December 2021: 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.
Comments
12/1/21. Peck Hill, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3670.8 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had a light dusting of new snow this morning, perhaps 1.5". By the afternoon when I went out, the new snow was covered with birch seeds. Still, I managed to find 3 wolf spiders (all live) and a winter firefly crawling on the snow.
12/2/21. Peck Hill, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3672.8 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had decent conditions for arthropod hunting today, light rain and 35F temperatures. I found 4 Linyphiid spiders, of which 3 were alive and 1 had just been run over by a car. I also found 1 wolf spider, 2 soldier beetle larvae, and a caterpillar, all alive.
12/3/21. Peck Hill, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3674.8 miles total.
Categories: bird tracks
This afternoon when I went out for my walk up Peck Hill, the air temperature was 0C, but the skies were bright blue, the wind was gusting, and it was quite dry. We had a new dusting of granular snow. The temperature on the surface of the snow was -7C, and I didn't find any arthropods at all. However, I did find plenty of turkey tracks and some grouse tracks on our driveway.
12/4/21. East Montpelier Trails, Templeton Rd, East Montpelier, VT. 2.4 miles today, 3677.2 miles total.
Categories: tracks
This morning I joined my 4 friends for our regular Saturday morning hike. We walked the Templeton Rd trails so one of my friends who is on the trail committee could check the signage. We all conferred that the signage was inadequate for anyone who does not know the trails. Apparently, there is disagreement on the committee about whether the signs should be obvious or unobtrusive. The signs that we could find were so unobtrusive that they couldn't be used for navigation by anyone who needed them. The temperature this morning was about 12F and the skies were clear with no precipitation overnight, so I was not surprised not to find any arthropods on the snow. We found lots of tracks, though, including deer, coyote, bobcat, snowshoe hare and squirrel.
12/5/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3679.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Conditions were very good for hunting arthropods on snow this morning, with a temperature of around 32F and a light dusty of snow overnight with humid air and partially cloudy skies. I already lost count of my finds before I reached the bottom of the driveway, but I had many green Tetragnatha spiders, mostly live. I also had well over 30 other spiders including at least one ground crab spider, but mostly Linyphiids. Plus some Trichocera flies, a Diamesa fly, some other nematoceran flies, and a few Brachyceran flies, lots of smooth brown caterpillars, and my first Boreus of the season. Total count for the day: 63 arthropods on snow.
12/6/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3681.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
It was warmer, near 50F today with light rain showers all day, although when I went out for my walk there was mostly no rain. There was still snow on the ground and the surface temperature was 0.5C. I predicted that it would be too warm to find arthropods, and indeed, the usual creatures were missing. I found a single Trichocera fly that paused flying long enough for me to get a photo of it on the snow. And I also found a large new-to-me bug, nearly an inch long and all black. No spiders.
12/7/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3683.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
We had heavy rain over night, but there was still snow on the ground in the morning. The temperature was about 28F with a blustery wind when I went out for my walk about noon. The driveway had turned into a skating rink and the snow had a a thick crust of ice on top. I didn't expect to find any arthropods in such conditions, but looked anyway. The only critter I found was a dead earthworm, frozen onto the ice on Peck Hill Rd.
12/8/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3685.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
The temperature was about the same today as yesterday, but we had a half inch of new snow on top of the ice. That's all we needed to call the arthropods out onto the surface. I found a Brachyceran fly, an unfamiliar beetle (?) larva and 9 spiders of various species (but no Tetragnathas).
12/9/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3687.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
We had about 2" of fluffy flurries today, although the temperature was a little cooler (-4.5C). That made for fairly good conditions for hunting arthropods. I found 6 spiders, half of them green Tetragnathas, a Trichocera fly, and a dead mosquito.
