Finally! It's been a super long time (many weeks!) since I was last on a nice long woods walk, and even longer since I was in the area of Naugatuck State Forest where I used to walk all the time and where I returned on Thursday morning.
The trails in this area of the forest were closed this past winter and spring so that the state could remove some trees and keep the woods healthy, and this is the first time I've visited since all this management work was finished. I still recognized these familiar woods, but they're airier now, with more space between towering pines and plenty of morning light coming in:
Most of the trees that I saw marked with paint last fall have been cut down, but this tree was somehow spared, and the poison ivy now seems to be trying to hide that mark with its leaves:
I was very happy to get to see some of my favorite woodland creatures again, like this lovely juvenile Red-spotted Newt (also known as a Red Eft):
It's a good thing I happened to be looking down at this point, because this eft was right in the middle of the path, and surprisingly difficult to see!
I almost forgot how adorable Red Squirrels are. This park is actually the only place where I've seen these creatures in my area of Connecticut, and I suspect it's the abundant conifers that makes this such a good habitat for them. Several Red Squirrels made an appearance during my visit, including this alert individual:
A Bullfrog sat on a log in a small shady pool next to the path:
Here's another pose (possibly the same frog) from later in the morning. I love that speckled throat, on both the real frog and its mirror-version self:
In an open area next to one of the lakes, banks of blazing goldenrod lit up the path:
And in the underbrush, sawfly larvae made a cool pattern around their leafy meal:
The woods were also filled with birds, including a large group of warblers in the midst of their fall migration. These very active birds stayed mostly high in the trees and away from my camera, but the sight and sound of so much fluttering, chasing, and feeding was cool even from a distance. This very plain-looking Pine Warbler (assuming my ID is correct) was one of the few birds from this group to come down to my level:
This little bird showed off some very impressive aerial skills when it spun down and snatched a decent-sized winged insect right out of the air. It then proceeded to enjoy its meal from a branch above my head:
Nearby, a House Wren called loudly from atop a log:
And a young Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sunned itself, showing off its very pretty wings:
I'm very glad I got to wander around outside and enjoy the wonderful early-fall weather. I saw some awesome creatures, munched on wild grapes (yum!), and just had a great time. Hooray for the woods!
When I arrived at the Naugatuck State Forest early this morning, it was extraordinarily quiet, and I started to worry that the animals were all in hiding and I wouldn't see much. As it turns out, I needn't have been concerned -- and how could I forget, there's always something to see in the woods.
It took a little while for them to warm up, but about half an hour into my walk, the birds exploded into activity. Standing in just one spot, I watched finches and warblers and woodpeckers (among other birds) all flitting around in the trees. I played hide-and-seek with this Canada Warbler (it did all the hiding), a pretty little bird I'd never seen before:
There were two of these birds hanging around in the area, and the bird in this picture is probably either a female or immature, since adult male Canada Warblers generally have dark black marks around their necks and faces. It's likely that these birds are just starting on their fall migration route (we're a little south of their normal nesting area), and so I wish them a safe journey!
I can't think of many other local birds that are as striking and sleek as Cedar Waxwings. A small flock of these birds was foraging in the trees by the water, and they sure are a pleasure to look at, with those black masks and yellow-paint-dipped tails:
A couple of the Cedar Waxwings spent some time inspecting a huge spider (some sort of Orb Weaver, I think) in its expansive web, debating whether to try to make a meal of it. This Cedar Waxwing actually went for it:
Nom! (That's a brave bird -- the spider's as big as its head!)
(I'm sorry you didn't make it, spider, but I have to thank you for putting your web right there -- you gave me quite the photo op!)
There were several interesting insects out and about as well. More and more, I'm coming to appreciate the beauty of some wasps, like this large Paper Wasp (genus Polistes) that was resting on a spray of goldenrod blooms:
And this next wasp is just plain awesome, with its black and white markings and iridescent blue wings:
It's a Four-toothed Mason Wasp (Monobia quadridens), and it's got a nice fat caterpillar in tow. This is one of those species of wasps that lays its eggs in a protective cavity (usually in wood, or in the ground), and, generously enough, it also leaves paralyzed caterpillars in the cavity for its babies to eat once they hatch. Perhaps this wasp already had a burrow staked out in this large wooden beam -- in any case, it soon disappeared underneath:
If I had been able to reach this leaf to turn it over, I think I would have found many more of these bright orange sawfly larvae -- that's some color on those little guys!
It was also a good day for really bizarre-looking fungi, none of which I can identify. These fungal growths were each as big as my hand, and looked almost velvety:
I'm used to seeing shelf-like fungi on the sides of trees, but not this melty-runny orange stuff -- it looks like something started dissolving and didn't quite wash away:
How about this large fungus? To me, it looks exactly like a puffed-up pastry. Pie, anyone?
Here's one last sight from today's walk, the dainty flowers of Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum):
Now that I've gotten a nice long woods walk in, let the rain and storms begin!
