SwampThings

For Your Consideration

2012-01-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

A little something to ponder this Friday evening...I found this on a rain-soaked boardwalk in the swamp forest following a bit of a blow this morning. Do you know what it is? (And yes, I do know and I will tell you tomorrow.)

Out of Sync

2012-01-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

This winter has been warm and drier than usual. As a result, things have been a bit out of sync. Take these little fellows, for instance. They should be snug in their ootheca for a while yet. Instead, they have emerged in the middle of January.

I wish you good luck little mantids, you're going to need it.

Miscellany

2012-01-18T17:07:00.001-05:00

During the course of the day, numerous things will catch my eye. Sometimes they are things that others may find interesting and other times, not so much. Trouble is, I never know which it will be...

For instance, here we have a supple-jack vine growing up a tree and through a hole in the tree. It goes in on one side,

and comes out on the other. I find myself wondering what's going to happen when that hole eventually closes as the tree grows. It is going to be very odd looking, don't you think?

And then there are the little unexpected treasures like this empty swallowtail chrysalis on the underside of a holly leaf. I love happening upon things like this.

Some things that I happen upon may be considered gruesome by some folks. Take this particular find...

Yep, it's a opossum head that has been liberated from its body. It was just sitting along the edge of the trail. Don't you wonder what lucky predator went to bed with a full belly on a cold night as a result? Sure, the outcome was probably not one the 'possum wanted, but that's the way it goes in the swamp.

Besides, it gave me a great look at the unfortunate critter's hind foot.

Some things that catch my eye just make me mad. I spotted a bit of unnaturally bright color on the forest floor and I knew immediately what it was.

See it there in the center of the photo? Arrgghh...another balloon!

I HATE BALLOONS! Or, perhaps more accurately, I hate the fact that some people don't think twice about letting go of helium-filled balloons. People, what goes up, must come down. When it comes down it is no longer a festive party decoration, it's litter. And dangerous litter, too, particularly if it lands in the ocean - and the ocean is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Please, please, please do not release helium-filled balloons!!!!!!!

(This concludes my rant - at least until I find another balloon miles out in the swamp.)

Poke It With a Stick

2012-01-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

Walking down the trail with Treebeard on Sunday, I spied a little pile of fur in the middle of the trail...

...hmmm, a portion of scat or perhaps a pellet?

Being nature nerds of the first water, we paused to investigate.

A quick sniff test from a safe distance revealed no odor so it was more likely a pellet than a bit of scat.

Next step in our investigative technique: poke it with a stick.

Ah ha! A curved claw of decent size revealed itself.

A little more stick work and two incisors of the rodent persuasion appeared.

Our conclusion? An owl pellet containing the remains of an unfortunate gray squirrel.

Isn't being outside fun?

Color-themed Hike

2012-01-08T16:23:00.000-05:00

Another Sunday off, another Sunday walk. Today's walk had an unexpected color theme - burgundy. I didn't even notice until I got home and downloaded my photos...

Brook-side alder (Alnus serrulata)

Sporting spiffy reproductive structures. The long structures are the male bits, the smaller parts up top are the female bits. If you want to figure out the proper botanical terms, go for it :)

A fern, probably in the family Ophioglossaceae.

The rest we saw were green, but this one was growing right out in the trail and had its burgundy on.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) bud waiting patiently for spring.

A cricket frog (Acris sp.), either an Eastern or a Coastal Plain.

Both live here. When this little fellow hopped, I surprised myself by catching it with a blind grab into the water. I handed it off to Treebread so I could get a picture of how tiny it was.

Such a cutie. Nothing beats a frog to put a smile on my face.

I have a few other images to share, but they will have to wait for another post. They didn't conform to the color theme.

The Right Kind of Fire

2012-01-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

You'd think after the summer we had, the last thing we would be interested in doing would be setting fires. You'd be wrong though. Conditions were just right for a controlled burn at the pond so we suited up and let her roll. We started along the shore line and worked our way into the woods.

Here you can see two lines of flame coming together. That's what you want to see on a burn. The flames weren't too hot or too high and we got good coverage on the forest floor.

We did get a hot spot or two that we had to keep an eye on. The flames above are from an old long-leaf pine stump that caught up. Old pine stumps like this are just about pure "fat" wood and when they burn, they burn hot.

You can see by the scooped scar on this stump that this tree was used to provide pitch back in the day. You can also see that the openings around the base made for near perfect chimney conditions, adding to the intensity of the blaze. I sort of hated to see this one burn. It was a little piece of history. But it's is probably best that it burned while we were there to monitor it rather than during an actual wildfire.

Hope everyone has had a great start to 2012 - I can't believe we are already a full week into the new year.

First Walk 2012

2012-01-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to one and all! Yesterday was a fine day to be out taking a first-of-the-year walk. I had the day off so we headed into the woods for a ramble. Below are just a few of the things we saw...

Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus

Treebeard and I started our bird lists out with different birds this year. His first bird of the year was an eastern bluebird and mine was a cedar waxwing. We aren't avid list-keepers, we do it more as a way to compare species present from year to year. We enjoy birding as a part of any walk but we seldom bird as an end unto itself -- there is just too much other stuff to see out there :)

We flipped a log or two as we walked and were rewarded with a variety of things. Some logs sheltered salamanders. We found a total of four and they were gracious enough to pose for photos. If you flip, please remember to put the log (or whatever) back the way you found it. It is, after all, something's home.

Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus

Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma opacum

This one is reflecting blue sky.

Our second marbled...

...and our third. Each one's pattern is different.

While it is not unusual to find aquatic turtles out basking on mild winter days, we seldom ever find a box turtle out in winter. It was a surprise to spot this fellow out enjoying the day. I poked around a bit and found the hole he had emerged from just a foot or two from where he was sunning. Hopefully he boogied back into that hole as the sun went down. It's supposed to be cold the next few days.

Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina

It's a boy! Note the concave plastron.

He had a little age on him. I'll have to count his "rings" sometime. I will also go back and check my catalog of box turtle photos. There is a strong possibility that I've seen this turtle before.

A rustle in the leaf litter drew my attention at one point. My first thought was that I had startled a ground skink, but upon closer examination I discovered the noise was created by a horntail. Horntails belong to the same group of insects as wasps, bees, and ants. They lay their eggs in dead and dying trees and the larvae eat the wood. They are also known to transmit white-rot fungus. You could think of them as clean-up crews.

Best guess... Asian Horntail, Eriotremex formosanus, but don't hold me to that.

Sitting on Treebeard's finger to give a since of scale.

This one is a female. The longer "tail" is an ovipositor.

Our last log flip of the day yielded a cute little surprise. Tucked safely under the log, this anthill was a perfect little dome. We often see ants working under dead logs, but this is the first time we have found such a tidy little hill.

Species unknown. I wish E. O. Wilson would stop by and ID the builders for us!

Thanks for joining us on our first walk. I hope this new year will be better than the last!

Say Ahhhh

2011-10-25T21:26:00.000-04:00

You just have to love baby rat snakes. They are tiny and totally fierce. They can also be hard to see. As I stepped out of the office door today I nearly stepped on this little fellow. He sort of blended into the gravel of the walkway.

Of course I picked him up. How could I not? He was just so darned cute. He did not find me cute, however. He immediately went on the defensive and showed me all his teeth (tiny though they were).

I admired him for a bit before putting him down. Too few snakes make it to adulthood -- they are so very vulnerable at this stage. Everything wants to eat them. I hope this little fellow makes it through.

He has moxie ;)

Look Out Below

2011-10-24T21:28:00.000-04:00

Late this afternoon as I was walking the boardwalk at work, I came across an interesting sight.

It was an apparent bear scat, complete with black gum berries and seeds. The weird thing was that it was a giant splat. Hmmm, could it be that bears don't do it in the woods, but rather in the trees??