12/10/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3689.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
We had another dusting of snow overnight and the temperature rose to 32F, so the conditions for arthropod hunting were quite good this afternoon. I found lots of spiders including 1 Tetragnatha, but no green Tetragnathas, quite a few Trichocera flies, a Cecidomyia fly, an Orbellia Petersonii fly, a Chionea fly, a tiny rove beetle, a Boreus, and lots of caterpillars, all smooth, some the brown kind that I usually see and some a darker brown with thinnner bodies.
12/11/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3691.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
The temperature warmed up and we had some rain overnight and this morning. By afternoon when I went out, the rain had mostly stopped and the temperature was back down to about 40F. The snow surface was pock-marked and a bit slushy. I didn't think I would find any arthropods, so I shot some tracks instead, including red squirrel, white-tailed deer, turkey, and our neighbor's domestic duck tracks. But then up on Peck Hill I started finding arthropods, including a Trichocera fly, a Boreus scorpionfly, a soldier beetle larva, and quite a few brown caterpillars. I also found another larva of some kind that I haven't been able to identify yet.
12/12/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3693.2 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates
This morning I had hoped to meet up with my Saturday morning hiking buddies for a walk on the East Montpelier trails. We had postponed our walk a day due to hazardous driving conditions with all the rain on top of snow. However, there was so much ice on our driveway this morning that I couldn't get out. Instead, I put on my ice cleats and went for a walk up Peck Hill. We had more rain overnight and lots of heavy winds. We were really lucky that the rain came down as liquid and not ice. As it was, there were lots of branches down along the road. There were no arthropods on the snow. But I did find some galls on some downed balsam poplar branches.
12/14/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3695.2 miles total.
Categories: animals
We're in the midst of a patch of dry, sunny, blustery weather, not good for arthropods on snow. This afternoon the temperature was about 38F when I went out. There was more ice on the ground than I had thought there would be. I didn't have my snow cleats because I think walking on the cleats contributes to my plantar fasciitis. Without the cleats I had to choose my path carefully and step gingerly. I didn't find any arthropods at all on the remaining snow. But we had our regular crew of turkeys in the yard to shoot.
I find your snow arthropods fascinating. So many larvae! how do they even move around in snow? or are they doomed? And how did you get a mosquito, unless it was long dead? weird.
We've had a couple little dustings of snow, but so far no ice; trying to walk on ice is probably my least favorite part of winter, spikes or no spikes (I agree about walking on them being tough on my arches/fascia).
I'm guessing that the larva aren't doomed--I think they are built for this activity. I wish I knew what they were up to, though. There's a guy in Moscow who also chases arthropods on snow every day. He finds much the same mixture of creatures, even to the same genus. I hope by the end of this season that I will have enough meteorological measurements to go with the creatures that I can say what makes a good hunting day and what determines when they won't be found.
12/15/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3697.2 miles total.
Categories: animals
Another lousy hunting day, with air temperature around 40F, no precipitation, but cloudy skies. The roads were just as icy, if not more, but I navigated them safely even without cleats. I spotted a single Trichocera fly today, flying around. It alighted briefly on a snow bank, so I shot it there. I think that the Trichocera probably follow different rules than the other snow critters, since they regularly fly at cool temperatures, whereas the others mostly just creep and crawl on the surface.
12/16/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3699.2 miles total.
Categories: animals
The temperature was pleasantly warm today, about 50F, with partly sunny skies. We had a lot of rain overnight, and the roads were icy in the morning. By the time I went out after lunch, much of the ice had melted or just become quite rotten and ragged. Still, there was snow on the side of the road. But no arthropods. The turkeys came out to see what I was doing when I was taking my temperature and humidity measurements, so I shot them instead of bugs.
I love your curious turkeys.
12/17/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3701.2 miles total.
Categories: animals
Today the temperature wasn't quite as warm as yesterday, maybe about 40F, but with bright sunny skies and blustery winds. The snow was almost all gone, and there were only a few patches of ice, mostly on the section of Peck Hill Rd that goes through deep woods. With no snow, there was no way to see arthropods on snow. I shot the turkeys in the yard, some deer tracks in the muds, and then I found a single ruby tiger moth caterpillar crossing the road. Hurray--an arthropod!
