4-12

4-12
Silver Maples are starting to flower. This one was at Dummerston Landing.
There were three Bald Eagles on the Retreat Meadows, this subadult and two adults.
And a Great Blue Heron stood perfectly still with the exception of a few wind stirred plumes.
John

4-11

4-11
This morning there was a Chipping Sparrow in my yard and a Louisiana Waterthrush along a nearby stream. It was also warm enough to get a Woolly Bear caterpillar on the move although it will find precious little to eat right now.
Also it's tick season. One hitchhiked home with me today!
John

4-10

4-10
A Flicker made several visits to my suet feeder today. Flickers are ant specialists and ants are as yet in short supply!
John

4-5

4-5
This evening Woodcocks were 'peenting' enthusiastically in fields near my house despite the cold and wind.
John

4-3

4-3
Song Sparrows are carving out territories along the West River and singing their claims. And a Cooper's hawk spent the morning terrorizing Blue Jays in my yard. The jays avoided becoming hawk food but a Mourning Dove was not so lucky.
John

4-2

4-2
Birds are on the move!
Today a Fox Sparrow scratched through the leaf litter along a fence row. A Grackle fed under a neighbor's feeders. Two Phoebes hunted in a willow thicket beside the West River. A Tree Sparrow flitted overhead. A pair of Red-shouldered hawks circled over my woodlot. And hundreds of Canada Geese streamed north, many at such altitudes that they were visible only with binoculars.
It seems that spring picked up its pace today. The laggard season caught up. Last year Tree Swallows arrived in my yard on 4-4; Phoebes on 4-2!
John

4-1

4-1
Today a pair of Black Ducks dabbled happily in the West River.
And this Mourning Cloak butterfly - one of 3 I saw - battled against the wind as it crossed my field. Mourning Cloaks overwinter as adults.
The larval host plants for the species include willow and poplar. The stunning, red-blotched, spiny black caterpillars are mature in July or August.
John

Signs of Spring

As the snow melts it's easy to see that some creatures (voles?) spent the winter feasting on the bark of this cherry tree. In other signs of spring 5 raccoons cavorted in the moonlight in our backyard last night. They took turns tumbling around the lawn and climbing the dwarf cherry tree to eat the berries. Today cedar waxwings enjoy the berries while this turkey wanders by.

3-30

3-30

For the last three or four days Canada Geese have been working their way north.

John

3-29

3-29
 Today it was warm enough for a few flies to emerge.
John

3-26

3-26
Today a flock of about 60 Cedar Waxwings was feasting in a bittersweet tangle along Green Mountain Camp Rd. And Mallards were moving up ice free sections of the West River.
John

3-25

3-25
Coltsfoot is among the earliest of the wildflowers. Only Skunk Cabbage flowers earlier.
These yellow composites will be long gone before the plant's big long-lasting leaves push up. The leaves persist long into the fall.

John

3-24

3-24
Today a Kingfisher worked its way up the West River … despite the ice that still clogs much of the channel. Its raucous rattle was a welcome hint of the warmth to come.
John

3-21

3-21
A rather emaciated looking Red Fox was chasing gray squirrels under my bird feeders at 10 AM!
In dry sun-warmed spots along the edge of my field Grouse Locust were active.
And overhead, raptors were moving north. I saw red-tails, Cooper's hawks, turkey vultures and a bald eagle. When the sun was out there were good thermals!
John

Grouse Locust

3-20

3-20
For the last few weeks I have had an occasional Red-winged Blackbird at my feeders.
Today I had a flock of 45. Forty-two males plus 3 females. With them was a Brown-headed Cowbird.
John

3-18

3-18
This raccoon went up the tree sniffing like a bloodhound on a trail. I suspect that it was a boar coon on the scent of a female. 'Coons are normally nocturnal. Being out and about at 10 AM hints at a powerful incentive. On his way back to the woods this one had a hearty snack at one of my bird feeders and a drink out of my bird bath.
John

3-15

3-15
This weekend's weather front brought with it a wave of returning raptors. I saw several red-tailed hawks moving north this morning, also one bald eagle and a pair of turkey vultures … the first I've seen this year. A rather grainy picture of one of the vultures was the best I could do. The birds were moving high and fast.!
While it may not seem very springlike today the return of the vultures means that road kill is no longer frozen solid and winter killed deer are melting out of the snow.
Eat hearty, vultures!
John

3-4-2015

3-4
Despite the record cold in February Hemlock Woolly Adelgid managed to increase its footprint. Nine of 30 trees I checked along Camp Arden Road were infested. A stand of Hemlocks on Green Mt. Camp Rd that I have surveyed frequently in the past now has obvious Adelgid populations.
John

3-3-2015

3-3
Today with the sky overcast and the thermometer at 25 degrees F a few snow fleas (order Collembola) were atop the snow and active.
There are some 675 known species of Collembola in America north of Mexico. Most live in the leaf litter, but habitats as diverse as the surface of stagnant water, under bark, and in the canopy of trees have been colonized by members of this order. There are few places they can't be found.
I have no idea which of the 675 known species I was seeing today. They were in sun melted 'wells' around phone poles and, to my surprise, many were laboriously climbing those poles. I took pictures of some that were 3 to 4 feet above the surface of the snow, a towering height for such a tiny climber, and they were still headed up!
Mysteries abound. Which species was I seeing? Why were they scaling vertical structures? Who knows? Just getting a picture of one of these hyperactive pepper specks is a challenge.
John

