mwallitis's Identifications

This Snowy Owl has made a surprise arrival to the CT shoreline, about a month early. My guess is it's a female with the feather patterns. She is resting after a very long journey from the Arctic and stayed in the same spot all day long, according to those who were watching for hours.The word is getting out, but the few photographers observing on this day were keeping a respectful distance, close to 200'. My camera lens was extended to its max.

This was found in a damp environment close to the forest tree line, and about 20 meters out from a water source. The moss was stout, short, and had a radius of about 20cm. The plant was marked by leaf-like appendages, which is commonly associated with Selaginella genus. This was identified by community member on the site. Futher, they are characterized with the presence of strobilus (small branch-like emergence from the stem which contain modified leaves) and rhizophores which transition into rhisomes and protrude from various nodules in the plant stem (not just the bottom), according to site http://www.biologydiscussion.com.