I looked up. Way, way up...

So could that be the culprit? Time to zoom in.

Yep, there, about 80 or 90 feet up, was a black bear. He was happily munching out on black gum berries. Guess he couldn't be bothered to climb down the tree to answer nature's call. Instead, he just let fly from above.

Let this be a reminder to one and all -- take the time to look up now and then. And wear a hat.

Hanging In There

2011-09-01T20:54:00.000-04:00

We were lucky, Irene battered us for a long time, but she didn't break us -- at least not here in the swamp. She certainly pounded the stuffing out of several nearby locations though. No damage to our house, just the minor inconvenience of no power for five days and no phone for three. Like I said, we were very, very lucky.

Waiting for Irene

2011-08-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update on things in NE NC...

The fire in the swamp continues to burn but firefighters are being pulled out because of an approaching hurricane. The good news is that we are expecting 8 to 12 inches of rain with this system. The bad news is the wind over the area is expected to be 65 mph, sustained.

We have secured everything that can be secured and emergency provisions are in place. Now we wait to see if Irene is going to behave herself. At the very least we expect torrential rains and wide-spread power outages. I'll be back when I can to share photos and let you know how we fared. Meanwhile, if you, too, are in the path of this storm, please stay safe!

Still Burning

2011-08-18T10:47:00.000-04:00

Waiting for word.

The fire continues to burn but it's creeping now instead of roaring. We have been reinforcing lines and clearing ditch banks so large pumps can be installed to pump water from one area to another in an attempt to saturate the peat in front of the fire. In some areas the fire is burning under the roads, creating access problems. A mild-mannered tropical system would be quite welcome about now.

Deja Vu All Over Again

2011-08-11T07:21:00.000-04:00

You hope for rain and you get lightning...I guess that's the way it is sometimes. We're fighting fire again in the swamp. It started pretty close to the same place a fire started in 2008, but this one, at only a week old, is already larger than that one -- and the '08 fire burned for four months.

Catching Up

2011-07-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

Lest you think I have fallen off the edge of the earth (or more likely, into the swamp), I figured I'd better blow the dust off this blog and at least post a few pictures.

It has been hazy, hot, and humid with very little rain this summer. I have touched paddle to water only once or twice and have done next to no hiking on my days off. The end result is that I have very few pictures to share. Most of my time outdoors at work has been leading groups -- not the best circumstances under which to take photos! Strolls about the yard have offered up a few things to share, however, so here you go...

Seems the hummers have finally located us here at the "new" house. We aren't getting the numbers we got at the old house, but we've seen a steady increase over the past three summers here. To date this season we have fed 65 pounds of sugar.

Given the dryness of the spring and summer, frogs have been hard to find. This Cope's Gray Treefrog put in an appearance after one of our infrequent showers. Here at the house, the gray treefrogs are the predominant species.

Male velvet ants are abundant this year but I don't think they're having much luck getting lucky. Normally we see loads of females and just a few males. This year the opposite has been true.

Pest insects have been present in large numbers. Stink bugs, leaf-footed bugs, squash borers, and Japanese beetles have all been making themselves at home in the garden. The good thing is that wheelbugs are present, too. It's nice to have allies in the war against garden pests ;)

We have several hazelnut trees on our property. We have no idea how they got here, but we are doing our best to make them happy. Of course, we have to fight the squirrels for the nuts when they get ripe. The crop looks okay this year so far...

That's about all I have to share right now. If it's summer where you are, take care and stay cool.

If Only She Could Talk

2011-06-17T14:40:00.000-04:00

It's been so dry here that box turtles have been hard to come by. I found this old girl on the highway one morning after one of the very few showers we've had. She looked familiar, and it could be that I have photographed her before. I need to go through all my box turtle pictures to be sure.

Wouldn't it be interesting to hear her life story? If only box turtles could talk...

After I took her picture multiple times I let her go where I found her - moved to the side of the road in the direction she was headed, of course ;) Live long(er) and prosper.

Monday's Paddle

2011-06-01T08:12:00.000-04:00

We headed out onto the pond Monday morning to get a little paddling done before the heat of the day set in. It was beautiful -- the swamp roses were blooming everywhere, lending a delicate fragrance to the breeze. The trees provided ample shade from a blazing sun and there was life everywhere we looked. What more do you need?

Under the trees the very air seemed green.

Many of the stumps hosted swamp rose in full bloom.

In turn, the rose bushes played host to an assortment of critters.

Bumblebee

Black Saddlebags dragonfly

Hmm...how'd that get in there? ;)

The requisite green treefrog.

There are some unusual looking trees out on the pond. I have written before about the effects of the mistletoe on the growth of tree branches. The mistletoe that grew on this tupelo gum gave it a decidedly unicorn-like appearance.

Okay, so what if it is a pencil-necked, mule-faced unicorn?

While paddling out on the pond you have to be prepared for youngsters trying to hitch a ride.

I have absolutely no idea which species of damselfly this is. Identifying teneral (newly emerged) odonates is a bit beyond my abilities.

And there are plenty of teneral odonates out there. Just about anywhere you look you can find a shed from a naiad. Here we found the exuviae of a dragonfly naiad as well as that of a spider. There's a lot of growing going on out there.

Speaking of spiders, this one found a spot of shade in the top of a mushroom growing on the side of a dead tree out on the pond.

We found a number of bird nests while we were out paddling. I opted not to photograph them because I didn't want to stress out the parent birds. Instead, I will offer up this iridescent feather.

When the temperature crept up into the 90s, we decided to call it a morning and head in. We're not as into basking in the blazing sun as this yellowbelly slider.

Denizens of the Yard

2011-05-31T07:56:00.000-04:00

A quick turn about the yard this weekend revealed some critters that call our property home, too.

Under the stoop on the shady side of the yard we discovered a very well fed toad...

An eastern kingbird was sitting atop a pine, keeping an eye on the garden. He eats an amazing number of insects!

Number 33 was on patrol along the path we keep mowed. She is a beauty of a young box turtle. We hope she spends many happy years with us here.

Out on the carport we spied a young praying mantis on the prowl. We have had a bumper crop of mantids this year.

Cruising the edge of the yard, in a section of the property we maintain in an old field succession state, we noticed several spangled skimmers keeping an eye on things. This one is a male.

I love the variety of life just outside my door.

A Battle Ensues

2011-05-30T17:10:00.000-04:00

This time of year there is a war going on in our yard. It's a fight over who is going to get the blueberries...
We have a good stand of a variety of bushes, with the berries ripening at different times to prolong the harvest. Fresh blueberries at breakfast is one of the delights of the season.

It seems, though, that we aren't the only ones with a taste for the little nuggets. A certain summer tanager has his sights set on them, too. He discovered them last year and the long intervening winter did not cause him to forget them. He is downright brazen about snatching the berries. He'll sit on the adjacent grape vine, announce his intentions with a chatter, and dive right under the bird-netting to snag a berry. Then it's back to the grape vine to nom it down.

The evidence of his crime...

That bird needs to go eat a bee and leave our blueberries alone.

A Few Pond Shots

2011-05-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

A few shots of the pond taken yesterday afternoon...

I first laid eyes on this place the spring of 1978. Little did I know that I was peering into my future. Such a beautiful place and so full of wonder for those who take the time to explore.

Swamp rose, Rosa palustris

Blueberries growing on a stump out in the pond.

Is Something Bugging You?

2011-05-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Loads of critters are active in the yard this week. Treebeard was kind enough to provide perches for some so I could take some pictures.

Here we have a little whisper of a bug, a juvenile leaf-footed bug. It just assumed that Treebeard's hand was an extension of the plant it had been sitting on. One wonders how something that starts out so cute can become such a pain in the garden when it matures.

