Before returning home, I stayed over an extra day to bag one more state park under the Trail Quest program. Pocahontas State Park was rather quiet on a weekday. I rambled on the yellow-marked Forest Exploration trail in my backup car sneakers (as my usual sneakers were still drying out). Pocahontas has a network of trails designated and graded for mountain bikes, but the Forest Exploration trail is designated for foot traffic only. Much of the walking was on sandy substrate, with plentiful bits of isinglass scattered about. Gunfire, alas, from nearby private land was regularly audible. Not too much in bloom, but I found a solitary Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata) in flower and fruit.
Category: In the Field
Richmond the River City
Genevieve Wall led a two-day foray to several sites along the James River in Richmond and environs. We took a short walk in the area known as Pony Pasture, along the upper reaches of the whitewater that courses through the city. A fine Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) made an appearance. At a second site downriver, we crossed the humpty-backed footbridge to Belle Isle; the bridge is suspended from the Route 301 bridge.
The next day, now fully in the Coastal Plain, as we waited for the ferry to Presquile National Wildlife Refuge, some of us spotted an Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) breaching. The refuge is now a grownup island, as long ago a channel was cut across the base of its peninsula to facilitate river barge traffic (the Turkey Island Cutoff). Meadows in the refuge are relatively clear of most non-native invasives; however, the management plan calls for letting natural succession to take place, which is expected to clear out the infestation of Clematis terniflora. Heavy morning dew on the mown paths plus poor planning on my part resulted in soggy feet for most of the day. An interesting ode caught our attention, but she turned out to be “just” a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis). We wrapped up the day with a contemplative paddle in canoes from Deep Bottom Park.
Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve
The Grass Bunch met, in scattered fashion, at Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, after waiting out a passing thundershower. In the past, field trips to Dyke Marsh (say, for birding) have usually petered out at about the point where the trail turns east. but this time, C and I walked the length of the trail, to the end of the boardwalk. There are some pleasant views from this point.
After scooting through the non-natives near the trailhead, we turned up a couple plants in flower that I had not recorded before, Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia lacinata) and Biennial Beeblossom (Oenothera gaura).
New York 2024 bis
I made a second trip to New York this year! The impetus was seeing the Vivian Maier show at Fotografiska before that venue closes its doors. Also on the gallery/museum visit checklist was
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden: the Franklinia trees were looking rather peaky, but I did spot a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) in one of the flower beds. The Japanese garden was a bit of a disappointment; I don’t understand why the torii was placed in the pond. Some traffic noise, but overall, the BBG is worth a return visit.
- A (for the most part picturesque) ride up the Hudson on Metro North to Dia Beacon, to see some “old friends” (Robert Ryman, Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra). I liked the Steve McQueen installation downstairs (Bass): it felt like waiting on a subway platform for the train out of Purgatory.
- International Center of Photography, now on Essex Street.
- MoMA PS1 for James Turrell’s Meeting, seen under perhaps perfect afternoon conditions: some haze in the blue sky, tumbles of clouds sliding by.
I rolled out in the direction of the Rockaways on the A to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (an NPS property, despite its name). Birding was slow in the late morning, but a Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) flitted about and a trio of Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) perched up. I found a few new plants that I did not recognize, a couple of non-native invasives (Rosa rugosa and Saponaria officinalis) and a startling mint, Monarda punctata. I watched a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) steal a cicada from an Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus): after the wasp lost its meal, it spiraled in angry circles around the scene of the robbery. I killed my first Spotted Lanternfly. And my second. Any my third. Walking the coarse gravel path around the West Pond in my hiking sneakers began to wear out my feet.
The A runs underground until 80th Street, so I had ample time to admire some brilliant innovative tech: as the train approaches a station, doors on the exit side are framed in green light, and the strip map above each door changes to a map of the platform with the train berthed, with your car marked with a “You are here.” Arrows direct you to stairs, elevators, connecting trains and (in the outlying stations) major buses, and street intersections. Wayfinding right when you need it, before you step on to the platform. Let’s hope that this tech makes its way on to the other lines. The gold and cobalt blue accents in the livery are quite handsome.
For all of the New York subway’s crashed message boards,
funky stinks, cramped escalators (looking at you, E and M at Lexington Avenue-53rd Street), squonky noises, confusing service changes for maintenance (for a trip back from Columbus Circle, it would have been faster to walk, even accounting for the fact that I jumped on the wrong 7 train), and random rust stains, once in a while you find a bit that has been restored to glory. Here’s a station marker on the Lexington line that’s just superb.
I visited three jazz clubs new to me:
- Dizzy’s Club: rather posh, bar seating works well.
- Blue Note: very snug, not for claustrophobes.
- Jazz Gallery: no frills, no minimums, just right.
