December 2022
Each time you go out and make observations for this project, describe your walk by adding a comment to this post. Include the date, distance walked, and categories that you used for this walk.
Suggested format:
Date. Place. Distance walked today. Total distance for this project.
Categories.
Brief description of the area, what you saw, what you learned, who was with you, or any other details you care to share.
Comments
12/2/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2.2 miles today, 4536.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I went out for a walk up Peck Hill to work on my new list for bingo. The weather was overcast and the temperature was about 38F, but there was almost no snow left on the ground. I was quite successful in my bingo hunt, bagging colt's foot, intermediate wood fern, hemlock, box elder, sensitive fern, American elm, broad-leaved dock, basswood, self-heal, red maple, cat tail, thimbleweed, Thuidium delicatulum, wild cucumber, pipsissewa, trembling aspen and garlic mustard. I said hi to our neighbor up on Peck Hill as she was taking a package out to mail.
12/3/2022. Bayne-Comolli Rd, Calais, VT. 3 miles today, 4539.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This morning I met up with 3 friends for a walk up Bayne-Comolli Rd in the rain. The roads were slick, with a light coating of packed freezing rain, so I had to concentrate on my footing a bit. I haven't yet dug out my ice cleats and I'm reluctant to do so since I think walking on cleats triggered my bout with plantar fasciitis. So that kept me on the less icy margins of the road. Together, we found striped maple, club moss, script lichen, red squirrel, hop hornbeam, juniper, hobblebush, and helleborine. I also found some strands of hops in a tree along the road, escaped from someone's planting, apparently.
12/4/2022. Chickering Bog, Calais, VT. 3 miles today, 4542.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo and fungi
This afternoon I went for a walk out to Chickering Bog in search of pitcher plants for my bingo card. The temperature was about 30F but it was sunny for a change. There were a few bits of the trail that were icy, but the snow is almost entirely gone everywhere. I decided to take the back trail in hopes of seeing new plants that I didn't see last Wednesday on my trip to the Bog. The back trail goes through the Chickering family trail network that runs between the Bog and Tucker Rd. To my surprise and delight, I actually came across the Chickerings out there today, Sue and her husband John, out doing some trail maintenance with a chain saw. I made a point of stopping at the vernal pond on the east side of the Bog to get some poison ivy for my card, and then I checked out the pitcher plants on the outlet to the Bog instead of right at the public walkway. Other bingo finds where orange jelly spot fungus, white spruce, tree lungwort, bunchberry, and maidenhair spleenwort, plus an American crow that I recorded. And then there was the Fomes excavatus fungus on a birch which gave me bingo on my Vermont card.
12/5/2022. Montpelier bike path, Montpelier, VT. 6 miles today, 4548.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I drove into town with my husband for an adventure on the bike trail. While he rode his unicycle, I went out on my scooter looking for items for my bingo card. I headed east down the newest part of the bike trail, all the way to the very end. It was rather chilly on the scooter, and my hands were wishing I had brought heated gloves. Then on my way back, the scooter battery died. I thought I had a full battery heading out, so I think the battery doesn't do well in cold weather. I had to push the scooter back 3 miles. But then I got to see more stuff. I found mugwrot, purple loosestrife, bull thistle, alder gall, white oak (cultivated), and highbush cranberry. I also found an interesting vine with fruit that I didn't recognize--moonflower?
12/6/2022. Pekin Brook Rd, Calais, VT. 2.7 miles today, 4550.8 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I ventured out in search of some items for my bingo card. The temperature was warmer, in the low 40sF, but we had a gray misty rain. I was barely down the driveway when I came across some Consolidated trucks. They were out working on replacing the phone line, which explains why our internet went out this morning. One of the guys even said he planned on removing the phone line from the yellow birch tree where a previous crew hung it years ago after a storm. I was looking for red pine (got it!), variegated horsetail (should have checked my previous location more closely), and beaver. I was surprised not find any evidence of the beaver along the lower part of the brook. I guess I'll need to walk the other way along the brook tomorrow. I'm sure I've seen fresh beaver sign there earlier this year.
12/7/2022. Pekin Brook Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4552.8 miles total.