12/18/21. Chapin Rd loop, Calais, VT. 4 miles today, 3705.2 miles total.
Categories: birds, tracks, arthropods
Today was the Christmas Bird Count. The temperature was about 30F with cloudy skies and practically no snow on the ground, one of the warmest, driest bird count days that I can remember. Our bird crew this morning consisted my a couple who are neighbors new to town, a friend from Montpelier, my husband, and myself. Working as a team, we managed to find quite a few birds, many, many more than I would have seen on my own. We had 19 species in all. Of these, I managed to shoot a black-capped chickadee, a red-breasted nuthatch, the turkeys in our yard, a goldfinch, some starlings, a house sparrow, and some very blurry long distance photos of a belted kingfisher. One of our crew was quite skilled at finding Cecropia cocoons in the trees. We found plenty of tracks in the frozen mud along the road, including deer, bobcat, raccoon, and turkey. We also found some woolly bears and a ruby tiger moth caterpillar in the road, plus a Cicurina spider. At the end of the walk, we saw the long-tailed weasel in its white fur coat under our deck.
I need to get my daughter involved in Christmas bird counts some year; I keep forgetting. How neat to have a weasel under your deck; I've never seen one outside a zoo.
12/19/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3707.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
It began snowing yesterday just as we finished the bird count, and continued through much of the night, giving us 6" of fluffy snow in all. When I went out this morning at 10 AM the temperature was -4C, which seems to be ideal for finding green Tetragnatha spiders, and indeed I found 4, plus 4 other Tetragnathas, a Cicurina spider, and a Eustala spider. I also found 2 Brachyceran flies that I didn't recognize, a Psyllid, an Acleris moth, a Coleoptera moth, and 48 Noctuid caterpillars, all that same brown non-fuzzy species, or perhaps 2 similar species. After shooting the endless herds of caterpillars, I decided to re-institute my rule from last year--just shoot the first 10 individuals of any particular species. The caterpillars were fascinating but endless.
12/20/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3709.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
This afternoon the temperature just a little colder, -5C, which put it on the margins of acceptable for arthropods in my experience to date. Still, I managed to find a Eustala spider and a green Tetragnatha spider wandering on the snow, plus a crash-landed Trichocera fly, and a dead honeybee. The honeybee was near the same location that I found the 2 last week, under an ailing aspen, so I think there may be a hive up there. I think honeybees come out to defecate on warm days, but if they misjudge the temperature, they may not make it back to the hive.
Interesting, deadly honeybee defecation, poor things. And 48 of the same caterpillar! I often think I should take more photos of common species in a given location, to better represent what's really out there, but I sure have not got the patience.
12/21/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3711.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was a bit warmer, perhaps 33F when I went out, but it was bright, sunny, and dry, so not ideal for arthropods. I found a Eustala spider in the shade, and then a big Xysticus spider sunning near the field on Peck Hill. I think the Xysticus spiders like it warmer than the other spiders. I also found an American dagger moth caterpillar, which I don't see often in winter, and one of those brown Noctuid caterpillars. And yet another dead honeybee by the poplar tree.
12-1-21. Coddington Farm, Warren, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1159 miles total
Category: fruit
This old farm is one of the closest spots to my home, and I didn't have much time today, so walked here. Fruiting I found walnut, hickory, barberry, boneset, bittersweet, orchardgrass, privet, honeysuckle, tuliptree, blackhaw, rose, little bluestem, holly, pathrush, indiangrass, dogwood, autumn olive, stickseed, purpletop tridens, broomsedge bluestem, and persimmons. This is the biggest patch of persimmons I know of, and they'd been bletted by frost but were not rotted, so I ate some, the best I've had in the wild.
