2-9

This melanistic gray squirrel visited my bird feeders today. It was the first of this color phase I've seen here.

John

2-4

THis morning I observed a four chipmunk mating chase along a roadside stonewall. Seeing an occasional chipmunk during a mild winter isn't very unusual, but mating doesn't usually take place until at least early March.

John

2.04.12 Sapcicles hanging from broken or damaged sugar maple branches signal spring to me. I used to love to melt one on my tongue with the thought of maple flavor, but at best I might get sticky mittens! Sap rises when daytime temperatures are around 40 degrees and fall below freezing (but not too low) at night. I've been seeing these seasonal harbingers for more than a week.

2-3

In an effort to avoid being stepped on, this grouse locust made a wild leap and landed in the snow. Before moving on, I herded him back to bare ground.

As a bonus, I found this cricket sunning on a dead leaf. After this picture was taken it scurried down into the thatch of dead grass.

John

1.27.12 I ventured out to the mailbox in light, cold rain and an inch of frozen slush underfoot to be startled in my musings by the chatter of a Belted Kingfisher as it made a mad dash first into a nearby white pine, then back and forth through swamp shrubs near the bottom of my driveway, scolding and chattering all the while. Although it rained much of the night and morning, there isn't a lot of open water around here.
Yesterday, a short loop through the area revealed the meanderings of river otter (its slide and tracks preserved in ice); oppossum; red fox; gray fox; coyote; deer. Yet unidentified, there were clear tracks of a weasel-family member as it dropped into open holes in the brook and exited onto snow leaving muddy tracks and drips of muddy water. All tracks were greatly magnified by the thawing temperatures - great viewing without the need for glasses!

1.11.12 Protected from some of the snow by dense hemlock branches overhead, and near an ample food supply of acorns, this chipmunk burrow seems to be outfitted for winter. The white ring of hoar frost inside the tunnel indicates the resident is inside, creating some warmth in contrast to outside temperatures.

1.09.12 Birch conk, Chaga, and Clinker Polypore are some of the common names for Inonotus obliquus. Found most commonly on Yellow Birch, often at the site of a wound, the irregularly-shaped fungus looks like a piece of burned wood. This slow-growing fungus is found on yellow birches in northern European and Asian countries, as well as in northern US and Canada. It has been the subject of medical research for its apparent anti-cancer properties.

1-6

Sunshine and mild temperatures brought out a few Grouse Locusts this afternoon.

John

1.06.12 The Cecropia moth cocoon, measuring about 2.75 inches, resembles a milkweed pod attached to a branch in the woods. Lashed to a Striped maple twig along its top side and encompassing the intersection of two small side twigs into its construction, it is secure against many challenges. If successful, it will complete its metamorphosis in spring.

1.04.12 Temperatures were in the teens when I bundled up and headed for the mountain behind my house. I was nearing the top when, from some distance, I could see a white patch standing out in the snowless terrain. Curious, I approached to find hoarfrost around the opening of a pair of 4 -5 inch holes in the ground at the base of a fallen tree. Some animal is probably dozing down there, and its warm, moist breath freezes on contact with the cold air, creating a halo-like effect.

1.02.12 On 10.23.11 I posted a picture of a Baldfaced Hornet's nest dangling from a high branch. In the last two weeks, I've seen Bluejays perched atop the swaying globe, pounding and pulling at the outer paper covering. A few mornings ago, the nest was no longer hanging. I found the paper covering tangled in goldenrod stems; the remaining comb, with the nest's opening still attached, was on the ground. Each comb is made up of uniform-sized cells, measuring 1 cm in diameter. There were two layers of comb, separated by cone-shaped "risers" about an inch tall, constructed of the paper used for the outside. A few remaining covered cells contain nearly-developed hornets, now frozen. The queen of these nests mates just in late fall and burrows into the ground where it will spend the winter, emerging in spring to make a golf-ball sized nest, lay eggs and raise the few youngsters that will become workers to assist in enlarging the nest and raising subsequent members of the colony.