A rustle in the weeds drew our attention to this shield-backed katydid. She didn't take kindly to being caught and set about munching on Treebeard's hand. She put her weight behind it, too ;) Katydids in general have some pretty strong jaws and they can deliver an impressive pinch when they are this size.

Last, but by no means least, we have a pale jumping spider. Yes, I know, it isn't particularly pale. That's because this one is a male. The common name comes from the appearance of the female -- she is pale. Whenever we hold spiders we are very gentle. So far neither of us has been bitten. Spiders are not out to get you (FC, SIL, Maineac, et al)

Mug Shots

2011-05-18T17:40:00.000-04:00

If you plan on walking our property line down near the swamp, watch your step. We have some ornery neighbors down that way and they aren't shy about walking across our land.

Common snapping turtle

Looks like it's been doing some muddin'.

Raccoon "Cookies"

2011-05-17T08:19:00.000-04:00

Sorry the picture is a tad blurry -- blame it on the low light conditions in my kitchen. So, why would one create such cookies? For a scat ID program, of course! Besides, they are quite tasty. Want one?

Flowers Along the River

2011-05-10T18:29:00.000-04:00

Our day along the river yielded more than fish. Tucked along the bank here and there was a nice variety of flowering plants...

A viburnum -- most likely Arrow-wood

American snowbell

Blueflag iris

Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp.)

Lance-leaved violet

Fishing on the Chowan

2011-05-08T12:34:00.000-04:00

Treebeard and I fished the Chowan River last Monday. We caught a nice variety of fish, but we didn't keep any of them. Several of the bluegill we caught were definitely big enough to keep though.

Something with a large mouth had hold of this bluegill at some point. Except for the nasty looking wounds, the fish seemed to be okay. Treebeard said it put up a fight when he caught it. I hope it heals up.

Around here this fish is known as a speckle or a speckled perch. Some of you may call it a black crappie.

Only one largemouth bass managed to be caught during our trip. Treebeard caught it. That was fine with me. I don't care much for bass.

Sometimes you see some odd things when you're fishing. This shellcracker, a.k.a. redear sunfish, had an unusual shape.

I thought this pumpkin seed that I caught was the prettiest fish of the day. The photo doesn't do justice to its colors.

My vote for least attractive fish of the day goes to this warmouth, a.k.a. chub robin or goggle eye. You can see where the goggle eye name comes from, I don't know how chub robin came about.

We caught several yellow perch. Raccoon perch is what folks around here call them.

They have a pretty red pelvic fin.

We also caught a number of white perch. These are tasty fish :)

Last, but not least, here is the one robin that was caught. These are also called redbreast sunfish.

We had a nice day on the river. There were a few large power boats out, but the kayaks handled the wakes with grace.

Lupines in Bloom

2011-05-05T07:40:00.000-04:00

Treebeard and I spent the day on the Chowan River on Monday. On the way in to our launch point, we enjoyed the sights of lupines in bloom in the Sandbanks.

River Denizen

2011-05-04T08:32:00.002-04:00

Down in the Ditch

2011-05-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

Once a year there is paddle madness along this historic canal. Hundreds of kayaks and canoes launch from the park where I work and head north into Virginia. The paddle is a tad over 7 miles and attracts paddlers of all skill levels. Thankfully, this Saturday was bright and beautiful with temps in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Everyone seemed to enjoy the paddle -- even those folks I had to remind to don their life jackets as per the rules of the event ;)

Three miles into the paddle, boats prepare to cross the state line.

There were several craft powered by peddling. They were popular with tired paddlers who wanted to catch a tow for a while. This lady was kind enough to let her friends hitch a ride for a bit.

I usually direct traffic during the unloading of the boats for the event, but this year I got to ride in a chase boat. It was a nice change of pace.

Monday, Along the Boardwalk

2011-04-26T08:38:00.000-04:00

Needing a moment to collect my thoughts yesterday, I opted for a quick walk along the boardwalk. Seems several other critters had the same idea.

A doe was enjoying the tender new shoots of a smilax. They are a tasty treat. I snagged a few myself along the way.

A green snake was catching some rays. It found a nice comfortable cypress knee in the sun...

at least until I disturbed it and it moved on.

Several Lace-winged Roadside Skippers were out and about. All of them too busy to pose for a close-up though.

Leaves of Three?

2011-04-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

Sure, if it's got leaves of three let it be. But how about this:

While #2 son, Flamebrain, was home this weekend he spied this unusual specimen of poison ivy growing in the yard. His comment was something like, what is this five-leaved stuff that looks remarkably like poison ivy? Well, it was poison ivy as evidenced by leaves lower down on the plant.

Sneaky stuff, poison ivy. Flamebrain and Treebeard both have spectacular reactions to contact with Toxicodendron radicans, making them hyper observant and attuned to its presence. I'm not sure I would have noticed this particular variation.

Gustatory Delights

2011-04-23T08:35:00.000-04:00

Our younger son, known on this blog as Flamebrain, is home for the weekend. He arrived bearing gifts. Along with an assortment of stouts and ales that we can't procure locally, he brought us a sampling of his home-brewed ciders and sodas. We sampled an apple-cherry cider last night with dinner. Quite tasty.

In addition to the brews, he brought a variety of gingery treats for his mom and chocolate and coconut confections for his dad. And, being our son, he brought something just a little different for us to try: boiled silkworms. Nothing says love to a parent like a can of boiled silkworms ;)

As you can see, there are no English instructions on the can. So exactly how does one eat a boiled silkworm? Off to the internets to find out.

According to several sources, the bugs are "perfectly safe" to eat directly from the can.

Being an intrepid soul when it comes to eating, I immediately plucked one of the little suckers out of the soup and popped it in my mouth. Smelled sort of funky, but it tasted pretty good.

Flamebrain and Treebread each tried one. The consensus was that they were okay but would be better if they had a little crunch to them.

I spread them out on a baking dish and popped them into a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

A plate of roasted silkworms with just a splash of apple cider vinegar. I ate the majority of the little bugs. Flamebrain and Treebeard ate a few, but they didn't care for the smell.

***What I learned about boiled silkworms:
To obtain silk for making cloth, the cocoon must be intact. This means that the critter inside must be dispatched before it completes its metamorphosis. Said dispatching is accomplished by dropping the cocoons into boiling water. It takes a bunch of cocoons to get enough silk to make cloth, so one ends up with loads of pupae. What to do with all those bugs?? Eat them, of course! They are inexpensive and high in protein -- what's not to love? You can eat them boiled, fried, or roasted. Try one sometime.

Almost a Speed Bump

2011-04-21T08:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went into work early to meet with a researcher and help him get set up to study some beetles. To avoid building up any more comp time I took an hour and a half off in the middle of the day. So, what did I do with my time? I went biking on our trails. Even though I changed into a tee-shirt to disguise myself, I was still recognized as a ranger and found myself answering the questions of other bikers and hikers. Seems rangering is not a job, it's a lifestyle ;-)

While I was pedaling along I saw a piece of grass making its way across the trail...brakes squealing, I came to a stop before reducing this fine little rough green snake to speed bump status.

Just Some Stuff

2011-04-19T06:54:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a nasty day here in the swamp, but overall we were lucky. No tornadoes struck us and no hail fell. We just experienced high winds and heavy downpours. Many places were not so fortunate. A couple of counties over eleven people died when a tornado tore through, reducing houses to splinters.

Following all the destruction on Saturday, Sunday dawned clear and absolutely beautiful.

Peaceful pond...

Birds singing in the trees...

Dragonflies hunting in the sun...

Coral honeysuckle blooming...

Mother Nature is fickle at times.

