A Walk in the Park

I had an aftershool program yesterday afternoon down in North Creek. I arrived early to get some guidance from Evelyn, who showed me where I lost the trail when I was here on Monday. And, of course, we botanized a bit.

This sweet little flower is Smaller Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis laxa), a native forget-me-not, and so very very tiny! It is amazing that anyone can find them!

We were looking for Slender Gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia), a small, pink, snapdragonish flower. First Evelyn spotted the seed pods. It is late in the season, so our hopes of finding a flower started to flag.

But at last she found two, one of which fell off as I moved a grass to take a photo.

This lovely daisy-like flower I believe is Lesser Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus), also known as prairie fleabane. It is growing in a lovely clump just off the beach at the Ski Bowl. It's not listed in the Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, and only has a mention in passing (no illustration) in Newcomb's.

But at least Newcomb's gave a description, which pretty well fit this, the key being nearly entire leaves and stem hairs that lay close to the stem (rather than sticking out).

Can you find the butterfly?

It's a Pink-edged Sulfur (Colias interior), and I had a devil of a time chasing one down to photograph! Just as I got close enough, they would fly off - every one of them! The wind had really picked up at this point, and many of these butterflies were being blown backwards. And when they landed, their wings listed to the side, like a sailboat heeled over in a strong wind. Update: I stand corrected. I was reading up on sulfurs at BugGuide.net and began to doubt my ID of this butterfly. If you look closely at the large spot on the hindwing, you will see it has a little satellite spote. This double spot is pretty conclusive that it is NOT a pink-edged sulfur. It might be an Orange Sulfur (C. eurytheme), although it could possibly be a Clouded Sulfur (C. philodice). Apparently, just to make things a bit more complicated, the two are known to interbreed. This is why I prefer flower ID - for the most part it is a whole lot easier.

Anyway, I guess the thing to look for to tell the difference between Clouded and Orange is the width of the dark band on the edge of the wings. This band is black, and it stands out like a sore thumb on the top of the wings. However, it is strong enough in color that its shadow can be seen on the underside. If you look carefully, you can see that the edge is a bit darker, and this dark area does not extend past the row of light spots. On Orange Sulfurs, this band is quite broad, and on Clouded Sulfurs it is more narrow. Based on the photos in Butterflies Through Binoculars, and my photo here, I am now leaning towards this specimen being a Clouded Sulfur. Feel free to chime in if you have a better idea.

There were several patches of this fuzzy-flowered plant in the sandy "waste" near the parking area at the beach. It looks like the fur on a soggy cat because it had been raining off and on. Evelyn thought this was some non-native plant that has "bunny" in its common name. Any ideas? Update: Betsy correctly identified this as Rabbit-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense), which likes to grow in dry sandy, gravelly locations, which this certainly is.

I didn't have my Newcomb's out at this point (I was trying to chase down the butterflies), so I didn't key out this flower. I thought it was a cinquefoil, but looking through Newcomb's now I'm beginning to thing that maybe it is Yellow Avens (Geum aleppicum).

It's That Time of Year...

Need we say more?

Okay, I will. Yesterday while driving to North Creek for an afterschool program, the weather was trying really hard to snow. Big fat drops of rain splatted against the windshield, leaving little granular bits behind that rapidly melted.

This morning, well, you can see - snow on raised surfaces, and still falling. Flowerheads, large leaves, and the woodpile were all dusted with the white stuff.

Indoor Wildlife

While ensconced on the melamine throne this morning I happened to glance in the tub and noticed that I was not alone.





My erstwhile companion was a stone centipede, so-called because normally they live outside where they scamper around at great speeds under rocks. In these rocky domains they are top predators, chasing down woodlice, worms, springtails, grubs and other likely prey. Their phlattened physiques allow them to squeeze into tiny crevices to avoid being captured by curious naturalists and other potential predators.



If you look closely at the head of this arthropod, you will see flanges to either side. These are actually poison claws, which are in the retracted or resting position. When in hot pursuit of food items, these claws are ready to open up (like a blade on a jack-knife) and grab the prey before it gets away. For a pretty good image of these claws, visit http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/05/31/stone-centipede/ . Actually, if you look really closely at the left-hand flange in my photo, right up near the antenna, you can see the tip of the claw - it is partially open. Pretty cool, eh?



The burning question, however, is how did it get into my bathtub? They apparently enjoy hanging out in rocky streams, where moving water and lots of hidey holes provide good foraging opportunities. Did it, therefore, come up from the drain? If so, how did it get into the drain in the first place? Its presence there would suggest a hole somewhere in the drain...this does not bode well. I suppose it could've crawled up the side of the house, lifted the window screen (apparently they are quite strong) and fell into the tub. I have my doubts, though, since they prefer to be in dark tight places, and the side of my house is neither. Could it have crawled into the house and up the side of the tub, only to fall into the tub's interior? Considering the struggle it was engaged in trying to crawl up the slippery sides of the tub while I watched (and for all I know it is still doing), I suspect this option is a no-go, too. This brings us back to the drain. I'm not really liking the implications here. Hm.

