm seeing the importance of connection to "undisturbed" woodland habitat, as well as lots of sun exposure and also connection to residential areas as well for total species richness. Certainly, some of the plants I saw today were escapes from gardens, and some spread from disturbance activities (like a small patch of Japanese knotweed right at a corner post of an agricultural fence). The only regular road species that was missing was hop clover--no sign of that today.
7-24-17 Crim School, Martinsville, NJ. 1.0 miles today, 95.5 miles total
Categories: flowering, fruiting, mushrooms, insects
I walked the brook in the woods behind an elementary school and over to a pond, plus a small clearing and the edge of the parking lot. Lots of fungi, and lots of milkweed insects including the first milkweed tussock caterpillars of the year. And a 4-bug Japanese beetle orgy.
My 10 year old daughter had objected to a mating asparagus beetle picture I put up on my wall last week (said it was "gross"), and the Japanese beetle picture reminded me of it. So when I got home I printed it out, then went through and printed 25 more mating insect pictures of mine so that I could replace every nature picture in my office with mating bugs. She won't even come in the room. Everyone else in the family thinks it's hilarious.
hahahaha
7-25-17. Rt 12, Colonial Dr, Crescent Dr, Hillcrest Dr, Montpelier, VT. 3 miles today, 385 miles total
Categories: blooms, birds, invasives, ferns, mosses
Took advantage of heavy construction on Rt 12 today to walk a section of road that is ordinarily too busy to go near. Other than a few bulldozers, nothing was moving on the road today. I found the usual road species, plus some yellow jewel weed just a block up from the busiest intersection in town, the first yellow jewel weed I've found this year. And some common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), the first I've found in a couple of years. Escaped from somebody's yard, no doubt. After inspecting the construction site, I headed up Derby? Rd toward the Gould Apartments, but got diverted onto a path into the woods. A very fine path into the deep woods on the hill. A nice patch of hardwood forest, filled with birds, deer, and slugs. A highlight of the walk was seeing a hairy woodpecker tear into a hen of the woods fungus on a fallen tree. Eventually, the path came to a tree that was posted "No Trespassing", so I turned around and headed up Colonial Dr. The Colonial Dr. section was a typical suburban development enclave with well-landscaped yards. I managed to find a few weeds, though, especially gutter weeds and asphalt-lovers like spurges and pineapple weed.
i've walked that road before on the sidewalk but yeah it's way too busy. I didnt know there was yellow touch me not but i am not surprised because it likes rich soils and there are some rich woods above, towards national life. I need to go walk around colonial drive at some point because there are some stormwater issues, excessive runoff has been observed in this area. Did you note anywhere in particular where that was going on?
7-26-17. Butterfly Park, East Brunswick, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 96.25 miles total.
Categories: insects, flowering, fruits, whatever I could photograph on the fly.
I took my injured daughter on her first big outing today. The weather was beautiful. We checked out a butterfly garden I'd never been to before. It was farther away than I'd realized. Molly had her knee scooter, but most of the paths in the garden itself were paved with tiny sharp gravel, which did not work well. So we ended up taking the paved path around the edge of the park rather than checking out the garden, and we didn't see any butterflies (though there was a lot of milkweed, with insects). Boy, was she tired by the time we were done!
I didn't notice any stormwater issues that stood out from other storm drains. Maybe they're getting a lot of water off the hill. There is a stream that comes down off the hill and goes through the center of the development. Plenty of weeds growing in the gutters and storm drains, but just the usual asphalt-lovers, like spurges, pineapple weed, cudweed. On the other hand, down in the dead restaurant parking lot, right by the building, I found some fascinating stuff. I don't know what it was. Large leafy greens that had the texture and look of seaweed or other macro-algae. But the form and habitat of lichens. Fungus? Algae? Lichens? New life form? Or,...is there some common lowlife plant form found in nasty wet unused parking lots that I just don't see on dirt roads?
7-26-17. Minister Brook Rd, Worcester, VT. 3 miles today, 388 miles total.