A Recent Walk

2011-04-13T08:57:00.000-04:00

High winds have been a constant thing of late so I have been doing a lot of trail walking to be sure no trees are blocking the path. The upside of that is being able to be outside more.

There have been large numbers of harlequin darners flying recently. The tree that hosted this particularly cooperative darner held seven others. They were all in their typical perching mode, soaking up the sunshine. This one is a female as evidenced by the amber wash on her wings.

The pawpaws are starting to leaf out. That should make the zebra swallowtail butterflies happy. Pawpaw is the host plant for that species.

I've mentioned before on this blog that I love snails. Those cute little faces get me every time ;)

I have a few more images to share but I'm still having photo issues. Perhaps I can hammer them out later today...

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

2011-04-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

Slowly Making Its Way

2011-04-10T07:13:00.000-04:00

It's been quite the slow spring this year. Things are finally starting to green up though...

The pawpaws got a little burned by a recent frost. The green flowers are just opening. As they mature, the flowers turn a deep brown-burgundy color.

I love the green of new leaves against a blue sky.

Odes Are Flying

2011-04-09T20:34:00.000-04:00

A couple of dragonflies posed for the camera...

Harlequin Darner

Blue Corporal

testing

2011-04-07T07:43:00.005-04:00

Eastern Pine Elfin

Dead in the Water

2011-04-05T07:55:00.000-04:00

For the past few days Blogger has refused to post my photos. They seem to load, I see them in the preview, and then they disappear. Anyone have any notion what I'm doing wrong? I've never had this particular issue before.

Wordless

2011-03-26T22:13:00.000-04:00

A Damsel and a Dragon

2011-03-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

I've been keeping my eyes open for odonates (damselflies and dragonflies) lately. So far I've only seen a couple of species. There were common baskettails flying in the yard a few days ago. They declined to be photographed.

This fragile forktail was only slightly more cooperative. At least I was able to get enough of a shot to ID the little critter. You may be able to see the little exclamation mark on its shoulder (click to embiggen). That's diagnostic for this species.

I was able to get several shots of one particular dragonfly that happened by at work yesterday. It was much more cooperative than the other odes...

This particular dragonfly is a solar electric hybrid on its way back to PA where it will complete a 6500 mile journey that began last June. The captain told me he was getting about 65% of his power from the sun. Not too shabby.

A Few More Things Spring

2011-03-24T20:46:00.000-04:00

Falcate Orangetip on cress.

Southern Leopard Frog looking for love.

Red Maple samaras almost ready to let go and take their chances on the wind.

Around the Yard

2011-03-21T08:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, when I should have been cleaning the house, I took a stroll about the yard to check on things.

The red peach is in bloom. Hopefully, we won't have another hard frost. I would like to have some peaches this year.

Some of the blueberries are starting to bloom as well. See the little cut marks on the blossom below? They indicate that somebody cheated -- instead of poking its head into the bloom and helping to pollinate it, the insect that visited this flower just went straight for the nectar. Bad bug!

The yellow jessamine is just starting to bloom. It is very late this year. The flower has a lovely fragrance.

Yellow jessamine buds.

Some people call this mock strawberry, some call it Indian strawberry. My mom called it snakeberry. Following the bright bloom will be a strawberry-like fruit with the seeds sitting on the outside. They aren't poisonous, but neither are they palatable.

This little fellow cracked me up. I don't know if he perched this way on purpose to maximize exposure to sunlight or if he just landed this way.

Can you find the frog in this photo? Look closely, he's there.

Can you see him now?

It's a cricket frog. It's much easier to see out on the driveway ;)

Spring Things

2011-03-20T09:05:00.000-04:00

Things continue to be crazy busy in the swamp. Seems everyday I'm either out with a group or working on trails -- unfortunately, neither activity lends itself to taking pictures to share. I hope to have some free time by next weekend. Maybe then I'll have a bit more to share. Meanwhile, here are a few shots I did manage to take this week...

Check out the saddlebags on this worker bee. She was busy visiting all the dandelions in the yard at work.

I see you! This very calm garter snake was on the trail yesterday. Treebeard and I were leading a bird hike and this fine fellow almost got stepped on.

Isn't he a beauty?

Last but not least, spotted turtles under the boardwalk. Yep, they're doing what you think they're doing. Spring is definitely in the air (in the water, too).

Swamp Paddle

2011-03-14T09:39:00.000-04:00

Last week was crazy busy in the ranger world. It started with two hundred third graders and ended with three interpretive hikes on Saturday. In between there were presentations to peers and numerous spontaneous programs for park visitors. After a week like that it was nice to have a beautiful Sunday off. We got up dark and early (thanks to the hated Daylight Saving Time) and headed to the millpond. A couple of friends from Raleigh had asked Treebeard to guide them up through the swamp to the virgin cypress. You might think that after a week full of interpretation the last thing I would want to do would be to go along -- but you'd be wrong ;)

A bit of shore line in the morning sun.

The day was warm with a mix of sun and clouds. It was a tad breezy, but not too bad.

See that reddish color on the water right along the shore?

It was a patch of mosquito fern dotted with green duckweed.

Mosquito fern, Azolla caroliniana, is a native aquatic fern. I've written about it before on this blog, but I'm too lazy to go back and create a link for you. Blame the time change.

Throughout the pond and swamp one finds a little green fern making itself at home on tree trunks and along branches. It is known as resurrection fern, Pleopeltis polypodioides ssp. michauxiana.

When conditions are dry, the fronds curl up and turn brown.

When humidity levels are acceptable, fronds unfurl and green up.

The "polypodioides" portion of the name refers to the "many-footed" creeping nature of the plant's growth habit.

I took one quick shot of Treebread showing Bill, Stephanie, and the intrepid Silva (the little dog that you can barely see) one of the big trees in the swamp. I've written about this tree numerous times. It is a baldcypress that is over 1000 years old. We measured it a few years back and it had a circumference of 28 ft 3 in. It is still growing and producing cones.

This picture doesn't do the tree justice. You really need to see it and touch it to fully appreciate it.

We stopped for lunch around mid-day. There is a little island in the swamp that provides the perfect spot for a picnic. While we were eating lunch we had a visit from an island native...

This rat snake, Elaphe obsoleta, was quite calm -- the picture above is not a zoom shot.

The island is also home to a small population of the only trillium that grows in our area, the Virginia Least Trillium (Trillium pusillum var. virginianum)

The flowers are small and can be difficult to find among the leaf litter, but it's worth the time it takes to locate them.

When we headed back out onto the pond we saw this little fellow in the transition zone. It's a small brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota) hanging out among the wicked thorns of a swamp rose (Rosa palustris). It's still a little cool for the water snakes to be very active. In another couple of weeks these guys will be everywhere.

After about seven hours of paddling it was time for our friends to pack up and head out. Treebeard and I headed home too, but we weren't ready to go inside. Instead, we wandered around our property to see what we could see.

We found violets (Viola sp.) and johnny-jump-ups (Viola bicolor) blooming...

leaves of may apples (Podophyllum peltatum) making their way out...

male flowers on musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana) waiting for the female flowers to appear...

buds on the sassafras (Sassafras albidum) ready to burst...

and black cherry (Prunus serotina var. serotina) leaves and flower buds getting bigger.

Yes, it was a very good day.

Warm and Sunny

2011-02-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

February has been a month of contrast: snow, temps in the teens, sun, temps in the upper 70s...in other words, perfectly normal.

Yesterday was a fine day. It was a bit windy, but beautiful otherwise. The sun was shining and the temperature climbed toward 80. Treebeard and I walked our boundary line just to see what was about.

In the wooded portion of our property we saw a few things that made us smile...

May apple, also known as American mandrake, just beginning to emerge.

A lead phase red-backed salamander temporarily caught up in a bit of web.

