May 2023
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.
Comments
May 02, 2023 Roque Bluffs, Maine Categories: Flowering plants, Insect, Mammal, Moss, Woody Shrub and Tree. Distance, .two tenths of a mile along Johnson Cove Road, beginning at the corner of Birch Lane. This is the edge of a boggy area that is slowly filling in with trees, but the ditch beside the road holds some water all year and preserves many of the bog plants. The ditch is a treasure, even though a few (not all!) of the people who live nearby dump used charcoal, fireplace ashes, extra plaster from DIY projects and unbagged garbage, and people in passing cars throw beer cans, McDonalds wrappings, plastic cups, and used diapers, and there is a trail of cigarette butts. A friend and I clean up as much as we can a few times a year. So far, the boggy ditch has survived.
Today was warm, almost 50 degrees F. and no rain. There is hardly any traffic, many summer residents have not returned yet. There is a small lavender farm on the road, less than half an acre neatly planted and fenced to protect it from the deer. The farmer has taken the caps off the little bushes and placed two picnic tables and a few Adirondack style chairs inside the enclosure.
As I approach the undeveloped boggy part of the roadside three deer bound across the road in front of me and into the very wet woods. There are always deer here. Very few plants are in bloom, so there aren't many insects yet. A movement over the gravel on the roadside catches my eye, something is flying, or maybe jumping! It's almost invisible in the gravel but I get the Canon out and shoot in the general direction. I can't tell what it is, it's too early for grasshoppers. The winged mystery flits back to a grassy patch and I follow it taking random shots in its direction. Finally I see it- a Moth, one I recognize as a lurker in grass, but I can't at the moment recall its name (Clover Looper, Caenurgina crassiuscula). It's well hidden in the grass but this little Point and Shoot Canon sometimes performs miracles so I do my part, the pointing and shooting. After that excitement I start following the ditch, almost full of water now, and in sandy soil, it's got Sphagnum of various sizes and colors. On the other side of the ditch there are several Bluet plants in bloom (Houstonia caerulea). These and Dandelions are the only things I've seen in flower so far, I'm looking for a Leatherleaf bush that Wally reported seeing near here. Halfway down the stretch I see the shrub, close to the ditch full of lovely Sphagnum, based on its color and location it might possibly be Sphagnum cuspidatum. Ralph Pope says: " The unfortunate common name is drowned kittens" ("Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts", p.50). I wonder if he made that up! The charismatic Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) is in bloom; the small shrub blends into the pale branches of other small shrubs and sapling trees closely surrounding it but the Canon does its magic and the beautifully textured and subtly colored leaves (lepidote- "covered with scurfy scales or scaly spots") are clearly visible in the photos. All this from across the ditch. I carefully over-step the Spaghnum to get a closer look and take more photos with the iPhone for an iNat app field observation. I've been looking forward all winter to this boggy place, so I am very happy. I continue toward the end of this wet area toward the drained land which has a house and garage on it, but before reaching the end of the ditch I see a small graceful tree with swollen buds, iti silhouetted against the dark wet woods, it may be a Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides), which is common here. As soon as the leaves emerge it will be easy to make an identification. I don't know if it qualifies for the Woody Shrubs and Trees in Winter, because it isn't winter now. But I've made an Observation of it. I'm going to try to putting Project tags for Journey of a Thousand Miles on the observations mentioned here. Hoping that works.
What a great walk! It's terrific that you have adopted a ditch. Are there any pitcher plants or sundews in the ditch? Were you at Ralph Pope's moss class a few years ago, the one he co-taught with Nancy? We saw a lot of drowned kittens that year.
I wish I had taken the moss class, it must have been great.
There is definitely Sundew in the ditch at a place farther along the road, but I can't remember if it is the round-leaved or the spatulate. I think i appears later in the year. I've never seen Skunk cabbage here. It's very sandy soil. This peninsula has fascinating habitat including ravines, rocky outcrops, and a sand beach. There is a bog I haven't visited, I need to ask the land-owner for permission. In recent years the bedrock is being blasted so people can locate large cottages with a view of the water, and boggy areas have been drained in places to make driveways and build houses. A natural soil cliff that was full of bank swallow nesting places when we moved here in 1985 has been covered in rip-rap by the property owners so that it won't erode.