12-2-21. Marchiant-Jackson-Millet Park, Elizabeth, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 1160 miles total
Categories: animals, flowering
I walked along the Newark Bay in this little undeveloped part of Port Elizabeth. I was looking for water birds and found them: ring billed gulls, buffleheads, my first horned grebe in a long time, young cormorants, Canada geese, and a great blue heron, along with a house sparrow and a junco, then, as I was leaving, a feral cat and a groundhog (peeking out of his hole).
There were a remarkable number of things still flowering (especially considering it's December!): peppergrass, red clover, white clover, fat hen, white snakeroot, an aster, autumn clematis (I've never even seen that bloom in October before), late boneset, an unfamiliar aster, henbit, and a completely new plant for me: matrimony vine.
12-5-21. Eastfields, Martinsville, NJ. 1 mile today, 1161 miles total
This was the first time I'd walked this park , which is downstream from my home, since the big flood. There are some small cliffs here at the edge of the water, but the storm had deposited gravel at the base of them, so for the first time I was able to walk along at brook level instead of only up top.
Interesting things included a red bellied woodpecker, the trails of an emerald ash borer, rock polypody, some kind of orange jelly fungus, common tarcrust, what might have been a dryad's saddle, ghost pipe fruit, and witchhazel flowers.
12-6-21. Middle Brook Trail, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1161.5 miles total
Category: fleshy fruit
Here was another trail I'd not walked since the storm, on a different fork of the same brook. This one is made up of boardwalks put in by Boy Scouts around 20 years ago, and one was already broken, which is why I'd avoided it. Well, boardwalks float, and nearly every one had been shoved around 10 feet out of place on average. It was like a giant had reached down and crumpled them up. I have no idea how (if) they will ever fix all this. So sad.
I was looking for fleshy fruit, especially I wanted to see if I could find the poison sumac back here in fruit. I think I was a little late in the year anyway, but when I got to the spot, a big tree had fallen right on the sumac and I couldn't (with the leaves off) find any trace of it at all. I'll have to check again in the spring. I did find honeysuckle, rose, a ton of winterberry, barberry, blackhaw, privet, and bittersweet. Also fruiting were wild yam and virgin's bower.
12-7-21. Hoffheimer Trail, Warren, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1162 miles total
Categories: fleshy fruit, birds
I took a quick walk around the dump today (well through the woods and by a pond, which happen to surround the town municipal works complex). I was looking for fleshy fruit and found privet, rose, barberry, burning bush, blackhaw, honeysuckle, and bittersweet.
I also had an eye out for birds and got a junco, a song sparrow, and a pair of mallards, but, just as I was almost back to the car, I shot a woodpecker, assuming it was a downy/hairy. Only to get home and find out it was my first ever yellowbellied sapsucker! Neat.
12-8-21. Waterfront and Cedar Parks, Keyport and Fisherman's Lot, Absecon, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 1163.5 miles total
Categories: birds, shells, flowering
I drove to the Raritan Bayshore and walked as several shorefront parks. Birdwise, I saw ring billed, great black backed, and herring gulls, pigeon, house sparrow, song sparrow, cormorant, brant, bufflehead, and red throated loons. And I got to hear the loons calling, which is very rare for me.
Mollusk-wise there were ribbed mussels, oysters, slipper snails, jingles, plus jacknife, surf, soft shell and quahog clams. Blooming were prostrate knotweed, searocket, groundsel, lamb's quarters (I think, it's hard to tell flowers from fruit), sow thistle, seaside goldenrod, Japanese honeysuckle, and autumn clematis. It's such a weird fall; even the forsythia in my yard is blooming, nearly as much as it does in the spring. And it's nearly Christmas!
12-9-21. Delaware Raritan Canal, Somerset, NJ. 1 mile today, 1164.5 miles total
They have string-trimmed the edges of the canal towpath here. It also had some of the gravel washed away in September's flood, so it was not as pleasant a walk as it could have been, but still, it was nice to get out. No real surprises here, though this is one of the best spots around for Virginia wild rye. The swamp rose, barberry, and callery pear were very pretty.