A tiny female hazelnut flower...

along side the large male catkins.

We decided to stroll down to the millpond to see if one of the alligators might be out sunning. No alligator, but we did catch a fleeting glimpse of a mink moving through the rip rap at the spillway. He would not cooperate for a better photo.

There were plenty of turtles out catching some rays. Unfortunately they were all too far away for a reasonable photo. This one appears to be either a slider or a cooter. I can't make a more definitive ID because I couldn't see the necessary field marks.

We saw one snake while we were out. This eastern kingsnake was enjoying the last of the warm afternoon sun. If he continues to hang out in this area he will enjoy plenty of opportunities to hunt. This area has a large population of cottonmouths, particularly in the early spring when they emerge from their hibernacula.

Teaser

2011-02-09T07:23:00.001-05:00

Yesterday it was sunny with highs in the 50s and dandelions were attracting bees.

Tonight it is supposed to snow...February has always been a fickle month.

Sunday in the Swamp

2011-02-09T07:18:00.000-05:00

Trail Work

2011-01-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

Doing trail work, especially cutting new trail, is a bit of a challenge in the work swamp. Legs, arms, and faces get scratched and punctured with alarming regularity. Sometimes you find yourself wishing you had a magic wand that could swish its way through the unbelievably thick tangles of greenbrier, grape vine, and blackberry bramble and slice through fallen tree trunks and dense stands of cane. Sadly, we are not issued magic wands ;-)

Picture-taking opportunities are scarce when your hands are full of cutting and chopping tools. I did manage to take a few photos this week though...

I haven't had an opportunity to ID this fungus, but it was a spot of sunny color on a gray day. If you know what it is, by all means make a comment!!

A perky little moss caught my eye. I haven't keyed this one out yet either. It looks like a sphagnum of some sort...

An impressive Supple-jack vine, Berchemia scandens. I've also heard this called American rattan. This vine was easily as big around as my calf. I love supple-jack. It is my favorite vine in the swamp.

The deer love it when we do trail work. As soon as we pass through an area they swoop in to see what we've dropped for them to munch on. For a cow, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. For a deer, the leaves are always sweeter higher up the vine. And check out the "goggles" on the young deer in the center of the frame. I see him quite often and he always looks worried.

Next week will find me far from the swamp. It is time once again for our annual law enforcement refresher training. Instead of trail work, I'll be busy with defensive tactics, firearms and legal updates. Now doesn't that sound fun?

A Chilly Stroll

2011-01-25T07:43:00.000-05:00

On Sunday afternoon I dusted off the camera and headed out for a stroll with Treebeard. The sun was shining but the wind had a definite chill to it with high temperatures only in the 30s F. It has been a very cold winter.

A few birds were moving around. We saw this yellow-bellied sapsucker checking out a sweetgum tree. If you look closely, you can see how puffed out this bird was. See the belly feathers? He looked like he had swallowed a tennis ball.

A bit farther down the trail, Mother Nature provided us with a collage of leaves accented with a whisper of Spanish moss and a couple of sweetgum balls.

A young crossvine was climbing a tree. The leaves looked a bit winter-weary but it was still nice to see a little green in this gray season.

In a field adjacent to the trail, sunshine had the broomstraw glowing.

Down in the swamp ice was everywhere. Like I said, it's been a cold winter.

An oak leaf sporting a fuzzy gall...

Looks like just a stump, right? Come spring it will sprout cottonmouths :) The snakes use stumps like this as winter hideouts. In March we start seeing sluggish snakes out sunning nearby.

This little pond is a borrow pit. It was pretty in the afternoon sun.

We enjoyed our walk despite the chill.

Icy Motif

2011-01-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

No Snow

2011-01-11T08:26:00.000-05:00

Yay! No snow on the ground this morning. A little ice, but not a significant amount. I am thankful that we seem to have dodged this particular bullet.

Smilax

2011-01-09T18:28:00.011-05:00

This cold, cold winter has me looking for any spots of color I can find. Luckily, we have a nice variety of smilax vines in the work swamp. There are pictures of berries from three different species of smilax here. The green leaves belong to a species with the common name laurel-leaved greenbrier.

Mush!

2011-01-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like about my job is that you just never know what a day is going to bring. Take yesterday for example. I was on bridge duty signing in hikers and bikers when in rolled a truck full of sled dogs. Sled dogs, in a southern swamp? I guess it's just one of those bloom-where-you're-planted sort of things.

Anticipation...

Hurry up, Dad!

A final adjustment of a harness...

And they're off!

Like I said...you just never know what a day will bring.

A Few More Snow Shots

2010-12-29T16:06:00.000-05:00

One of my goals for the coming year is to do a better job of posting on my blog. Sadly, I don't have much to post since we are still pretty much covered by a sheet of white, but post I will.

The millpond is beautiful to me no matter the season. She looks very nice dressed in the greens of summer or the whites and grays of winter.

After I shoveled snow all day yesterday I treated myself to a walk along the boardwalk in the work swamp. There weren't many signs of critters stirring but I did see some bear tracks.

Wonder if his toes were cold ;)

Treebeard has a birthday coming up on the 31st. Since I have that day off, perhaps we will celebrate by going for a nice long walk if it isn't raining. Maybe I'll be able to get pictures of something other than snow to share with you.

Nature Watching Interrupted

2010-12-28T20:25:00.000-05:00

Snow shovels and cameras don't mix. The past couple of days have been full of shoveling and very little picture-taking. I hope to remedy that soon. Meanwhile, here is a sample of one of my little paths through the snow...

Happy Boxing Day

2010-12-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

It started snowing last night and it hasn't stopped. We have over 7 inches right now and we're expecting several more inches before nightfall. I guess this is our Boxing Day present.

We put some birdseed out on the porch creating a new channel on kitty TV.

For Your Christmas Party

2010-12-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm sharing this with you because I am a professional and I feel it is my duty...

A holiday factoid sure to make you the hit of any party:

Mistletoe comes from the Anglo-Saxon words mistel and tan. Now, it is important to know that mistel translates to dung and tan translates to twig. So while you are smooching under the mistletoe be sure to impress your smoochee with your knowledge and say something smooth like, "By the way, did you know that the word mistletoe means "dung on a twig"...

Opossum

2010-12-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

We had company out on the boardwalk today. A slight rustle in the leaves drew our attention, and pretty soon an opossum came wandering into view. As soon as it saw us it started looking for a way to avoid us. Its solution was to climb a grape vine.

Climbing up a grape vine

Hoping I didn't see him.

Such a cute face.

An Afternoon Stroll

2010-12-18T17:40:00.057-05:00

Treebeard and I decided to stretch our legs this afternoon with a stroll down to the pond. Some of the snow that fell on Thursday is still with us and the pond is covered with an icy slush. Below are a few things that caught my eye as we walked.

Bright green fronds of Christmas fern don't seem to mind the snow cover.

A hardy little violet blooms despite the chill.

"Nerve cells" dot the surface of the pond. The weirdness of water never ceases to amaze me.

Mr. Opossum wanders first one way...

and then the other.

The varied grays and blacks of the pond in late fall and winter have always appealed to me.

A congregation of cypress knees.

Oysters on ice :)

A view from a "hill" above the pond.

A lace collar rings a tree standing in shallow water.

A hedgehog fungus hangs on.

The weatherman says we have a slight chance for more snow tonight. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if that didn't happen. I'm a southern girl and too much snow sorta scares me ;-)

In Your Face

2010-12-16T17:06:00.000-05:00

Indoor beasts...

What? You don't like cats? Then talk to the paw.

Redundant Post

2010-12-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. We have had our 3rd accumulating snow and it isn't even winter yet. This morning we had snow followed by sleet and rain in the afternoon. Luckily we haven't had ice, but the weird thing is that the snow hasn't melted in the rain. The result is a slushy, nasty mess.