I've been enjoying you reports from Martinique. Welcome home!
5/6/23. Montpelier Bike Trail, Montpelier, VT. 0.3 miles today, 4743.7 miles total.
Categories: insects
This afternoon my husband and I drove in to Montpelier so that he could ride his unicycle on the bike path. Meanwhile, I got to try out various mobility devices to see if any might work for me. I tried a knee scooter that we had in the barn and found it is best for non-weight-bearing. I'm past that stage now, and I want to build up my stamina for real walking, so I put that one away. Next I tried the wheeled walker, a family heirloom of sorts. To my delight, it worked well, and I was able to walk with it independently. I managed to cover 0.25 miles in a little over an hour. Not bad for a bug walk, actually. I keep a large felt basket on the seat of the walker which has great carrying capacity. I was able to carry my big camera in the basket, along with the clip-on macro lens so that I only needed one lens for near and far. I found several beetles on the ground, including a 7-spotted ? lady bug, a sun beetle, and a leaf beetle. I found some small black bees, perhaps Zadontomerus in the dandelions, and several different kinds of ants. It's great to back in the land of bugs again. What a great demonstration of why birds fly here to the temperate zone when they need bugs to feed their young.
5/7/23. Montpelier Bike Trail, Montpelier, VT. 0.4 miles today, 4744.1 miles total.
Categories: insects
This afternoon I met up with Ed in Montpelier for a short bug walk along the bike trail. Today we met at the Labor Dept. and headed east towards the high school fields. We found quite a few nomad bees around the parking lot and some ants. We headed off towards some dandelions along the high school track where we found a few more ants and some small bees. My husband came along on his unicycle and found us a great little beetle in a bare spot in the grass. We also checked out under a tarp covering a dirt pile where Ed found a camel cricket.
5/8/23. Montpelier Bike Trail, Montpelier, VT. 0.8 miles today, 4744.9 miles total.
Categories: insects
This afternoon my husband and I returned to the bike trail in Montpelier. While he rode his unicycle up and down the trail, I headed west with my walker. There weren't many insects out today--it was a little cool and windy. Still, I managed to find an American dagger moth caterpillar, a Nabis bug, a clearwing moth, and a tricolored bumblebee.
5/9/23 Montpelier bike path, Montpelier, VT. 0.2 miles today, 4745.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, insects
Today I took a short walk on the bike path while my husband rode his unicycle. I saw some goslings across the river and a yellow warbler overhead. I also found a wasp, crane fly, may fly, click beetle, and jumping spider.
5/12/23 Marshfield Pond, Marshfield, VT. 1.8 miles today, 4746.9 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooms, insects
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Marshfield Pond so that I could try out my kayak. He and my physical therapist were both concerned about whether I could get in the kayak with my stiff knee and weak leg. No problem--I was able to sit on the side and slide right in. Once on the water, it was quite exhilarating to be self-propelled with no pain. I was also pleasantly surprised at my arm strength and endurance. Crutch walking is great cross-training for kayaking! I did a clockwise circuit of the pond, sticking mostly to the shore, although I did cut across at the top. As I cut across, I paused to contemplate for the first time that that could be dangerous, especially when paddling alone early in the season when the water is cold. Of course, I was wearing my life jacket. But now I am a little more conscious that bad things could happen. It worked out on this trip, though, and I found leatherleaf, sweetgale, and service berries in bloom. I managed to shoot a bumblebee in the leatherleaf and a flea beetle. I saw a pair of common mergansers on a rock and a spotted sandpiper. I also recorded some waterthrushes, a yellow-rumped warbler, and a black-throated-blue warbler.
5/13/23 Montpelier Bike trail, Monteplier, VT. 0.1 miles today, 4747 miles total.
Categories: insects
Today my husband and I drove down to Montpelier so that he could ride his unicycle along the bike path. Meanwhile, I went for a very short walk with my walker, mostly through the parking lot. I am still very sore from my walk the other day. I guess my ankle is just not ready for a long (>0.5 mile) walk yet. The insects helped take my mind off my ankle, though. I found sawfly, hoverfly, harvestman, springtail, Lasioglossum, nomad bee, winter fire fly, and a yellow nomad bee.