1-1-2012

While the West River valley was full of fog this morning, the view from Black Mountain was clear and bright. It seemed more like late September than it did January 1st!

John

12.17.11 This has been an unusual fall. What else accounts for a bluet in bloom at this time of year?

12.15.11 The absence of leaves opens a new vista in the woods. Birds are easier to spot; so are their nests. The artful weaving in this little Red-eyed Vireo nest has withstood some challenging weather. Lashed into the crotch of a beech branch with white birch bark and spider webs, the exterior is constructed of strips of white birch bark, twigs, and spider webs; its lining is white pine needles and lichens. After nest building, it is a wonder that the bird has any energy left to raise a family - and then fly to South America for the winter!

12.14.11 Polyphemus moth larvae do a wonderful job of camouflaging and protecting their chrysalis. As the larvae prepares itself for overwintering, it attaches its chrysalis inside a large (over-sized) cocoon with silk threads and wraps itself in leaves, also attached by silk; the whole apparatus is attached to two twigs of a beech tree branch resembling beech leaves that do not drop. Gentle pressure on the cocoon, as well as observing the hole into it made me confident that it was uninhabited. The strength of those silk threads was impressive. First, I unwrapped the beech leaves; then I opened the cocoon. Bernd Heinrich notes in Winter World that the pupae also have biochemical protection to prevent death by freezing. Despite all the preparation, I think the chrysalis was invaded; otherwise, the beech leaves would be more weathered had it spent all of last winter and summer since its construction. Quite a feat of engineering!

12.12.11 The weather is perfect for making ice needles. When the air temperature is below freezing and the soil temperature is warmer, moisture near the surface freezes into ribbon-like structures, called ice needles by some. The ice crystals push dirt and rocks to the surface and leave them there. Walking on ice needles can be precarious because they often give way unexpectedly.

All manner of beings come in from the cold at this time of year. I've found three Assassin Bugs in the house in the last week. They are considered "good" bugs since they prey on other insects. I wonder if they are in competition with the spiders that hide in the corners. At any rate, their coloration and pattern designs are decorative enough to provide inspiration for humans to mimic.

12.07.11 What I've missed by staying dry on rainy days! Today I discovered that not only White Pine collect bubble masses at their base; Black birch and Maples do, too. The Black birch won the prize today for the biggest pile. Today's sample was many fewer trees, but a much higher percentage of mature pines had at least a bit of foam; only one Black birch; and two maples each had small bits of foam (by comparison).

Never seen anything like it before. A rock growing in a tree.

12-6

What appears to be the head - complete with eye and beak - of a bird is actually the tail end of a Downy Woodpecker.

The bird is head down in the hole that it is excavating for its winter roost site.

John

After the rain this morning, while the trees were moist and black, a few of the Eastern White Pines in my neighborhood had pools of what appeared to be soapsuds running down crevices in the bark and accumulating at their base. As soon as a breeze stirred, the bubbles were gone. Research seems to indicate that fatty acids in the bark sometimes combine with oxygen and rain to create these bubbles. I checked probably more than 100 trees, but found 'suds' on only 3.

While I was out, I was delighted to be visited by about 5-6 Golden- crowned kinglets flitting about as they fed in the pines; one perched on a branch less than a yard from my face and stayed still long enough to afford a really long look to appreciate its bright yellow cap, bordered by black, short tail, and wing bars. A chickadee that was nearby looked large by comparison.

12.06.11 On a recent frosty morning, the red berry helped me spot this Wintergreen snuggled into frost-laced green moss. There are several members of the Wintergreen (or Pyrola) family in our area. This one takes its family name as its own. The nodding waxy flower produces a shiny red seed on its drooping stem; bruising the leathery leaf produces the aroma of the familiar oil of wintergreen. Nearby the ice sculptures of Frostweed, another aptly named plant, were conspicuous with their shining white swirls in the leaf litter, moss, and dried grasses at ground-level.