Through the window this morning...

From the front porch this afternoon after several hours of rain...

Smidgen's print in the snow -- he did not like it at all.

The weather folks are saying we have a chance for more wintery weather this weekend - oh boy :\

"And the snow will remain to our west..."

2010-12-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

Well, the weatherman was wrong. It snowed all day long here. We didn't have any significant accumulation, but it sure was pretty falling.

An Early Present

2010-12-05T09:47:00.000-05:00

It wasn't much and it won't last long, but we got snow! In December!! Outrageous ;)

Random Shots

2010-11-28T16:25:00.000-05:00

It has been a very pretty fall here. Sort of a surprise considering how hot and dry our summer was. This will probably be my last shot of color for the season. I was actually trying to catch the mallards, not the foliage.

The deer have been absolute road hogs this fall...

2010-11-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

Control panel issues have plagued us the past couple of weeks so I've spent a lot more time down at the bridge lately. While it does put me way behind on other things I need to get done, it does have its up-side...

Evidence of an early morning visit by the two young bobcats that have been hanging around. I even found where one had eaten river cane leaves to purge some worms from its stomach -- yes, I took a picture, but I'll spare you ;)

Mother Nature is still providing some color down near the water...

Last Hurrah?

2010-11-06T16:50:00.000-04:00

There has been plenty of insect activity out in the yard lately. We still have a good number of flowers in bloom that attract butterflies, bees and assorted other insects which in turn attract a variety of predators. All that may change tonight -- we are expecting our first hard frost. The insects will still be around but the flowers are going to be toast.

Fall, On the Pond

2010-10-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

Even though green is still the predominant leaf color here, you can find a little color out there in spots...

Reflections

2010-10-12T14:53:00.000-04:00

It's hot and sunny out today and the reflections on the water are mirror-perfect. Why would anyone want to be anywhere else?

Weather Woes and Butterflies

2010-10-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

Rain, again. We are beyond soggy at this point. The only thing that has saved us from total saturation is the very dry summer we have had. But seriously, I find nearly 19 inches of rain in one week to be a bit much... High water has caused the work swamp to be closed to the public and has forced me to cancel first my spider hike and now my butterfly hike. Bummer. To brighten my otherwise gray day, I have decided to post a few pictures I took yesterday when the sun was bright and the sky was seriously blue --

Pearl Crescent, Phyciodes tharos
"Ubiquitous" might be the term I would choose to describe this little butterfly. It was one of the first I learned to ID -- probably because every other butterfly I saw seemed to be a Pearl. They are generalists and quite successful at making a living, at least along the east coast. Got asters? Then you probably have Pearl Crescents -- unless you are way up there where my friend Maineiac lives. She's much more likely to have Northern Crescents.

Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis cecrops
Here's another butterfly that is easy to ID and likes to hang out in open areas and along edges. It is often associated with sumacs and wax myrtles among other plants, but the female tends to lay her eggs on "the underside of fallen hostplant leaves" according to Butterflies of the East Coast by Cech and Tudor. So, do the larvae eat detritus on the ground or do they make their way to a living hostplant? Apparently it depends on exactly where the eggs were laid.

Monarch, Danaus plexippus
This is one just about everyone knows. It has been the topic of many a research project ever since it was discovered that Monarchs migrate. One just doesn't expect that from a butterfly ;)

Red-spotted Purple, Limenitis arthemis astyanax
I was amazed to see that this butterfly could still fly. It was so tattered and torn that it seemed like it should just fall out of the sky. But no, it got around pretty well. Inspiring.

I'm off to check the rain gauge...

An Unhoppy Toad

2010-10-02T16:01:00.000-04:00

He's toadally disgusted with me for taking his picture...

Luna-see?

2010-10-02T15:47:00.000-04:00

After days of unrelenting rain we finally have a nice sunny Saturday. The remnants of Nicole managed to dump about 18 inches of rain on us over the course of 3.5 days. I have pictures of the high water, but then again, everyone has pictures of the high water. So instead of flooded roads and swollen waterways, I choose to share some caterpillars with you. A walk around the yard this morning revealed three luna moth caterpillars - the first one a bit more mature than the other two...

Treebeard first spotted this fine fat fellow yesterday as we were coming up the driveway. It was a good ways off the driveway and I asked Treebeard how he spotted it. His answer, it was the wrong shade of green for the tree it was in...

When I looked up the host plants for this caterpillar I discovered it has a taste for many different types of trees "...but with decided local preferences..." according to Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David L. Wagner. We found the first caterpillar munching contentedly on an oak. The last two were on the same sweetgum.

This last one was way up high overhead. I like the way the green of the caterpillar stands out against the blue of the sky...

No Time for Pictures

2010-09-15T08:32:00.000-04:00

Things have been busy, both at home and at work, so I haven't had much of an opportunity to take pictures. Yesterday I saw some pretty interesting things, but as you can see I was not equipped to take pictures ;)

Hope to be back soon with some photos. Meanwhile, hope everyone is enjoying the first little teases of fall.

Still Hanging Around

2010-09-09T21:23:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd drop in for a quick post just to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything. Just going through a period of really low energy.
Hope to be back soon with some swamp things to share...meanwhile here are a few pictures from a paddle a couple of weeks ago...

Happy Weekend

2010-08-27T21:53:00.000-04:00

Little Things

2010-08-24T07:51:00.001-04:00

Sometimes you see big things like bears, other times you see little things like these...

This is a worm snake. It is unusual to see them out on the surface during the day because they are secretive little critters. Size range on adults of these snakes is 7.5 to 12.5 inches.

Another snake I was surprised to see just hanging out on the trail was this ringneck snake. This one is young. The size range for these is 10 to 20 inches.

Of course, not all the little things are as pleasant to find. The brown specs on my pants are ticks -- probably a couple hundred of them. They are the larval stage of the lone star tick, known around here as "seed" ticks. They did not survive our encounter...

Now You Know, Too

2010-08-16T07:18:00.001-04:00

The answer to the puzzler in the previous post...

I Know...

2010-08-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

do you? Shouldn't be too hard to figure out -- nudge, nudge.

Still in Maine

2010-07-31T14:23:00.000-04:00

Slept under a comforter last night and had to wear long sleeves today!! Unheard of for late July in the swamp, but apparently pretty commonplace up here in the north lands. We are having a good time and eating entirely too well...

See that strip of land on the horizon, just behind the dragonfly? That's Canada. We can paddle across the lake into Canadian waters, we just can't get out on the shore ;)

A Few Things Maine-ish

2010-07-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

Treebeard and I headed out for a walk this morning and saw a variety of things...the pictures aren't labeled yet, but I'll get to that eventually...

Bristol Pond

2010-07-27T07:16:00.000-04:00

No time for much commentary today...I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the first place we paddled while we were in Vermont. The shots below were taken one morning on a little pond not far from where we were staying. Our host and guide extraordinaire is in the last picture. If I can get signal in Maine, I will post a few more shots of our time in Vermont.

On the Road

2010-07-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

Scranton is watching the house and the cats -- despite his allergies -- and we are on the road...

We've parked ourselves for the night...do you know what state we're in? The last picture should offer a clue if you've traveled this road before.

Going Mobile

2010-07-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

No nature pictures today, just a few updates on what we've been up to around here...

We finally broke down and purchased a laptop. So far I like it -- Treebeard hasn't touched it yet ;) I'll have to ease him into it. Trekker, our older son, helped me set up the router over the phone. It's so nice to have tech-savvy kids just a phone call away. Now we can check our blog list from any room in the house. Welcome to the 21st century!