Sounds like some fun walks! It's hard for me to imagine persimmon in the wild. I planted one out in our back field when the catalog claimed it was hardy to Zone 4. It wasn't, and died after a year. It's amazing to hear all the plants that are still blooming for you. I never thought of white snakeroot as a late bloomer, or Japanese honeysuckle. Congrats on the yellowbelly and matrimony vine! I've never seen red-throated loons, what a cool find! I wonder which plants got moved along with the boardwalk by the flood.
12/22/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3713.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was about the same as yesterday, near 35F. But the sky was completely overcast and we had light snow showers, which made for better bugging. I found a Tetragnatha spider, a pirate wolf spider, a Linyphiid, a Eustala, and a Clubionid. Larvae today were a dagger moth caterpillar, a soldier beetle, and one of those brown Noctuid caterpillars, just one today. I also had 7 Trichocera flies and 2 caddisflies, and an interesting beetle that looked like a larder or skin beetle--perhaps it was one.
12/23/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3715.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
The temperature was a bit cooler today, 21F, with bright sun and some wind. I didn't think I'd find any bugs, but then I found a single micro moth, frozen onto the top of a snowbank, poor thing.
12/24/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3717.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was quite cool, 8F, with a bit of breeze. There were absolutely no arthropods crawling about, but I managed to find some fresh deer tracks.
12/25/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3719.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
It was quite a bit warmer today, too warm, with freezing rain and a fresh 1/2" coat of ice over all surfaces when I went, so once again, not good for arthropod hunting. I managed to find a single frozen honeybee near the dying poplar by the field. I also got to greet all the neighbors along the way, who were all out despite the ice.
It will be interesting to see what your arthropod finding weather parameters end up being. I so rarely see them on snow (but of course we get far less snow) but I also wonder how often I actually make it within your parameters. I have to say, though, that it's nice to hear about you having trouble finding anything as well.
12/26/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3721.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had a half inch of fresh snow last night on top of the ice. So even though the temperature and cloud cover were about the same, conditions were quite good for bug hunting. I found 2 Chionea flies (and packed them up to ship to Washington state for testing), 4 scorpionflies, 1 Coleophora moth, 1 caddisfly, 5-6 brown Noctuid caterpillars, 1 gray geometer caterpillar, 1 soldier beetle larva, and lots of spiders, including some wolf spiders, a large Xysticus, some Linyphiids, and several brown Tetragnathas (but no green ones--too warm). I also found 4 dead honeybees on top of the snow under the bee tree.
12/27/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3723.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
The temperature today was about 24F and the skies were overcast. I had some unexpected errands and was not able to get out for my walk until 4 PM. I took a headlamp since I knew it would be dark by the time I was half through with my walk. I found a wolf spider, a green Tetragnatha spider, and a Trichocera fly while there was still a bit of light in the sky. After I turned my headlamp on, the light only lasted 5 minutes before the battery ran out. I tried using my cell phone as a flashlight but found I didn't have a flashlight app (and there's no cell service here, so downloading an app on the road is impossible). So I had to walk the rest of the route in the dark. Still, I managed to find 5 frozen honeybees under the bee tree.
12/28/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3725.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
The temperature this afternoon when I went out was about 35F with very light snow, great for arthropod hunting. I found a scorpionfly, 3 Orbellia flies, lots of the brown Noctuid caterpillars (which my friend Eve told me later in the evening are Noctua pronuba moths), a soldier beetle larva, lots of Trichocera flies, and at least a dozen spiders, including some brown Tetragnathas and wolf spiders (but no green Tetragnathas--too warm).
12/29/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3727.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
This afternoon was warm, about 36F, overcast, with no snow. I found several Trichocera flies, a snow scorpionfly, and at least 6-8 spiders of various kinds. Along the way, I encountered a neighbor who I haven't seen in at least a year. She seemed eager for socialization and asked me to show her some snow spiders. We didn't see any for quite a while, but then we found 2 right at the bottom of her driveway. That really made her day, and mine too.