Categories: blooms, invasives, ferns, birds, butterflies
I spotted a likely loop route on Google maps, connecting Minister Brook Rd, Hampshire Hill Rd, and Sand Hill Rd. I figured I would start at the Sand Hill-Minister Brook intersection. But when I got there, I found that the "road" marked "Sand Hill" on Google maps (one of 2) was actually a snow mobile trail, with very tall grass right now. I wasn't dressed for hiking tall grass, and I don't know how welcome hikers are on the trail in July, so I just hiked Minister Brook Rd instead. A fine walking road, dirt road with medium-light traffic. Relatively built-up with residential lawns, but almost every one separated by a chunk of forest. So the diversity was excellent. And just below the Sand Hill trail was what appeared to be an American plum tree. Small green fruit, olive-shaped, one was just turning red. Branches with thorn-like branchlets. In general, the road had most of the typical road species, plus some yellow clover. And plenty of bishop's weed, Japanese knotweed, and vinca. But no honeysuckle.
Too bad about your trip to the butterfly garden, Sara! I bet you and Molly are getting all too well aware of handicapped non-accessible places to visit. Hope you find some gardens or parks that are more accommodating!
7-27-17. Ducharme Rd, Marshfield, VT. 3 miles today, 391 miles total.
Categories: blooms, birds, ferns, invasives, butterflies.
Ducharme Rd turned out to be a delightful walk with light traffic and lots to see. Plenty of road species along the fields and ditches. Plenty of native species as well, since there were large chunks of forest interspersed with the fields. I found zigzag goldenrod budding up for the first time this season. Some honeysuckle, lots of wild parsnip, but no Japanese knotweed or poison ivy.
the zigzag goldenrod i have planted in our yard is about to bloom.
I went to walk tonight, to look at field-side weeds while my daughter and I watched balloons from the local hot air balloon festival, but found that my camera battery was completely dead. woops. There were dozens of very nice balloons, though, and several of them went nearly right over our heads.
7-28-17. Holt and Maple Hill Rd loop, Marshfield, VT. 3.7 miles today, 394.7 miles total.
Categories: blooms, birds, invasives, butterflies, ferns.
This looked like a potentially interesting loop from the map. But what the map didn't show is that the loop is populated with fast pick-up trucks, loose dogs, and houses with unbelievable mounds of trash in the yard. The wrong side of town. So much of Marshfield is great for walking, but this road isn't. Too bad, because it certainly does have potential. Much of the center of the loop is a cedar swamp. There is a lot of forest all around and through the center, so there are a lot of native species mixed in with the typical road species. Overall, I'd estimate that the species richness is lower than what I saw earlier this week, but that reflects the amount of forest along the road. The native species fraction seems higher than what I've seen lately. Still, lots of honeysuckle and bishop's weed. Some vinca. No Japanese knotweed. One small patch of poison ivy, no hogweed. Plenty of butterflies out today. The fields are starting to turn noticeably yellow the early goldenrod. And I found my first turtlehead of the season open today.
So I just (finally) uploaded the pictures I took last week behind my local grocery store. So it was woods at the edge of a parking lot, with 78 species photographed. 38% of the species were native. I found one each of arachnids, lichen, and sedges (all three were native) and one bird (not native: black vulture). 13 insects were 61% native, everything else was more than half alien: 7 grasses (42% native), 13 trees (38% native), 24 herbs (34% native), 3 "canes" (33% native), 15 vines (20% native) and 5 shrubs (0 natives). I knew shrubs were bad around here, but I thought I'd get at least half native trees. No such luck. Granted, this is about as "junky" a spot as I get in this area, but still....Anyway, I thought the statistics were interesting.
I love this stuff. at work i do plant plots and run some stats like that and also using this http://www.mawwg.psu.edu/tools/detail/floristic-quality-assessment-index-fqai complicated math aside it not only counts non-native plants but also ranks native plants from disturbance tolerant to not, and gives you a number that indicates about how much disturbance a place has. you have to only include similar areas in each 'plot' though, like if you do half of your plants in a cedar swamp and the other in a dry upland forest you get weird results. but it does work.
7/29/17. Mansion Rd, Dunbarton, NH. 3.8 miles today, 398.5 miles total.
