I'm fitting in as many visits to the woods as I can these days. Early next week, we're leaving for a vacation in Florida -- which will be awesome... more on that later -- and I want to make sure I've had my fill of Connecticut-in-May happenings before I go!
This afternoon's walk in the meadows of Naugatuck State Forest brought sunny skies and warm breezes, and several lovely creatures enjoying the sun. My favorite was this gorgeous American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), a butterfly I don't think I've ever seen before:
Goodness, butterflies sure do seem to love Wild Strawberry blossoms! This little butterfly is beautiful with its wings spread out, of course, but I actually think it's even prettier with them partially closed -- I feel like this creature is containing a glowing fire within its wings in this next picture:
Other lovely sights dotted the fields, like these delicate Sessile Bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia) blooms:
And big lavender rays of Robin's Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus), a type of aster:
I've been noticing these tall ferns unfurling for a while now, and today they revealed their fertile spore-bearing fronds, allowing me to identify them as Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) -- what a perfectly fitting name!
Isn't May wonderful?
I can't get over how cute baby geese are!
The Canada Goose nest I found at Naugatuck State Forest last month has now produced a handful of fluffy babies, who toddle around their spit of land while Mom and Dad look on:
I want to give these babies a big snuggle (but I won't).... Just look at those tiny wings!
Mom and Dad didn't seem too upset at my presence, but after a few minutes, the babies made a bee-line back to Mom, and I started to get the hint that I wasn't welcome:
It's OK, I'm going! And anyway, I wasn't going to hurt you, babies. It's probably best, though, if you stay close to Mom until you're bigger -- just to be safe.
Some other highlights from today's walk in the woods include this lovely Green Frog relaxing on a bed of moss:
A little Eastern Pine Elfin butterfly (Callophrys niphon) on some Wild Strawberry blossoms -- what a gorgeous pattern on the backs of those wings:
And [Warning: Grossness alert!] an owl pellet! I poked it apart a little with a stick to see what someone had been eating, and it looks like there are a few small rodent bits in there (two jawbones on the right, some leg bones), and pieces of a big insect of some sort. Cool!
Yay, the woods. :D
There were tons of
birds out and about on Thursday and Friday morning when I visited the meadows of Naugatuck State Forest, including some very colorful
newly-arrived migrants that stayed active the whole time I was there.
These sorts of wet, overcast days seem to be just about perfect, it turns out,
for seeing awesome creatures (a fact I will need to remember for the
future), and I found only one real downside: My camera has a very hard
time focusing on quick-moving birds in low-light conditions.
Nevertheless I managed to capture a few pictures of these flying gems as
they flitted among the bushes and trees around me.
A bunch of Yellow Warblers made a strong presence, announcing themselves with their loud cheerful songs:
Several Blue-winged Warblers were hanging around, too, singing their little songs that sound like a wheezy breath in and out (which, since I read that description in my Peterson field guide, is the only thing I can think of now when I hear these birds):
Sing it, little bird!
A single male Chestnut-sided Warbler graced me with his presence, and even came quite close:
I honestly think this is one of our prettiest birds. He has so many colors, and such an interesting costume! Even from the back, he's a striking little creature:
There were Ovenbirds singing all around, but I only saw one individual who popped up into view for a few seconds before flying off again:
Also hanging out (though not within camera-range) was a male Scarlet Tanager, some Black-throated Green Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, a Blue-headed Vireo, and probably many other species that I didn't see or identify. I love the huge variety of cool birds that are showing up now!
The
weather also made for some lovely wildflower sights -- colorful
blooms were practically luminescent against the damp ground. Here's
another, better view of the Wood Betony that I found the other
day, with its gorgeous yellow and/or red whorls of blossoms:
I'm definitely impressed by the range of possible colors on these plants:
This lovely little Starflower (Trientalis borealis) shone out from under the trees:
Huh, a flower with seven petals (normal for the species).... How strange, and yet beautifully symmetrical!
I was very happy to see these Wild Red Columbines in bloom -- they're one of my favorites, and I don't find them very often:
And I can't believe how utterly gorgeous these Pink Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) blooms were, like something straight out of a fairy tale:
Finally, not
to be outdone by the flowers, the masses of cedar-apple rust galls on
the Red Cedar trees were pretty phenomenal -- and I thought the handful
of orange-tentacled galls on the trees outside our apartment windows were impressive!
After two days of exploring the woods in what I thought would be less than ideal conditions, I have definitely come to appreciate the benefits of soggy weather. Here's to active birds, reptiles, and amphibians, blooming plants, and lots of color on deceptively gray days!