12/30/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3729.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was a little warmer, perhaps 38F, but the snow surface temperature was still 0.3C. Skies were overcast, and we had a light dusting of new snow overnight, so conditions for hunting were pretty good. I found at least a dozen spiders, including a green Tetragnatha, some wolf spiders, some Linyphiids, and some Entelegynes. I also found a few Noctua pronuba caterpillars, a Geometer caterpillar, lots of Trichcera flies, a few Brachyceran flies, a rove beetle, several tiny wasps, and a Cuerna striata leafhopper.
so many different kinds of bug you find in the snow, it's fascinating. And how frustrating to have your light die on you.
12/31/21. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 3731.2 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was warmer still, near 40F, but the skies were overcast still and rain was threatening. I didn't think I would find much, but finally I found 2 wolf spiders, a money spider, a Trichocera fly, several Orbellia petersonii flies, and a couple of dead honeybees. I also found a snow bunting on the field, which was quite exciting for me, only the second time I have seen one in my life, and the first one close to home. I struggled to photograph it with my macro lens, but I think I managed to capture it.
12-12-21. Washington Valley Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 1165.25 miles total
A pretty, sunny day, but my legs were sore, so I wanted somewhere flat to walk. This ended up being a little more muddy (and therefore slippery) than I expected, but not bad. I was mostly looking for pretty things to photograph and ended up with photos I like of honeysuckle, deertongue, border privet, oriental bittersweet, wineberry, Chinese silver grass, Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, blackberry, some moss I can't ID, English ivy, linden viburnum, tulip tree, and slippery elm.
12-13-21. Dock Watch Hollow Rd. Warren, NJ. 0.25 miles today, 1165.5 miles total.
Category: fleshy fruit
I didn't have much time today and I wanted to see if any fruit were left on the Japanese aralia trees nearby. I didn't find any, but I did find rose, honeysuckle, privet, barberry, and some scat that was absolutely chock full of what looked to me like hackberry fruit (though I didn't look all that closely).
12-14-21. River Rd. Park. Bedminster, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 1166.5 miles total.
I walked a new to me path at this local park today, it started out annoyingly close to a highway but then turned and followed the river, which was much more pleasant. Not a lot of surprises here: wingstem, bottlebrush grass, sensitive fern, stinging nettle, sheep sorrel are all on the unusual side for me. Then there was a dead woolybear on the side of the road, and some flour of an hour fruit under a bench at the ball field by the parking lot, something I've never seen in winter before.
12-15-21. Chimney Rock Park, Bridgewater, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 1167.25 miles total.
Category: fruit
Today I walked at a very familiar park, but managed to find a little piece of a trail that I'd not walked on before. Plus they moved a picnic bench into a tiny clearing in a juniper wood, and a sat there briefly and read my book, enjoying the privacy. Fruit-wise I found garlic mustard, privet, rose, juniper, goldenrod, burning bush, barberry and bottlebrush. but other surprises were a big burl, some woodland stonecrop, and what I think is Japanese honeysuckle with leaves very purple below.
12-16-21. Watchung Lake, Watchung, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 1168.5 miles total.
This lake is a very popular spot to walk, as it's pretty and has a paved loop trail. I didn't do the loop, but rather explored the edges of the playfield then went out to a gazebo and back. But on the way I ran into an old friend I'd not seen in years, which was neat. Surprising finds today included dodder, the "other" monkeyflower (M. alatus), some moldy alder aphid remains, both kinds of vulture (not really a surprise; this is the most reliable local spot for vultures), sweet everlasting, hooded mergansers (rare for me), and my first ever Veronica anagallis-aquatica, in bloom, no less.