Some views from my jewel box hotel on East 55th Street: an old school shoe repair shop.
From the 7th floor terrace, buildings at the corner of Lexington, and in the distance down at Madison, a partial view of what I still think of as Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building, now just known as 650 Madison.
On my way back to the subway from the Joyce Theater, I was feeling peckish for dessert. Poof! appeared an Oddfellows ice cream shop at the corner of 17th Street. A generous scoop of vegan chocolate-chocolate chunk was very good.
At the park: 149
Wrapping up reporting for the 2024 nesting season.
OK, for a rainy-day project, I can total up results for our nesting season. It was a much better year for our Wood Ducks. It’s likely that some of our Hooded Mergansers managed with natural cavities.
For our Wood Ducks, 10 nests started, 1 nest lost to predation, 9 nests fledged; 146 eggs laid, 117 ducklings fledged. For our Hooded Mergansers, 2 nests started, 2 nests fledged; 22 eggs laid, 19 ducklings fledged. About the same fledging rate (80% for WODU, 86% for HOME)….
Once again, thank you, monitors!
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy butterfly count 2024
The action was a little slow: we suspect that butterfly numbers are down due to the drought. But I did secure good images of Little Glassywing (Vernia verna) and Common Checkered-Skipper (Burnsius communis), the latter a new butterfly for me.
Jug Bay wetland plants
Bradley Simpson and Judy Fulton led a walk in Prince George’s County’s Jug Bay Natural Area.
Something something I think I had been here before, maybe in a boat? but when I saw the gigantic observation tower with lift, I was sure. Of course, it was eleven years ago. The Baldcypress trees are still there.
There were many stems of Crane-fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) in bloom, so I was able to secure a good photograph; the Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica) was also blooming; an Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) was delivering lunch (a dragonfly having a bad day).
We struggled with the ID of a sedge-y looking plant that turned out to be not even a graminoid: it’s Arrow-leaved Tearthumb (Persicaria sagittata). Update 24 July 2024: Margaret Chatham convinced me that it was a sedge after all: Georgia Bulrush (Scirpus georgianus).
And in other iNaturalist-assisted IDs, I noted an almost lookalike of Water Pennywort, but it was a completely new genus for me: Kidney-leaf Mud Plantain (Heteranthera reniformis), in the Pontederiaceae.
Swain’s Lock shuffle
Genevieve Wall with Nature Forward led a naturalists’ shuffle from Swain’s Lock on the C&O Canal. I have visited several sites in this long skinny park, but as far as I can tell, I have not dropped into Swain’s Lock before. Not too long a drive out River Road, short access road, smallish parking lot, good fit.
Many of us were hoping for more bird activity (we did pick up a distant Yellow-billed Cuckoo [Coccyzus americanus]), and I was looking for butterflies in preparation for Saturday’s count. Not much in the way of butterflies, but I did find what turned out to be a new dragonfly genus for me, a Black-shouldered Spinyleg (Dromogomphus spinosus), with some ID assistance from Lisa Shannon.
Clifton Institute bioblitz June 2024 (Rappahannock bis)
The Clifton Institute held a second June bioblitz on private property in Rappahannock County, this time on a smaller site (about 50 acres). Still, there was a good mix of upland, meadow, and a bit of wetland habitat. And it was hot: by the end of the afternoon, I was knackered and I skipped the after-dark UV lights.
Here’s the group starting off in the meadow. This is as tight a clump as we formed all day.
As our homeowner’s site has only been partly managed for natives, and (friendly) neighboring properties perhaps not at all, there were opportunities to meet new non-native invasive plants, like Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius): dig the superwide wings on the stem. The householder was disappointed when I told her that the Persian Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin) was one of the less-desirables.
On the native plant side of the ledger, I found a huge (1.5 meters tall) sedge, most likely Carex gynandra or C. crinita, and another monster, Soft Bulrush (also a sedge, but with a soft round culm) (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani).
Organizer Bert Harris went fishing in Beaverdam Creek (tributary of the Thornton River) and netted a Mountain Redbelly Dace (Chrosomus oreas), not showing off a red tummy, alas.
New crawlies for me! A Cherry Dagger caterpillar (Acronicta hasta); a sharpshooter (Graphocephala sp.); a False Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus turcicus) [I’ve been focusing on the red-and-black species this summer]; and the gloriously named Twice-stabbed Stink Bug (Cosmopepla lintneriana).
And—after three seasons of chasing after Larry Meade and Bert, who are always spotting Prince Baskettails (Epitheca princeps) patrolling a pond, I finally found one for myself. Dusk was approaching and I was ready to go home, but I took a little walk down to the swimming pond on my way to the car. I found my guy doing what he should be doing, and with five minutes’ patience I squeezed off a few smudgy photos, sufficient for one of iNat’s experts to confirm the ID.