5/14/23 Joe’s Pond, West Danville, VT. 2.1 miles today, 4749.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooms
Today my husband and I drove up to Joe's Pond so that he could ride his unicycle on the bike trail while I took my kayak out on the pond. The air temperature was barely 50 degrees F, and it was quite windy. I stuck close to the shore and made a counter-clockwise loop around the eastern section of the pond. At the neck that connects to the larger section of the pond, there were impressive white caps and strong winds, so I quickly crossed without attempting to enter the larger pond. On the far shore, there were a few sections with strong white caps, but I made it through OK. There were no insects to be found today, but I saw Canada goose, robin, and common loon. Blooming along the pond were leatherleaf, serviceberries, vinca, and marsh marigold.
5/18/23 Montpelier bike trail, Montpelier, VT. 0.4 miles today, 4749.5 miles total.
Categories: arthropods, frosted
Today my husband and I drove into town so that he could ride his unicycle on the bike path while I walked using my walker. I was moving very slowly, trying not to overdo and end up in pain. I found some arthropods, including a lace bug, may fly, crab spider, ant, syrphid, and even a crayfish on the trail (head only). I also saw a redstart. I took note of plants whose foliage got burned in the hard freeze this week, including white ash, ostrich fern, sumac, Japanese knotweed, poison ivy, grapes, and Virginia creeper.
5/19/23 Marshfield Pond, Marshfield, VT. 2 miles today, 4751.5 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooming
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Marshfield. While he rode his unicycle on the rail trail, I took my kayak out on the pond. One of the first birds I saw was a bald eagle, flying high above the pond. I also saw common yellowthroat, northern waterthrush, and spotted sandpipers. Blooming today around the edge of the pond were aronia and goldthread.
5/21/23 Channel Dr, Joe’s Pond, West Danville, VT. 0.9 miles today, 4752.4 miles total.
Categories: birds, blooming
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Joe's Pond so that he could ride his unicycle while I went out in my kayak. We parked along Channel Dr. beside the new section of the bike trail. The road is marked private, no trail access. But there are 2 parking spaces right beside the trail right at the bridge where the new section of the trail takes off. We parked in one of them and loaded my kayak in the water. I expected a short drift downstream to the pond, but instead found myself on a very windy creek through wetlands above the pond. I reveled in the quiet, birding by ear through the wetlands, and recorded northern waterthrush, alder flycatcher, and common yellowthroat. Not far down the creek, I found the way blocked off by a beaver dam. I tried a side passage above the dam, but came to another dam. I then turned around, went back up to the bridge, ducked under the bridge (it's quite low) and tried going up the creek. But not far above the creek was another beaver dam. I pulled into a side pond and did short stationary bird count. I came across 2 other kayakers on the creek today, a couple who were disappointed about the beavers blocking access to the pond. Blooming today were leatherleaf, marsh marigold, and painted trillium.
5/23/23 Johnson rail trail, Johnson, VT. 0.5 miles today, 4752.9 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming, frosted
This afternoon my husband and I set off to Morrisville to explore the rail trail there, but we missed a turn and found ourselves in Johnson before we knew it. We found the parking lot for the rail trail in Johnson, at Mill Park and started from there instead. The road from the park to the entrance to the trail was about 150 yards, but quite rocky. My walker refused to roll on it, so I had to walk with my cane instead. It took a very long time to walk the distance to the trail. Once there, I managed to walk perhaps 100 feet along the trail before turning around. This was a section along the backyard of a double wide, where a woman was sitting on her porch talking with her friend on the phone about her new dentures for a very long time. Then her partner came out onto the porch and said something about selling a gun to a friend who is a felon. The woman was quite upset with him, sure that the friend would commit a crime with the gun and the state would come looking for them. Meanwhile, group after group of bikers came speeding along the trail, many retirees on e-bikes. I was struck by the difference in social class between the people using the trail and the people living beside the trail. I did manage to get a few photos of insects today, including bees, ants, and ground beetles. Blooming were dandelions, forget-me-nots, and strawberries. Frosted were grapes and white ash.
5/26/23 Montpelier bike path, Montpelier, VT. 0.5 miles today, 4753.4 miles total.