I can't help it -- I go out into the garden, I see cool bugs, and I just have to take pictures. Some of the creatures I saw today were quite beautiful. Others, not so much. But all were interesting!
Here's my favorite, a tiny little leafhopper (probably Graphocephala coccinea) -- of all the leafhoppers I've seen, I think these guys are the prettiest:
And speaking of pretty tiny things, now that I know about long-legged flies, I keep seeing them everywhere. This one has got a really nice metallic green-and-yellow color-scheme going on, and I love those fancy wings:
Even the "normal" flies are cool-looking when you get up close to them. I'm not sure exactly what type of fly this is (some sort of blow fly?), but it's got some nice metallic coloring that would be really easy to miss if I weren't sticking my camera in its face:
And this fly (a flesh fly, family Sarcophagidae... is that a scary name or what?) has those attractive gray and black stripes:
I thought at first that this was some sort of caterpillar:
But someone at BugGuide.net pointed out that it's actually a sawfly larvae -- not a butterfly or moth at all! I had no idea other insect larvae could resemble caterpillars so closely. Apparently one of the easiest ways to tell the difference is that most lepidopteran (butterfly/moth) larvae only have up to four pairs of "prolegs" (the suction-cup-like things) on the second half of its body, plus the pair of prolegs at the end, whereas sawfly larvae have more than that. I count at least seven pairs in this picture, so... not a caterpillar! Crazy!
Finally, here's my "artsy" photo of the day, as Paul called it. I think I accidentally gave this small beetle (a ground beetle?) a shower while I was putting the garden hose away:
At one point this morning, I also saw what looked like some sort of awesome hawk moth, but of course, as soon as I was ready to take a picture of it, it was gone. Ah well, I'll keep my eyes open and maybe it'll come back.
Update 7/18/11: No, don't come back! I happened to stumble across a picture of the moth I saw, and as it turns out, it was a Squash Vine Borer. I had no idea these devastating larvae were actually moths, let alone such cool-looking ones. I feel so betrayed. :( Also, it's not a type of hawk moth, but a clearwing moth, while I'm correcting myself. Now that I know these guys are around, I have to watch out for eggs on my squash stems, and signs of leaves wilting....
All in all, I'm having a lot of fun learning about what sorts of creatures live in my yard, even if I can't actually identify most of them. Also, my growing tendency to take pictures of things up close seems to suggest that I should get a macro lens at some point. :P
We have a toad living in our garden. :D It's a nicely plump, medium-sized fellow, who I first saw when I was watering the garden the other day (free shower!), and who was hunkered down in a lovely little hollow next to the garden fence this morning. Can you find the camouflaged and partially-buried toad in this picture?
What a lovely creature. The name "Bobby" was Paul's suggestion, the idea being that this is one of those names that could work for either a boy or a girl. I think it fits pretty well.
I may not know the gender of this creature, but for once I am pretty confident about the species. We have two species of toads in Connecticut, and I've had some trouble identifying individual toads in the past, but this guy seems to be a pretty clear example of an American Toad. These black outlines around individual "warts" on its back are characteristic of the species, and I think the patterns are rather beautiful:
I strongly encouraged Bobby to relocate to a more central location in the garden -- the hiding place in the first couple of pictures was dangerously close to the gate and therefore my feet -- and he or she has been hanging out among the carrots all afternoon. I like having a little amphibian friend around, and I hope the garden proves to be a suitable long-term home. :)
While I was out with the camera, I couldn't resist taking pictures of some more insects in the garden. There's a whole world of tiny creatures out there!
Here's a tiny leafhopper with a cool design -- it's a Saddled Leafhopper (Colladonus clitellarius):
This brightly-colored creature is some sort of sawfly, in the family Argidae, and I haven't been able to figure out any identification details other than that:
And this is a long-legged fly (family Dolichopodidae) -- can you believe the colors on this thing?
The internet tells me that long-legged flies prey on other insects, and they're actually good to have in a garden. So here's an example of a creature I never thought to pay attention to before, but when I stopped to look closely and learn about it, not only does it turn out to be gorgeous, but beneficial as well!
Here's a really bizarre insect that I just learned about. Can you tell what's going on here?
This is the larva of a Clavate Tortoise Beetle, and it's really super weird. The green oval-shaped thing with the spines is the actual creature. That big crinkly brown thing on its back? That's a mass of dried excrement. Poop. I couldn't make this stuff up. The larva actually holds this thing up over its back with a special "fork" on its hind end, and it can wave it around at will. Various internet sources suggest that this is some sort of defense mechanism, or a means of camouflage. Either way, blech. Also, ew.
So you can see what this weird thing grows into, here's a picture of an adult Clavate Tortoise Beetle that I took about a month ago:
These beetles really like my tomato plants (that is, to eat), so I'm keeping an eye on them. There are only a couple of these bugs around right now, but if more appear and start doing significant damage, it might be squishing time!