A Ramble in the Rain

On my way home yesterday from The Big City (Glens Falls), I stopped at the Ski Bowl in North Creek for a quick ramble in the rain. The Ski Bowl is the town's local park, complete with a beach (next to a tiny swimming hole), a playground, a pavillion, a ski hill (hence the name), a nature trail, and the town landfill. It's an interesting combination.

The reason for my stop is that I'm leading after school nature hikes for some of the local kids once a week for the next four weeks, so I needed to scope out one of the possible locations: the nature trail that runs through this park.

I'd made sketchy plans to meet a friend there, but our paths never crossed (although both of us were on-site at the same time). We'll try again Wednesday, thank goodness, for I lost the trail and found some plants I didn't know!


This little gem is Sand Jointweed (Polygonella articulata), a new plant for me. Evelyn told me to keep my eyes open for it, and it was all over the place, blooming in the sandy slopes behind the landfill. It reminds me of a cherry tree figurine my mother has from Japan.



This plant is a mystery. I've been unable to key it out with my Newcomb's Field Guide. Hopefully Evelyn will recognize it tomorrow. Update: it is Silverrod (Solidago bicolor), which I have only seen a couple of times in my life and that was a few years ago. Thanks, Jackie!


I encountered a large (and growing) patch of Running Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum).

While trying to get a good close-up of the sporangia, I discovered this very small spider and it's web. Try as I might, I could not get a good close-up of the spider. It had very large, dark pedipalps, and I think it was trying to eat a meal, being very patient with my failing photographic efforts.

But I was able to get a good close-up of the sporangia. If you can click on the photo, you can see all the little white hairs that cover the outside of the structures. And, did you know that some native peoples would shove these sporangia up the nose to induce bleeding? Why, I don't know, but I came across this factoid while researching clubmosses for tomorrow's article for the Adirondack Almanack blog.

Raspberry poope (pronounced poo-pay) - bear scat. Now, you know I couldn't pass up a scat and not take its picture!

This is one of the first non-vascular plants I learned as a child: British Soldiers. British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella) is a lichen, and here it is mixed with Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia mediterranea) known by most folks as reindeer moss, but it's not a moss, it's a lichen, so let's call a spade a spade, shall we, or, in this case, a lichen a lichen. The red part is the spore-producing part of the lichen.

Someone found this deer skull and stuck it up on a fallen tree. It was rather strange seeing it there, but also kind of cool. I wonder how many people walk past it and never see it.

Wee Newt

I found this little guy creeping across the driveway this morning. Those are centimeters he's sitting on, and those gigantic pinkish things in the background are my fingers. This has got to be the tiniest red eft I've ever found.

Red efts are the terrestrial stage of the red-spotted, or eastern, newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), one of our native salamanders. They remain in this juvenile stage for two to seven years, after which they return to the water, change into adults, and set about reproducing. This second change is what sets them apart from most other salamanders, which change once, from larva to adult. When the eft returns to the water, it developes a thinner and less toxic skin, regrows tailfins, and must revert to suction-type feeding.

A question I'm often asked is "what is the difference between a salamander and a newt?" - and the answer I give is that all newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts; in other words, newts are a subgroup of salamanders. The physiological differences are small and don't apply to every case. Newts in general have less-slimy skin, and most must return to the water to reproduce. There may also be greater differences between the outer appearances of the sexes with newts than with salamanders, and newts may display more elaborate courtship behaviors.

And We Have Lift-off!

I was trying to capture this little metallic green fly on the aster,

but it launched just as the shutter released.

Also, Shaggy Mane mushrooms (Coprinus comatus)

are now fruiting profusely. Must be the recent rain.

This wee little mushroom (note how tiny by the magnification

of surrounding mosses/liverworts) was sprouting on a log in the woods.

Cooperative Dragon

I love it when a dragonfly sits still for a portrait!

This lovely one was catching a brief respite on a rock by our butterfly garden. I believe it is a female Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa). My book only has a photo of the male, which looks similar but has blue markings on the abdomen. The female is noted as being "duller, with yellowish markings."

I was trying to capture the bright blue that was reflecting off her eyes, but without much success.

The shadow darner breeds around slow-moving (sluggish) streams and lakes (we have that), but are often seen flying over upland clearings and woodland roads - I think our driveway meets that criterion. They are one of the last dragonflies seen flying around our northern areas.

A bit about the name: Aeshna is Greek for "ugly" or "misshapen." HM. Well, apparently the dude who named them back in the 1700s thought he was naming them "spear", which is Aechma, but the printers goofed. Members of the genus Aeshna are known collectively as Mosaic Darners, which refers to the intricate patterns on their abdomens.

And umbrosa means "shady". This and the word shadow in its common name both refer to the insect's preference for dark and shady habitats, as well as its tendency to fly late in the day as light is fading (although it was about 2:30 on a bright and sunny afternoon when I captured this one "on film"). They have even been known to fly around after dark. Hm. I wonder if these are the ones I've been seeing flying over the streets and parking lots in the evenings as I walk the dog. It's possible - they are known to sometimes engage in feeding swarms.

Here's another interesting tidbit: the females lay their eggs not in water, but in wet, decaying wood!