11.26.11 This morning I noticed a large circle of new wood chips on the snow underneath a poplar tree in the woods near my house. While I leaned against a nearby maple tree looking at the work, movement caught my attention. A little brown creeper spiraled up the poplar, stopped to check each of the holes the pileated woodpecker had made, then continued its spiral upward. It dropped to the ground and thoroughly inspected the wood chips as well, then went back to spiral up the tree again.
Farther along my walk, the mahogany color of this quivering Jelly leaf fungus (Tremella foliacea) glistened in the early sun.

11-23 Old Puzzle - New Clues

After an overnight snowstorm on Dec.,30,1998 I found over 100 cutworms atop the fresh snow covering my back lawn. The following night temperatures dropped to -8 degrees Fahrenheit. Even after laying atop the snow at sub-zero temperatures these worms were capable of thawing out and resuming normal activity after just half an hour inside!

This morning the snow on my lawn was once again peppered with cutworms. Well over 100 of them. Perhaps Winter Cutworms AKA Snow Earthworms (Noctua Pronuba) which may stay active and feed even under the snow.

Winter cutworms were first introduced from europe into Nova Scotia. They were first seen in Vermont in 1989.

Winter cutworms or, as I prefer, Snow cutworms are the larvae of the Large Yellow Underwing moth.

My identification of these as Snow Cutworms is tentative at best, and I was a little hesitant to share anything about which I'm so uncertain. But, I now (after 13 years) have pictures of the worms... atop the snow!

If not Snow Cutworms, what? And why?

(One of the accompanying pictures is of a worm on the snow. The other was taken inside.)

John

11-18

Frostweed lives up to its name, extruding feathery frost confections from its winter sere stem.

John

11-15

Chickweed is green, healthy and in flower. It will stay green under the winter snows and resume flowering next spring at the earliest opportunity.

John

11-10

The dark metallic blue Short-winged Blister Beetle feigns death if disturbed, falling on its side and exuding droplets of blister-causing fluids from its leg joints.

Adult Short-winged Blister Beetles eat herbaceous foliage. Larvae are parasitic on bees.

I find these beetles in the fall along woodland paths and trails.

John

American Larch (Tamarack) is the only conifer that loses all of its needles every year. The inch-long needles grow in tufts along the branches. All summer, Tamaracks blend into the landscape with other conifers, but at this time of year the needles change to golden yellow and for a brief time, they really stand out.

Rapping, rapping - first on the back wall, then on the roof; finally a little downy woodpecker came into view where he'd been testing the resonance of his drumming on a vacated bird house; when no bird came out the front door, in went the downy - to try out the sound from inside! This house provided shelter to tree swallows that raised two broods this summer. Perhaps this little bird was auditioning the house as a winter shelter.

11-9

In a nearby field, Golden Alexanders makes one last - seemingly out of season - attempt at flowering. I expect to find Alexanders flowering late spring and early summer. Finding one in November seems a bit incongruous ... but, there it is.

John

11-8

White Clematis (aka Virgin's Bower) unfurls its feathery seed plumes to the fall winds.

John

11-7

One of the hearty and ubiquitous Sulphur Butterflies warmed to the midday sun in my field today.

John

11-6

I have two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, one juvenile and one female visiting my suet feeders.

For the last several years Sapsuckers have over-wintered in my neighborhood, although historically the northern extreme of their winter range was Massachusetts.

John

11.03.11 In spite of recent wintery weather, these Ravenel's Stinkhorns seem to be continuing to develop at the base of a decaying maple tree. The pinkish round structure is the first above-ground appearance of this fungus from its mycelial tissue - "rootlets". The cap, on its spongy-looking white stalk pushes out of the volva; spores are dispersed through the white-ringed opening in the cap. Usually, the odor rouses my awareness to their presence before I see them; in today's cold temperature, that was not so.

11-2

As the snow melts, dandelions are opening; half a dozen brightened my lawn today.

John