3-2-2015

3-2
Since 2-25 Winter Stonefly naiads have been leaving the water. Once the naiads shed their "skin" the adult flies (pictured) walk over the snow and ice and climb on streamside weeds and brush. This is their brief terrestrial mating season, the only time they are not in the water!
These synchronous winter stonefly emergings provide food for migrating birds caught by late season stormes. Phoebes, robins, bluebirds and song sparrows will feed on them.
Even crows find these tiny insects irresistible.
John

2-21

2-21
Winter may seem to have a lock on southern Vermont, but Bald Eagle and Chipmunk sightings indicate that spring is not far off.
People along Camp Arden Rd have been reporting a Bald Eagle. Before long eagle pairs will be incubating eggs.
And this morning along Day Rd I saw a (cold) chipmunk. Some warm day soon there will be chipmunk mating chases ensuring a bumper crop of chippies next summer!
John

1-3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1-3
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker gets a high calorie bellyful at my suet feeder.
Sapsuckers are expanding their winter range north, mild winters - and perhaps feeders - have made them relatively common here. Twenty years ago to see one would be noteworthy. Now we have at least one in my neighborhood every winter.
John

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

1-1-15

1-1
The variegated evergreen leaves of Spotted Wintergreen lent a bit of color to the woods on Black Mtn today.
And in a field off Black Mt Road 30 to 40 Robins were finding food on the ground. Robins are usually fruitiverous at this time of year, feeding on fruits and berries in thickets and treetops.
The relatively open winter this year has made life easy for birds.
John

Spotted Wintergreen

12-30

12-30
The seed heads of Thimbleweed slowly disintegrate in the winter winds ensuring nest year's crop.
And Poison Ivy berries, anathema to us, are subsistence food for wintering birds.
John

Thimbleweed 

Poison Ivy berries

cocoon

12=28
A Cecropia's silk cocoon, both tough and flexible, may outlast its usefulness by many years. The big moth will emerge next May. The cocoon will soon fade to near whiteness yet remain strong and supple long after the moth has gone.
John

Beech Blight Sooty Mold

12-26
These strange black accretions are the final stage of Beech Blight Sooty Mold (Scolias spongiosa) a fungus which only grows on the honeydew secreted by Beech Blight Aphids AKA Boogie-woogie Aphids. It is an obligate species, it will only grow on the copious honeydew provided by this one aphid species.
The fungus starts as a black fuzzy mat, thickens to a brown furry stage and then swells into a spongy golden yellow heap. Finally it turns black.
For more on Boogie-woogie aphids see the blog entry for August 16, or check them out online.
John

12-24

12-24
Worms that should be deep in the ground to stay below the normal frost line are surfacing to escape the oxygen-poor, water saturated, warm soil conditions!
John

12-22

12-22
This morning a Great Blue Heron winged down the West River valley. No pictures were possible without risking a multi-car pile-up!
John

12-20

12-20
A Sharp-shinned hawk took a smaller bird (probably a junco) just outside my kitchen window. Sharpies are accipiters, hawks that specialize in hunting birds.
Earlier in the day I'd seen this overly-optimistic little hawk in hot pursuit of a crow.
In all likelihood this sharpie will terrorize feeder birds in my neighborhood all winter.
John

Sharp-shinned hawk and prey

12-17

12-17
Lots of Bluebirds and a few robins along Rice Farm Rd. today. On the Retreat Meadows an adult Bald Eagle was consuming something out on the ice.
And, to my surprise, along the edge of the meadows, a mustard … in flower! Perhaps Field Mustard, Brassica rapa, an alien.
Seeing anything - even an alien species - in flower today was certainly a surprise.
John

Mustard in bloom in December

12-16

12-16
This tiny little 1/4 inch insect is a Winter Cranefly. A flightless female. The males have wings. Most of us are familiar with the larger summer-flying cranefly species. A lot of people mistakenly refer to them "Great-big-mosquito-thingies." Winter craneflies are often found atop the snow in late fall and in early spring.
Also atop the snow today was a Caddisfly …! The caddisflies that I'm familiar with emerge from the water for their mating flights in May or June. Not December? I guess that nobody told this one.
John

Caddisfly

Winter Cranefly

12-15

12-15
Along the edge of the woods where the sun has melted off the snow, Grouse Locust were hopping today.
Also active was a froghopper, the nymphal stage of this insect is summer's ubiquitous Spittlebug. Hoppers are common but because they live in tangled fields and woodpatches and because they escape by hopping wildly, they are seldom observed.
I certainly never expected to see one in mid December!
John

froghopper

froghopper

Grouse Locust

Tetragnatha viridis

12-13
One of the long-jawed orb weaving spiders, Tetragnatha viridis, was taking a walk atop the snow this morning. With air temperatures at 30 degrees F but in full sunlight this little spider was quite active.
Orb weavers align themselves with grass blades and stretch out their legs giving them a long unspiderlike profile. They are  well camouflaged during the growing season, but - as you can see - not so well on snow.

John

Birthday Butterfly

A butterfly!
Inside the house!
On my birthday :)

11 degrees outdoors.

9-11

9-11
Slender Gerardia is in flower.
John

Slender Gerardia

close up of the Slender Gerardia flower

Bears tearing up our compost bin

The bear came and tore up our compost bin that had been locked.  We've had the bid for 30 years.  Seemed particularly aggressive, and I am quite concerned.  Contact the game warden if this happens to you.

9-8

9-8
Caterpillars of Cherry Scallop Shell Moths nest gregariously on Black Cherry shoots, lacing leaves into shelters. They often tie up the entire shoot.
John

Cherry Scallop Shell moth caterpillar

9-6

9-6
Dwarf Cinquefoil is doing its obscure little thing in dry, grassy areas today.
John

Dwarf Cinquefoil

Dwarf Cinquefoil