Today and yesterday have been the grayest days we've had in a while, with persistent low clouds and intermittent showers. "Soggy" would probably be the best descriptor, actually. But I've been itching to get out into the woods, so imperfect as the weather was, I spent most of my mornings both today and yesterday in the meadows of Naugatuck State Forest. And I have to say, despite the squelching shoes and the occasional need to protect my camera from rain with a plastic bag, I had just the best time. The was so much to see! In fact, I saw too many things, so this is going to have to be two posts. First up: Herps!
I hadn't even reached the parking area this morning when I got a surprise:
Nooo, turtle, don't try to cross the road! I did carry him or her the rest of the way across (and got a hiss for my troubles), but I had to stop and say "hi" first. OMG, Box Turtle!
I really have no idea how it's possible that I've been wandering the woods in Connecticut for years now, and yet this is the first Eastern Box Turtle I've seen here. I don't think they're especially rare, although they are listed as a species of special concern in Connecticut and apparently populations are slowly declining. Oh, you beautiful creature with your fearsome face. Don't glare at me; I'm trying to help you!
I love the golden star-bursts on this turtle's shell:
With those bright orange markings, you'd think these turtles would be hard to overlook in a brown forest background, but I actually think this creature blends in fairly well -- maybe that's how I've managed to miss seeing these creatures for so long:
The Box Turtle was a wonderfully exciting creature to get to meet! And speaking of bright orange herps, Red Efts were everywhere in this lovely damp weather. Again, you wouldn't think these juvenile Red-spotted Newts would be good at camouflage, but I found myself having to watch my step very carefully to make sure I didn't accidentally squash one of these little guys in my path:
I had to stop and admire every one of the several efts I came across. They're such wonderful little creatures. (And so photogenic!)
I lifted a log by the path to see if anyone was hiding there, and found a dainty Red-backed Salamander, who was probably also thoroughly enjoying the damp weather:
And this Wood Frog leaped across my path and landed, perfectly still, on a dead leaf:
I could practically hear it muttering, "I'm a leaf, just a leaf. Can you see me?" Yes, little frog, but I'm not going to eat you, I promise.
When I moved on, it hopped away again, just another leaf on the forest floor:
So many awesome creatures, and this is just the beginning! Stay tuned for more forest findings -- birds and flowers! -- on these two soggy days.
For several weeks now, I've been spending a chunk of my Wednesdays monitoring Silver Sands State Park as a volunteer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, looking for many species of birds, but especially Piping Plovers. So far, all of my searches have turned up negative for that one focus species -- which is fine, really, since negative data is just as useful as positive data for the people I report to, and I have lots of fun wandering the beach regardless. But that changed this morning, because look who decided to show up!
Piping Plovers are federally threatened -- which is to say, they're protected by the Endangered Species Act, but they're not quite at the "endangered" level (yet). These little birds nest along the Atlantic coast on sandy beaches (right where people want to be, too, which is the problem), and I believe I learned that only something like 50 pairs of Piping Plovers were recorded as successfully nesting in Connecticut last year. That's not very many.
So the point of the program that I'm volunteering for is to find out where these birds are making nests, so that we can then try to protect them better. The little creature I met this morning didn't appear to have a mate, let alone a nest, but I was enormously pleased to see him or her nonetheless!
Have I mentioned that Piping Plovers are probably one of the cutest birds ever? This little guy was about the size of a sparrow, just basically a big puffball running around on toothpick legs:
The weather was gray and chilly (and windy!) this morning, so no other people were on the beach, and the plover had plenty of room to run around. The pickings must have been pretty good here, because the little creature was snatching food from the sand every few steps, and didn't seem to mind my presence at all. I kept my distance and walked parallel and a little ahead of the bird as he/she enjoyed the beach buffet:
Here's hoping you find a mate and a safe place to raise babies, little one!
The Piping Plover was one of the highlights of the morning, but there were some other awesome creatures around, too. This group of Sanderlings (with a Semipalmated Sandpiper in the mix) was huddled by the water's edge -- more tiny toothpick-legged shorebirds!
Don't these creatures look super comfortable, with their long beaks nestled into the feathers on their backs? And I just love the rusty colors on some of these birds' feathers -- the last time I saw Sanderlings was in February, when they were all basically a uniform gray.
And a new wave of migrating birds has hit Connecticut now! Away from the beach, I came across several Yellow Warblers singing at the top of their voices, as well as the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird I've seen this year:
This handsome fellow seemed extremely happy about all the Autumn Olive blossoms surrounding him, and I'm sure he needed the fuel after his long trip north. I still can't believe these tiny birds fly across the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the rest of the trek all the way up here.
With all these new creatures streaming in, I think I know what this means.... It's back to the woods for me sometime very soon!