In other news, the garden is having a hard time this year. We have had hot, dry weather all summer and the stink bugs have gone crazy. The things that are doing okay will probably all be ready to pick along about the time we are out of town on vacation. Scranton is going to move in and housesit for us, so maybe he will benefit from the harvest. Of course he is going to be pretty busy feeding all the critters -- cats, frogs, hummingbirds, song birds, snakes, and spiders will all be vying for his attention. Then there are the potted plants to keep watered...yep, he is going to be a busy man.

Unless something spectacular catches my eye before we leave later in the week, I will probably make my next post from the road. Perhaps I will play a little game with you and see if you can figure out exactly where we are along the way. We are headed north and our final destination is in Maine...

Patience Rewarded

2010-07-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

Little by little, one by one, my foster children are getting their legs under them and moving out. Today I noticed the little ones below were venturing farther afield and one little fellow, who had lost his tail completely, hopped away before I could get his picture. Some of the leopard frog 'poles have started to grow some legs so it won't be long now before I release them back into their natural environment. It has been a hard summer for amphibians. The weather has been hot, hot, hot and dry, dry, dry. Hopefully,some of these little hand-raised froglets will make it. Of course, we may regret that next year if we have decent rains during the breeding season -- the din will quite impressive ;)

A Very Beary Day

2010-07-06T07:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a very beary day in the swamp. We had a total of 13 sightings while out patrolling. What has so many bears out and about? Why, that would be all the blackberries that are still on the brambles. Bears do love blackberries.

I really do need to wash my windshield if I am going to continue taking pictures when I'm in the truck ;)

Along the Boardwalk

2010-07-06T07:36:00.000-04:00

Wipe Your Feet!

2010-07-05T07:47:00.000-04:00

A bear visited the trashcans right outside the office. Luckily for us, they were all empty, so the only evidence of the visit was a set of tracks :-)

Morning Exercise

2010-07-04T06:31:00.000-04:00

Red Admiral

It Makes Us Hoppy

2010-07-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

All during our very hot and dry June, Treebeard and I worked hard to keep scores of tadpoles alive. We made a little pond, filled it with water from our rain barrels and made sure the little ones had plenty to eat. Our efforts have been rewarded because quite a few of our little charges have transformed into froglets. They are on their own now -- but we gave them the best start that we could. We still have quite a few left to care for and last week's one rainshower left us with some brand new ones...but that's okay because we like frogs ;)

Itty bitty Copes Gray Treefrog

It Came from Under the Porch

2010-06-29T07:17:00.000-04:00

Odd things happen around here, plants pop up in unexpected places and we let them grow just to find out what they are. This particular plant has us scratching our heads, though. It came up under the edge of the porch from seed -- where the seed came from is the mystery...

The vine is huge and the fruit is interesting. We'll let it stay and if it's something we like, we'll save the seed for next year.

A Taste of the City

2010-06-27T11:56:00.000-04:00

Treebeard and I made a quick overnight trip to Raleigh to celebrate Flamebrain's birthday. Can't believe that child is 26 - the same age I was when he was born. It may be cliche, but time does fly.

Treebeard gets some wiggly affection from our granddog, Grace. She is a bundle of energy packed into 30 pounds of solid muscle. Being blind and deaf doesn't slow her down at all.

Since we were in the city celebrating, we went out to eat several times. If you like Middle Eastern food and you find yourself in the Raleigh area, give Neomonde Bakery and Deli a try. The food is authentic, fresh and tasty. The staff is nice and they don't mind helping you out if you don't know what to order.

Another good place to eat, provided you like Indian cuisine, is Kadhai The Indian Wok. The food is very good and the staff is very helpful. They even make the distinction between "American" hot and "Indian" hot when you are ordering -- an important distinction if you aren't used to spicy food. I love hot food but I know that "Indian" medium is right for me and I never order hot ;)

Need some Asian staples in your kitchen? Might I recommend a trip to Grand Asia Market. But be aware that it's the real deal -- very little English on any of the labels! We love to go there and pick up a few odds and ends. Of course we have to do some internet research when we get home to find out what we bought and how to prepare it!

Our trip was quick but fun - it was good to see our "baby" and the granddog. Now you must excuse me, I have some internet research to do before suppertime...

Laying Low

2010-06-25T08:12:00.000-04:00

It is hot, hot, hot outside. We topped 100 degrees F yesterday, but the weatherman tells us it will be "cooler" today with highs just in the upper 90s ;) Pretty outrageous temperatures for June. Our garden looks rough and there are some corn fields here in the county that we be a total loss if they don't get rain soon. There are few beasties out and about during the heat of the day. Most are seeking shade in sheltered spots. The American toad in the photo had wallowed himself out a nice little hole in the cool gravel of the walkway at work. He moved on to a cooler locale when the sun hit him.

The rabbits are still active despite the heat. I have to shoo this little guy out of the driveway every morning. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the rabbit at work on Wednesday. It was stretched out flat on its belly in the relatively cool grass under the shade of a large tree.
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On a totally unrelated note, were you aware that deer will eat bananas? I placed a very ripe banana out in my butterfly garden to see what types of butterflies it might attract. When I went to check on it a little later in the day it had completely disappeared, peel and all. Judging by the tracks on the ground, a white-tailed deer had helped itself -- before wandering over to the parsley patch and freshening its breath.

Road Trip, the Final Act

2010-06-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

After we left the campground, Treebeard and I headed out along a trail that was about a mile long. We kept our eyes open for anything that might be out and about. Here are a few of the photos we took along the trail...

A young garden spider waiting patiently for a snack to run into its web.

A damselfly teased us by flying close and sitting just long enough for us to focus the camera before flying away.

An empty shell of its former self, a cicada exuvia was perched on a leaf next to the trail.

This swamp darner wasn't feeling up to snuff, I'm afraid. We found it in the middle of the trail. I transferred it to an upright stem in a shrub. I hope it was able to recover and fly away -- swamp darners are one of my favorite dragons.

This beauty teased us by flying just out of range of our cameras the first time we saw it. Luckily, patience pays off when one is dealing with dragons. We waited and this golden-winged skimmer finally cooperated for a photo.

My favorite find of the day was this bagworm on sycamore. These moths are really weird -- the female never leaves her little bag and never grows wings. But boy can she eat!!

And that's the last of the photos from our road trip. Thanks for sticking with me!

If you'd like to know more about Pettigrew State Park, please go to www.ncparks.gov

Road Trip, Part Deux

2010-06-21T20:10:00.000-04:00

When last I left you, Treebeard and I were making our way from the picnic area down to the lake. And quite a lake it is - over 16,000 acres of natural lake, all rain-fed due to the fact that it sits higher than the surrounding land. I didn't bother taking a picture from the boat ramp out over the lake, but I did snap a quick shot of the nearest bit of shore.

It really is a quite remarkable body of water. It is shallow throughout and since the water is clear you can see much of the sandy bottom. You can also see loads of little fish, particularly near the boat ramp.

I'm not sure what any of these little guys are, but there were huge numbers of little fish all around the dock.

After we got tired of watching little fish swim here and there, we headed back to the picnic area. Along the way we were treated to some very cooperative dragonflies. The one below is a blue dasher. He was obelisking. When some species of dragonflies that live in open areas get too warm they will sit with their abdomens raised in the direction of the sun. This reduces the amount of their surface area that is exposed to direct sunlight and allows them to cool off a bit.

Apparently the female great blue skimmer pictured above did not feel the need to obelisk. She was very cooperative and allowed me to get quite close.

Once we got to the picnic area we decided to keep on walking because it was still relatively early. A little poking around along a fern bed revealed a northern rough green snake...

and a praying mantis, both hunting for an afternoon snack among the foliage.