Clifton Institute dragonfly/damselfly count 2024
Quite hot and muggy.
We started early and only surveyed for about 4 hours, skipping Silver Lake this time. Much of the Pickerelweed at our “secret” pond at the Farm Brewery had been cut back, so the damsels just weren’t there. Our newbies got good looks at some of the common species, so that’s a win. I recorded observations of Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) and Banded Pennant (C. fasicata), as well as a couple of butterflies and plants. I’m gradually, unintentionally, building up an interesting plant list for Leopold’s Preserve. Maybe I should be more intentional about that.
Clifton Institute bioblitz June 2024 (Rappahannock)
And one more trip report and I’m caught up until the weekend.
Clifton Institute is holding two bioblitzes on sponsor properties this summer. For the site visit on 15 June, we’re building on an established iNaturalist project. I was briefly on the leaderboard.
In the meadow leading up to the house, I found a Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus). Tiniest critter spotted turned out to be a White-margined Burrower Bug (Sehirus cinctus). On an adjoining property (friendly neighbors), a gneiss outcrop hosts a dryland specialty, Round-leaved Fameflower (Phemeranthus teretifolius), very cool.
After dark at the lights we had several species of sphinx moth. I am still getting the hang of photographing under the UV conditions, but I did snap a pic of a handsome Virginia Creeper Sphinx (Darapsa myron). And the iNat community taught me that a Large Maple Spanworm Moth (Prochoerodes lineola) is not the same as a Juniper Geometer Moth (Patalene olyzonaria), seen on last year’s bioblitz.
Most of the birds remained out of sight, but I got some reasonable audio recordings.
The Borrowers were following me around in the field on this trip. The wrist strap on my point-and-shoot came undone and disappeared, and the glass element worked itself out of my loupe for the last time and dropped to the forest floor. I think I even heard it drop and I looked back, but clear glass is kinda invisible.
Road trip 2024: Maryland
And finally, a short stop at Finzel Swamp Preserve in Garrett County, Maryland. Maybe I was visiting at the wrong time of year, but I was not impressed. As a Nature Conservancy preserve, trail maps of this place are hard to come by and the trail is not blazed at all. I walked about a half mile in—maybe I covered the ground I should have? At the pond, the rough trail forks, with the path to the left wrapping around the pond and that to the left into a big muddy spot.
Oh, I just found a map. Yes, I covered everything. There are some audio notes as well; if I return, I’ll use them to locate the protected larches on the property.
I did turn up a mystery spreadwing. Maybe a teneral?
Road trip 2024: Michigan
The primary objective of this road trip was two visits to nesting grounds of Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), on tours led by Brant Georgia for the Michigan state bird alliance, to see this lifer bird. Success!
Brant explained that, as ground nesters, KIWAs are not dependent on youngish Jack Pines (Pinus banksiana) for food, but rather for the thicket of branches at the base of the stem, providing cover from predators. Blueberries also like to join the thicket party, and these fruits do provide warbler food. At left, you can see planted jacks (along with Red Pines for the loggers) that are about the right size for the birds (heard briefly here); at right, an older stand that reforested itself after an unintentional fire. We spotted our quarry at this location.
With some cropping, I also concocted a nice observation of Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)
The bracken fern in this part of Michigan reminds me of Maine; the sandy soil (we’re on a glacial outwash) suggests the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
I had an unscheduled afternoon, so I scooted over to Traverse City to visit The Dennos Museum Center, with its wonderful collection of Inuit art (three cheers for motel literature racks!), a delightful piece of cherry-raspberry pie at Grand Traverse Pie Company, and a quick stop at Grand Traverse Light.
Road trip 2024: Ohio
Continuing chronologically, next up was a trip to the northern end of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, about which more presently. I did an overnight in Port Clinton, Ohio, followed by a walk at Magee Marsh Wildlife area, after all the crowds of birds and people had passed through.
i got some decent images of a friendly Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). June is apparently the month for huge hatches of Hexagenia mayflies in this part of Ohio, up on Lake Erie. Utter carnage in the motel parking lot. A Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) snacked on the critters at Magee Marsh.
Gotta stop for the lighthouses.
Rappahannock County dragonfly/damselfly count 2024
So many field trips, such a backlog of trip reports I have! I’ll start with the first annual Rappahannock County dragonfly/damselfly count on 8 June, organized by Bert Harris and the Clifton Institute. Big thanks to Nik and the team at The Farm at Sunnyside for hosting one of our stops. My best photo is a Unicorn Clubtail (Arigomphus villosipes) obelisking.
This was also the trip in which I learned that wading streams with lots of small boulders covered in algae is not my forte. I took a tumble into the Rush River and gave a spiffy new camera a slight dunking. I let it dry, and here’s hoping that it will bounce back.