Categories: blooms, ferns, invasives, insects
Followed the route my mother used to walk to her elementary school today. 1.8 miles, uphill each way, just as she used to describe it every night at the dinner table when I was growing up. No wonder she thought I had it easy with just 1 mile to walk to my elementary school. Today, Mansion Rd is paved, but it gets little traffic. It's a pleasant road that winds up and down the hill through the woods connecting Dunbarton Center to her neighborhood. Way back in the 1940s, it must have been rather desolate, a dirt road through deep woods, unplowed--no wonder my mother continually talked about her trips to school. I found a few road species along the edges of the road, but not so many since the woods are so deep. A few southern species like pokeweed. On the way up the hill, I found a chestnut tree. But on the way back down the hill, I found dozens and dozens of chestnut trees. A few were several inches in diameter. Unfortunately, some of them were clearly ailing. I guess I don't get to walk much in southern New England forests--are chestnuts common everywhere?
Your stats from the parking lot walk are fascinating, Sara! I hope to run some stats myself someday. But first I need to make headway on my photo backlog.
7-29-17. Lord Stirling Park, Basking Ridge, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 97.25 miles total
Categories: flowering, fruiting, insects, animals
My daughter's friend was having a birthday group hike here today, and, as she can't drive with the injured ankle, I drove her (she rolled along on her scooter, this is a flat swamp with board walks). Then I had an hour to kill and to try to avoid them. I explored a section of the park I'd not been to before. I found lots of butterflies and some pinesap, and lots of Viburnum and dogwood fruit. The first ironweed in bloom of the year, and New England asters blooming. And lots of blooming wild bergamot. I was startled into shrieking by a bunny that jumped across the path not two feet in front of me, and found another, not as startling and a bit further away, later on as well.
7/30/2017 - Stowe Pinnacle Trail - 3.3 miles, 52.6 miles total. Took Holly on her first 'real' peak hike, up to Stowe Pinnacle. Of course this meant we carried her. I'd never walked up from the lower lot before and most other times I'd been up there were leaf-off, so i went ahead and added all that i could especially before the trails merged. Didn't add much after that since i'd been there before, and didn't add any on the way down because it was my turn to carry Holly in the carrier which makes it a bit harder.
Nothing too unusual and nothing for the life list. I played with the algorithm some of the time. It does a great job with these classic northern hardwood forest type species, though at one point it thought a white ash was a red oak. first pale touch me not i've seen this year, a huge yellow birch, and a bulrush right on the summit i will probably never ID since i didn't take a sample. It was a beautiful day.
7-30-17. Blueberry Trail, Eagle Hill Institute, Steuben, ME. 1 mile today, 399.5 miles total.
Categories: blooming, fruiting, lichens
Took a quick walk out the blueberry trail after arriving here today with my mother for a course on mushroom identification. I found no blooming plants in the woods at all, and just 2 out in the field: cow wheat and wood lily, and even those were hard to find. I didn't photograph any ferns or mosses in the woods since I have gotten them on past trips. The blueberries are in full fruit, though--lovely! And I did see a few mushrooms along the path. Fungi, fungi, fungi--that will be the theme of the week, especially if there are so few blooms to see.
7-31-17. Blueberry to Orchid Trail, Eagle Hill Institute, Steuben, ME. 0.4 miles today, 399.9 miles total.
Categories: fungi, blooms, mosses, lichens
Went on a foraging walk with my mother to find fungi to identify in class. We started down the Blueberry Trail, then headed off into the woods. Despite the dryness, we came back with both our baskets full of fungi. We tried to ID the fungi together back in the classroom. We got most of them completely wrong. Then we set aside the keys and the 2" thick textbook and pulled out a much smaller book with just a few fungi with plenty of photos and no keys. With that book, we managed to finally get a couple of IDs correct, much to our teachers' chagrin. The only bloom I found in the woods today was Indian pipes.
It sounds like a wonderful hike in Stowe! But how could the app mistake ash for oak?
maybe the scale was off and it thought the grooved flat lines were wider? I don't know. I don't think those species look similar!
7-31-17 Duke Island Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 97.5 miles total
Categories: insects, flowering, fruiting, whatever I could ID at top speed.
Took a very swift evening stroll down to see the dam with my 18 year old, who was on her knee scooter (so very fast). Beautiful evening, though, and so nice that she can get out of the house.
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