As we strolled through the campground on our way to the trail, we couldn't help but notice the abundance of Virginia Creeper in bloom. Virginia Creeper is one of those plants that folks tend to confuse with poison ivy. It is actually related to grapes -- but you wouldn't want to eat the fruit it produces.

Another plant that was present in abundance was Beauty Berry, aka French Mulberry. The pink flowers will give way to fruit of the most obnoxious shade of purple. Most people think it is beautiful but I am definitely not one of those people. As a matter of fact I usually refer to this shrub as "Ugly Berry."

At the edge of the campground sits a large old sycamore tree with an impressive hollow. We have found bats roosting in this tree in the past so Treebeard stepped in to take a look. He didn't see any bats, but he did see some nice big spider eyes staring back at him. (I have been inside this tree with six other adults.)

We'll continue our adventure in another post. It's time now for Treebeard and me to go out and do our evening yard and garden prowl. Hope you're having a wonderful first day of summer/solstice!

Road Trip

2010-06-20T21:46:00.000-04:00

On Friday Treebeard and I hit the road for a day trip. If you do much traveling in eastern NC, you're going to have to go over a lot of bridges. This particular bridge is the second longest in the state and crosses the Chowan River as it enters the Albemarle Sound. We're on the middle in this photo.

Our destination was a state park a little over an hour to our south where we planned to attend a retirement luncheon for a friend. If you're going to have a retirement luncheon this is the kind of place to hold it.

See that sycamore tree with the hole near the base? Somewhere amongst the family photos there is a picture of me with my two sons inside that tree. Maybe one of these days I'll dig it out, scan it and post it for you.

Following the festivities we decided we had better take a walk to better digest the barbeque and ribs we had stuffed ourselves with -- not to mention the perfectly awesome cafe mocha brownies a co-worker had baked. OMG.

Of course, when Treebeard and I take a walk there is always a lot of stopping and poking about so I'm not too sure we accomplished much in the way of burning calories...but we enjoyed ourselves and that's what really matters.

But enough chatter...on to the photos:

Somewhere under all those fennel leaves there is a caterpillar. It will grow up to become one of the emerald moths, but for now it is hoping you won't notice it.

Leaf-cutter bees were having a big time in the jewelweed. They had cut and carted off many a little circle of green leaf.

Something slithered near my feet as we were walking along a canal. I stepped in a little closer to see what it was and surprised this black racer. He turned to dash away and landed himself in thick mud. Racers don't do mudding very well. We watched him to make sure he made it out of the muck. I guess we would have drawn straws to see who went in after him if he got too bogged down ;)

A few yards down, where the canal empties into the lake, we got to see evidence of someone going in the mud after their dog...

Don't you love the perfect butt print they left behind?

We saw plenty of tracks in the mud. Whatever made these tracks fared much better than the person who went in after the dog ;)

Yikes! I'll have to stop here and pick this back up tomorrow. It's nearly bedtime and I must get up early in the morning...oh, stop laughing - I know you checked the time stamp when I said it was nearly bedtime and saw that I posted this at quarter to 10. You have to understand that that's late for us...

A Little Behind

2010-06-17T17:40:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting...I'm a little behind on a whole lot of things, plus I am guilty of spending too much of my on-line time on Facebook these days. In addition, several months ago someone implied that in one of my posts a while back I was disloyal in some way to an organization that I have supported with my entire being for my whole adult life. Needless to say, it pissed me off to a tremendous degree. So much so that I nearly pulled SwampThings off the web for good...but I reconsidered. Let me just say that if the individual(s) in question do not like what I post, they are free to go elsewhere to do their reading.

Enough of that. Now on to other things...

Things are hopping in the yard and in the swamp. The photo of the bear (above my rant) is from the swamp and was shot through a dirty windshield at a pretty good distance, so don't give me too much grief for the poor quality. I do what I can with what I have ;) That being said, here is another photo through the same dirty windshield...

In case you can't tell, it's a fawn with its mom. We have been seeing lots of fawns this spring/summer. They are quite cute but they are very demanding nursers - constantly nudging their moms whenever they stop.

We've also been seeing loads of rabbits, both in the yard and in the swamp. One afternoon, just shy of my driveway, I had to stop my car and shoo a little bunny out of the road. Apparently cottontails are not intimidated by your vehicle if it happens to be a Prius. This bigger bunny was hanging out near the bridge at work. He kept a watchful eye on me but never slowed down on his munching.

Turtles have been busy laying eggs and kingsnakes have been equally busy burrowing into the nest and eating the eggs. This snake was just outside my office window. I watched him work on turtle eggs for three hours (no, I didn't watch the entire three hours. I did have work to do!)

I took some video of the snake eating one of the eggs it dug up, but it's about as exciting as watching paint dry so I won't bore you with it.

Things in the yard have been busy. The butterfly garden is attracting butterflies...

Birds are nesting here and there...

We have had indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks, summer tanagers, Carolina wrens, prothonotary warblers and several others nesting on the property. Treebeard and I have coffee on the porch every morning just so we can greet the day with birdsong.

There are other things going on as well but I'll save those for another day. Later...

Put On A Happy Face

2010-05-30T17:46:00.000-04:00

...or at least a reasonable facsimile :-)

Eating Local

2010-05-29T07:36:00.002-04:00

Treebeard has always believed in providing for his family. When we were first married, we had no money to speak of but we always ate well. Meat came from the woods, fields, and streams and vegetables came from the garden. Things haven't changed much over the past 30 years, Treebeard still puts meat on the table along with homegrown fruits and vegetables. There is nothing quite like stepping out your backdoor and doing a little grazing...

We have three varieties of raspberries and all are putting on fruit. The raspberry plants were a gift from SIL -- thanks, Sis! We have 40 blueberry bushes thanks to our older son and they are all beginning to bear -- thanks, Trekker!
There would be more berries in my hand if not for the greedy pair of summer tanagers nesting nearby...

Treebeard covered the bushes with the ripest berries this afternoon. If you were to walk out to the berry patch you would see a whole lot of chicken wire over the bushes.

We've been enjoying salad from the garden for a while now. The weather in April made getting anything to grow a challenge but Treebeard managed to coax all his varieties of lettuce into growing.

The dill is added to salads, eggs and other dishes, but we also grow it for the flowers and for the black swallowtails who love it. They get their fair share of the parsley, too.

The broccoli has been tasty but the recent wet weather has led to an explosion of pests. We don't like to use any chemicals on our crops so there has been a lot of manual squishing of caterpillars going on.

The tomatoes are starting to set fruit, too. Can't wait for that first tomato sandwich of the season.

And the squash vines are starting to coordinate their blooms - finally. For a while there we would have male flowers but no females, then females but no males. Now that they have their acts together we'll have squash big enough to pick in another day or two.

I'm looking forward to the green beans, butter beans, okra, corn and melons, too. Eating local is a good thing.

Hey, Baby...

2010-05-28T09:24:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday's wander we really had to watch our step as there were babies out everywhere...

This little box turtle, probably a couple of years old, was smack dab in the middle of a heavily shaded trail. I just did see him in time to avoid stepping on him.

Newly transformed frogs were hanging out right at the water's edge...

While up from the shore line a bit, toadlets were everywhere...

Milkweed Patch

2010-05-27T19:38:00.000-04:00

Each year I like to check this patch of milkweed...

The flowers smell sweet and it's a great place to find monarch caterpillars...

But to discover the real reason I like it so much, all you have to do is walk in among the stems and train your eye to detect subtle variations in the greens you see...

I showed great restraint yet again and photographed only five of the many green treefrogs we saw.

Frogs Underfoot

2010-05-27T19:17:00.000-04:00

Treebeard and I went for a hike yesterday. We covered about seven miles, some through the woods and some along the shoreline of the pond. No matter where we walked, there were cricket frogs underfoot...