Dummerston Conservation Commission announces its first in-person event of 2022.

On Thursday, January 6^th, at 7 p.m., John Anderson will give a talk about the 48 year history of the Putney Mountain Hawkwatch, culminating with an overview of the watchers’ record breaking 2021 season when 18,649 raptors were tallied.

John is a naturalist, roaming every nook and cranny of Dummerston and beyond.  He has identified 800 flowering plants in Dummerston alone!!!!!  John is also the author of numerous articles on natural history.

The presentation will be held at the West Dummerston Community Center.  Masking and proof of vaccination is required. Seating is on a first come basis and will be limited due to social distancing needs.

       

10-23 Bird's Nest Fungus

 10-23 Bird's Nest Fungus

Bir's Nest Fungus is a saprophyte - it grows on decaying matter: rotting timber, wood mulch or dead vegetation. The "eggs" are the spores or periodoles. When a rain drop hits the periodoles they are cannonballed out of the nest. The nest is about the size of a fingernail.

John

9-28 Water Smartweed

 9-28

Water Smartweed, a plant of ponds and wet shores, is in full flower.

John

9-27 Woolly Bear Caterpillar

 9-27

Woolly Bear Caterpillars, larva of Isabella Tiger Moth, are looking for sheltered places to overwinter. This species produces two generations a year.

John

9-25 Witch Hazel

 9-25

Witch Hazel has begun to flower. John

9-22 Beechdrops

 9-22

Beechdrops are parasitic on the roots of beech trees.

9-21 Earthstar fungus

 9-21

Earthstar fungi are at their best. John

9-13 Sand Jointweed

 9-13

Sand Jointweed is among the last flowerings of the season. Only Witch Hazel flowers later.

John

8-26 Inflated Bladderwort

 8-26

Inflated Bladderwort is both free floating and carnivorous.

John

8-25 Sand Jointweed

 8-25

Sand Jointweed's racemes of pink or white flowers are starting to open. As the name implies this species favors sandy soils.

John

flower enlarged

8-24 New England Asters

 8-24

This summer's wet conditions favor New England Aster. Look ofr them in damp meadows and along shores.

John

8-23 Closed Gentians

 8-23

Closed, AKA Bottle, Gentians are turning from green to blue-violet. These flowers never open, yet Bumblebees routinely enter them.

John

8-22 Nodding Ladies Tresses

 8-22

Nodding Ladies Tresses flower in late summer and fall. Look for them in moist meadows, swamps and open woods.

Round-headed Bush Clovers are flowering in dry fields. Some of its flowers are self-pollinating and never open.

John

8-20 Beggar Ticks

 8-20

The rayless flowers of Beggar Ticks, AKA Sticktight, can be found in either wet or dry waste places. (Incidentally, this plant is an aggressive invasive in New Zealand!)

Northern Three-lobed Bedstraw can be seen in swamps and along shores.

John

8-18 Canada Hawkweed

 8-18

Canada Hawkweed graces the borders of woods and clearings. There are. 8 other Hawkweeds listed in Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.

A Snowberry Clearwing moth was nectaring on Phlox in my garden today. Normally active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular). They are also active on overcast days.

John

8-17 Common Clotbur

 8-17

Common Clotbur is in flower - in its own unglamorous fashion. Look for it in farmlands and along roadsides.

Scaly Inky Caps mushrooms can be seen clustered on woody debris, especially that of Ash and Elm.

John

8-16 Purple Gerardia

 8-16

Purple Gerardia has opened a few flowers. Look for it in wet meadows and along shores.

John

8-15 Pearly Everlasting

 8-15

Pearly Everlasting is a plant of dry open places.

John 

8-14 Dodder

 8-14

Dodder twines tightly around the stems of other plants and feeds on their sap. Look for it on low ground, especially river banks. Along with Common Dodder ten other species of Dodder are found in our area, all parasitic.

John

8-13 Eastern Willow Herb

 8-13

Eastern Willow Herb can be found in swamps, wet thickets and similar damp areas.

White Goldenrod, AKA Silverrod, is opening its trademark florets in dry woods, along roadsides and in any rocky terrain.

John

8-12 Velvetleaf

 8-12

Velvetleaf, AKA Indian Mallow, does indeed have velvety leaves. I find it along the edges of cornfields.

Common Arrowhead is a plant of shallow water and marshes.

John

8-11 Red Bartsia

 8-11

Red Bartsia thrives in the low fertility soils of road verges, railway rights-of-way and similar waste areas. To compensate it is partially parasitic gaining nutrients from the roots of nearby grasses. It can be an agricultural pest outcompeting forage crops in farm fields.

John

8-10 Shrubby Cinquefoil

 8-10

Shrubby Cinquefoil - one of 12  cinquefoils listed i Newcombe's Wildflower Guide - is in flower. This is a plant of bogs, pastures and rocky places.

John

8-9 Hog Peanut

 8-9

In moist thickets Hog Peanuts drape over neighboring plants.

Doll's Eye, AKA White Baneberry, are in fruit. Look for them in woodlands.

Centaury is said to be a plant of meadows and fields but I find it along hardtopped roads.

John

8-8 Ambush Bug

 8-8

An Ambush Bug waits patiently on a goldenrod. Prey as large as bees and large flies may be taken by this little hunter.

Japanese Knotweed is opening a few of its many florets. This species is a troublesome invasive.

John

8-7 Dwarf Sumac

 8-7

Dwarf, AKA Shining, Sumac is a shrub of dry fields and edges.

Tall Rattlesnake Root, AKA Gall-of-the-earth, is common in woods and thickets.

One of the large Carpenter Bees was active today. The shiny black abdomens of these Carpenter bees make them easy to tell from the hairier bumblebees.

John

8-6 Golden Hedge Hyssop

 8-6

Golden Hedge Hyssop is a low creeping plant of sandy shores.

Brown Knapweed favors weedy fields and roadsides.

White Snakeroot is common in rich woods.

John

8-5 Beetles and Aphids

 8-5

Convergent Lady Beetles are doing the two things that Lady Beetles do well: creating more lady beetles and eating aphids. In this case the aphids are Oleander Aphids which migrate from south to north recolonizing these latitudes annually. Migration for this species is one way. This far north, they all die come winter. Oleander aphids are common on milkweeds and sequester toxins from that host that make them distasteful to predators. Their bright yellow color is believed to be a warning.

John

8-4 Groundnut

 8-4

The brownish-purple peas shaped flowers of Groundnut drape over moist thickets. The root of the groundnut is a round edible tuber.

Atop trailside thickets at least 4 garter snakes were basking 2 or more feet above the densely shaded ground. Note that one has the milky looking eyes of a snake that's about to shed its skin.

John

Note the milky eyes