12-19-21. Bayonne Golf Course, Bayonne, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 1170 miles total
category: birds
I took Katie and Molly to walk along the edge of this golf course on a little bay in New York Harbor, looking for water birds. We found mallard, herring gull, pigeon, ring billed gull, Canada goose, gadwall, ruddy duck (rare for me), great blue heron, bufflehead, black duck, mockingbird (not in the water!), common merganser, and a juvenile black crowned night heron.
12-20-21. Chimney Rock Park, Martinsville, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1170.5 miles total
My legs were very sore today, so I chose a spot that's entirely paved. I challenged myself to see what I could find to photograph just at the entrance to this park, in a bit that I would normally dismiss as too manicured to bother with. There was a sweetgum tree and a box here, both of which had very colorful leaves, and a very pretty dusty miller plant. I found chickweed, dandelion, ground ivy, clover, bittercress, oniongrass, and grape growing wild, plus some kind of ball-shaped fungus. On the sign for the park there was a little roof of asphalt shingle and I found 5 kinds of lichen on it, plus three kinds on tree trunks (and a moss). And then my battery died, so I just walked the sidewalks to get a little exercise, instead of taking photos.
12-21-21. Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1171 miles total.
I walked at this preserve through a shrubby area and a maintained meadow. Unusual for me finds were princess tree, wild bergamot, swamp rose mallow, sweetbay magnolia, cinnamon willowherb, and winter honeysuckle in bloom.
12-23-21. Mountain Park, Liberty Corner, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 1171.75 miles total
I was looking to take a very short walk here, but kept running into birds and going a little further... I saw a red shouldered hawk, which surprised me and I was only able to photograph one wing and a bit of breast and tail. As someone at the Bird ID Facebook site pointed out, it's the only Buteo that's identifiable from just that bit of the bird. Then there was a blue jay, a cardinal, maybe the hawk again (blurry), and a turkey vulture, then a bunch of pear trees absolutely full of birds, including lots of bluebirds plus house finches, white throated sparrows, robins, and juncos. A very exciting day, especially since this is one of my most visited parks.
12-26-21. Rock Meadow, Belmont, MA. 1.0 miles today, 1172.75 miles total
We went up to visit my sister in Boston (really Arlington) after Christmas. Our first walk was here at a meadow and damp woodland. I found European euonymus, sheep laurel, spotted wintergreen, and lots of moss and lichens
12-27-21. Horn Pond, Woburn, MA. 1.0 mile today, 1173.75 miles total
In the evening I drove up here alone to walk, and as soon as I got out of the car I spotted a bald eagle! Then there was a red-tailed hawk, hooded and common mergansers, mallards, and a mallard-black duck cross, plus an oriole nest. The hawk had something wrong such that there was a huge bulge in the upper chest/lower throat area. Do birds get goiters?
12-28-21. Habitat, Belmont, MA. 0.5 miles today, 1174.25 miles total
Katie and I walked in the woods at this Audubon reserve and saw a chestnut, big bluestem, and hoof fungus, all of which are unusual for me. There was a squirrel but not a single bird close enough to photograph.
12-31-21. Tullo Rd., Martinsville, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 1174.75 miles total
I was on duty today and this is the closest park to my squad building. I did have a few surprises: giraffe spot fungus, and a pussytoes. I shot a robin, a starling, and a junco. I had also just read that our border privet has only one seed per fruit where the similar common privet (not common here) has multiple. So I squished a seed and proved it.
It was fun to read about your late December walks. Scat inspector...that sounds like a fun job title, and woolybear counter. It was great to hear about your bird finds. Both black and turkey vultures on one day is really cool. We mostly only get turkey vultures up here in the north, and never in December. Ruddy ducks and black-crowned night herons take some skill to find. I wonder if there is a project for sick birds on iNaturalist where someone could diagnosis the hawk's problem. I've never been to Habitat in Belmont. Next time I visit my sister in Medford, I hope to check it out. That's quite interesting to hear about the privet seeds. We don't have any this far north, but when I do see them, I'll try to remember to give them a squish. Congrats on the Veronica anagallis-aquatica!
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