OK, here's one more post catching up with April, May, and June around our house!
Yet More Birds
The trail camera in the woods made several videos featuring cool birds this spring. The following video compiles a few especially exciting clips: First, some deer triggered the camera while a Barred Owl happened to be calling nearby -- I've heard a pair of Barred Owls calling individually and together a whole lot this year, and I suspect they've been nesting somewhere in the woods surrounding our property. Next is a video of a Wild Turkey foraging in the underbrush; it's always neat to see these big birds up close. Then, there's another deer-triggered video that captured a Wood Thrush's amazing song; I hear Wood Thrushes only occasionally around here, and getting to hear this song so clearly is such a treat. And finally, incredibly, there's a video of an adult Ruffed Grouse and two tiny chicks foraging at midday. I'd glimpsed Ruffed Grouse in our woods only a couple of times before, and then this family group wandered past the trail camera on three different days. I love Ruffed Grouse a whole lot, and I'm so happy to know that we have them as neighbors.
Amphibians and Others
I've known for a few years now that Gray Treefrogs live around here, and I suspect that they're fairly common, because I hear them trilling every year in May, June, and July. I'd never actually seen one of these mostly arboreal and well-camouflaged amphibians, however, until this year.... On the night of May 22, with warm temperatures and heavy rain -- wonder of wonders -- two Gray Treefrogs appeared right our front porch. Oh my goodness!
Paul was admiring these frogs with me, and he pointed out that their skin is all bumpy and mottled, a lot like a toad. But their shape is so treefrog-y, all low to the ground and spread out, and with those big round suction-cup toes.
These two treefrogs were very active -- we'd turn off the light and go inside, and then we'd look out onto the porch again a few minutes later and they'd be in entirely different spots. One of the treefrogs perched on top of our door frame, like the world's most adorable gargoyle:
The other treefrog ended up clinging to a window, which meant we got to see a treefrog belly. :)
The Gray Treefrogs were the stars of the show, but tons of other amphibians also kept showing up near our porch on that warm rainy night. This little Spring Peeper was adorable and bold:
And here's a Red Eft (juvenile Red-spotted Newt) with an American Toad hulking behind:
Amphibians are awesome! I'll close this summary with a couple more sights. There have been many interesting insects around, but here's one that's entirely new to me: A male Glowworm Beetle (possibly Phengodes plumosa) who showed up in my garden on June 5. Apparently female Glowworm Beetles look like larvae, and both the females and the larvae are luminescent -- amazing. I'm really impressed by the antennae on this male. What a weird bug:
And finally, the Wild Lupine we planted in our meadow a few years ago put on a fantastic show in June. I love looking at these thick stands of purple and blue flowers:
Whew! OK, we're all caught up! Now onward to the rest of summer. :)
Yesterday morning, I visited Southford Falls State Park, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places. It's not large -- the loop through the entire park is only about a mile long -- but it is an extremely scenic place: There's a pond, waterfalls, a faux-antique covered bridge, deep deciduous forests with lots of huge rocks and impressive vistas... and plenty of interesting creatures, too.
Even the paths in this park are pretty. I loved walking across these tree roots cushioned in swathes of lime-green moss:
A tree had fallen across another part of the path, but that didn't stop the Indian Pipes from pushing up around it, both on one side...
And the other:
There were huge patches of Indian Pipes growing in this forest, actually, maybe more than I've ever seen at one time (those white blobs in the background of this next picture are even more of these ghostly plants):
Eastern Chipmunks were making good use of the many crevices in and around the big rocks along the path, and I saw quite a few of these little creatures during my walk. This chipmunk paused on its rocky throne to watch me warily, making a bright spot of rusty red among its gray and green surroundings:
How lucky are we, to have these adorable creatures living near us?
The woods echoed with bird calls all morning, with this Wood Thrush adding its voice from a branch directly above my head:
I regretted almost immediately, of course, that I didn't record a video of this bird singing its flute-y song (the Wood Thrush's call is one of my favorites), but the mob of mosquitoes chasing me at the time dissuaded me from stopping for more than a quick picture.
All in all, it was a lovely walk in a lovely woods. This is what summer days are for. :)
Side story: Today, I had one of those "aahh, why did I not bring my camera with me" experiences. I went with Paul to a 5K run (he ran, I watched), and we came across the most wonderful just-fledged Yellow Warbler baby, perched on a branch right at eye level, with its parent attending to the tree in general (and presumably feeding the baby and its siblings). I didn't get too close, for fear of startling the baby, and a zoom lens would have been really helpful! Oh well, that's what I get for leaving my camera at home. Anyway, trust me, it was adorable. :P
Yesterday I celebrated my return to Connecticut with a trip to the Naugatuck State Forest, and once again, the woods looked completely different from when I was last there ten days before. The ferns are huge and covering the forest floor, some of the vernal pools are all but completely dried up (poor little tadpoles, will they survive in the damp muck until the next rain?), and the insects of all kinds were out and about (including the flying, biting kind, unfortunately).
The spring flowers are just about all gone, and the summer flowers are opening. These Ox-eye Daisies and bright yellow Hawkweeds (either Field or Pale Hawkweed, I'm not sure which), both non-native species, were bringing some cheery color into the open areas:
These flowers were keeping close company with plain but pretty Common Yarrow:
In the woods, Maple-leaf Viburnum shrubs were blooming everywhere:
And in the shade near a stream I found this Yellow Stargrass, which I don't think I've ever seen before:
Here are a couple of butterflies that sat still long enough for me to take their picture, first a cute little skipper of some sort (I'm not sure of the exact species):
And this Red-spotted Purple (I think the name might make more sense if I'd seen the undersides of this creature's wings):
There were quite a few different types of dragonflies and damselflies zooming around, but I've only managed to identify this one -- a Chalk-fronted Corporal:
And on a raspberry leaf, I found this surprisingly pretty Forest Tent Caterpillar (a pest sometimes, but apparently not every year):
I did see some birds as well, including my first Indigo Bunting of the year (so pretty), and a Great Crested Flycatcher (a first for me) -- no pictures of these guys, though. This Wood Thrush did pose for me in the underbrush, however (don't you just love those spots?):
And I watched this Red-eyed Vireo doing some serious acrobatics to get a meal -- it looks like hanging upside-down from a leaf got him or her a nice insect-y mouthful here:
As I was leaving, I found one last treat -- the Wild Strawberries are almost perfectly ripe:
I saw tons of these plants blooming a couple of weeks ago, but this was the only collection of ripening fruit I found today. A lot of the strawberry plants have been shaded out by other plants (mostly Poison Ivy), so I don't know how much of the fruit is actually still there. I'm just hoping I'll be passing by when some of these berries are ripe. (And I'm dreaming up schemes for how I might be able to get some of these seeds into my garden....)
So a great trip overall, despite the increasingly gross weather. (It was in the mid-80s when I was in the woods yesterday, and the weather forecast is calling for high-90s by Thursday.... Yuck!) It's good to be home!