Categories: blooming, birds
This afternoon my husband and I drove into Montpelier to use the bike path. While he rode his unicycle, I glided slowly along with my walker. I had hoped to capture some insects, but forgot my macro lens so decided to shoot flowers instead. Blooming today were strawberries, garlic mustard, wild chervil, golden Alexanders, white violet, alternate-leaved dogwood, pearlwort, ground ivy, and chickweed. The birds I found along the trail included a grackle, robin, and redstart.
5/27/23 Joe's Pond, West Danville, VT. 2.9 miles today, 4756.3 miles total.
Categories: blooming, birds
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Joe's Pond. While he rode his unicycle along the path I went out on the pond with my kayak. Just as we were launching the kayak, a family arrived with 4 quite bushy haired kids. I thought they and their parents looked Hawaiian, but then they started speaking a language that sounded like Georgian. Could they be Romani? All 4 kids plowed right out into the water, as if we were in Martinique or something, not in the frozen north where the ice melted barely a month ago. Indeed, I saw lots of people in the water today, and not all of them were kids. The air temperature was about 65F with lots of sun, and there was much less wind than our last visit up this way. Lots of people were at their cabins or on their docks, some setting their docks for the summer. There were quite a few powerboats on the water as well as a massive jetski, tearing around the pond. With the calmer water, I decided to venture out into the big pond. I was quite disappointed to find that the big pond was even more urban than the small section, and quite crowded with powerboats. There were constant large swells that made me feel I was out in a sea kayak on a rough day. The cottages all had sturdy seawalls along the shore, a necessity due to the violent wake from the powerboats. I challenged myself to go around a corner in the distance to see if there might be some wilderness ahead. But when I turned the corner, I found just more cottages with fancy mowed lawns and sea walls, so I turned around and returned to the small pond again. There is a large estate near the "beach" that has some undeveloped margins. I wonder if that's the governor's cottage--he is rumored to have a place on the pond. That was the only place were I found some wild blooms, some leatherleaf, some strawberries, some serviceberries. Birds today included robin, grackle, loon (poor thing!), mallard, and Canada goose.
5/28/23 Osmore Pond, Groton, VT. 1.9 miles today, 4758.2 miles total.
Categories: blooming, birds
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to Groton for an adventure. He got to use his state park pass for the first time. But the guy at the gate charged me since he said I looked way too young for the 62-year minimum age for the pass. Thank you! We drove down to Osmore Pond with my kayak. A guy in the parking lot picked up half my kayak to carry it down to the pond--what an incredible gesture that was! Once in the water I drifted up and down the pond slowly looking for blooms and birds. Mostly only leatherleaf was blooming, although I did find some mountain holly, Amelanchier, aronia, and blueberries blooming, and some Labrador tea and wild sarsaparilla ready to pop. I shot a belted kingfisher and recorded a common yellowthroat. I tried and tried for the loon, but he kept getting away. It was simply fabulous to be on a pond that is the polar opposite of Joe's Pond--no cabins, no speedboats, just quiet.
5/29/23 Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, Walden, VT. 0.6 miles today, 4758.8 miles total.
Categories: blooming, birds, bugs
This afternoon my husband and I drove up to join the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail in Walden. This new section of the trail runs past a lovely section of wetlands called Deadman's Swamp. I took out my walker while my husband rode his unicycle along the trail. I managed to walk 0.6 miles today, although the return took quite a bit of effort. I sat for a while watching birds and listening to frogs at the swamp. Blooming today along the trail were apple, pin cherry, fire cherry, hawthorn, buttercup, and dandelion. I managed to catch several bees on the apple blossoms.
5/31/23 Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, Walden, VT. 1 mile today, 4759.8 miles total.
Categories: insects, blooming
This afternoon my husband and I returned to the rail trail in Walden in hopes of finding the car key that I might have lost there the other day. No luck on the key. While my husband rode his unicycle on the trail, I took a walk with my walker. Today, for the first time, my ankle let me walk unimpeded. I walked at a decent clip, sat for a few minutes at the end to rest, turned around, and walked back with much less effort than the other day, although I walked further. The trail is so new that that are few flowering plants nearby, just a few scattered dandelions, so there weren't many opportunities to chase pollinators. Even the apple that had bees the other day wasn't attracting bees today. I managed to shoot a winter firefly, a dusky skipper, a blue butterfly, and a fly that landed on my leg. Blooming today beyond what I shot last time were choke cherry and apple.
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