Categories: bingo
Today I headed out Pekin Brook Rd towards the west in hopes of finding beaver sign. Indeed, there was plenty of it. About 18 years ago, when our neighbors moved in, they got a grant to get volunteers to come plant alders on their meadow for stream protection. I'm not sure why they needed to do this--alders would have moved in fairly quickly since they weren't mowing and the streamside wet meadow was ideal for alders. The planted alders did very well, and so did many other alders that moved in. The beavers found the meadow, decided it was ideal habitat, and now have a thriving colony that is damming the brook. Was that part of the plan? Now the beavers are taking down all of the mature box elders along the brook. Other bingo finds today beyond beavers were clematis, Flavoparmelia caperata, and giant goldenrod bunch gall.
12/9/2022. Montpelier Bike Path, Montpelier VT. 2.4 miles today, 4555.2 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I met up with Eve for a brisk walk along the Montpelier bike path. The temperature was about 35F with mostly overcast skies, but no rain. We both had our cameras along and high hopes for finding some bugs. We checked every pile of dog poop for flies, but sadly, there weren't any. We did manage to find a few arthropods under some wet leaves in the Peace Garden by the river, some isopods, as well as a slug and a snail. There were also a couple jumping creatures under the leaves, but we weren't able to catch them. Bingo finds for the day were black tar spot, milk slug, and a cultivated sweet fern at the food co-op.
12/8/2022. #10 Pond, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4557.2 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I drove up to #10 Pond in search of variegated horsetail for my bingo card. According to the iNaturalist maps, I have seen it all along the road along the pond, but today I had no luck finding any. On the other hand, I did find a few other items for my card, including Hedwigia ciliata moss, sheep laurel, witch's butter, and partridgeberry. I also shot some turkey tails and Radula complanata. I was looking for Ptilium pulcherimum, but I think to shoot it if I ever find any, I'll need to start carrying my clip-on lens around.
12/10/2022. Sodom Pond Rd, Adamant, VT. 3 miles today, 4560.2 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This morning I met up with 3 friends for our regular Saturday morning walk. The weather was a bit nippy, in the lower teens F, but at least the sun was shining brightly. I noted that both Adamant pond and Sodom Pond were frozen over completely, while yesterday there was not a bit of ice on #10 Pond and Nelson's Pond. #10 and Nelson's are quite deep, while the Adamant ponds are shallow. I found yellow birch, black cherry, and great burdock for my bingo card. I also found a frozen little woolly bear by the side of the road. I think it might still have been alive, but it was curled up into a tight ball, so it was hard to tell.
12/11/2022. Lightening Ridge Rd, Calais, VT. 2.2 miles today, 4562.4 miles total.
Categories: bingo
This afternoon I went for a brisk walk along Lightening Ridge Rd under light falling snow. I usually avoid this road since it is relatively heavily traveled, although today it was quiet, maybe due to the weekend and the snow. My goal was to check out the big black walnut to see if I could find some sprouts for my bingo card. The big black walnut is on the edge of a field across from a house. It is enormous, so I'm pretty sure it was planted intentionally, especially since walnuts don't grow wild around here. But all along the road there were sprouts. I even found one 1/4 mile away, so I think walnut has the potential to be invasive. I also quickly found red elder and stumbled across the autumn olive that I had seen in the ditch down near the school, but forgotten about. I scoured the bush and eventually found a Cecropia cocoon, giving me my second bingo for my Calais card for this month.
12/12/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4564.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had a little more snow over night, leaving us with about 2 cm on the ground this afternoon--just enough for an arthropods on snow walk. The snow surface measured -6C, a little chilly for flies, beetles, and caterpillars, but ideal for Tetragnatha spiders. I found a green one on the driveway going out, then a brown one, and 3 spiders of other species. When I got back to the driveway, I found a flock of spiders on the ground, mostly green. I lost count after 15. As I was photographing them, I saw 2 more drop out of the trees, both brown, both hanging directly under fir trees. Aha! At last, a suggestion of a fact: The spiders on the snow may drop out of trees rather than crawl up from undersnow shelters. That may be why I find so many on my driveway and on the wooded section of Peck Hill--both areas are thick with fir trees. So what are they doing? Why are they leaving the trees at -8 to -4 C?
12/13/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4566.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
No new snow today, so I didn't expect to find many spiders. I found a single dead green Tetragnatha on our driveway in the vicinity of the stampede yesterday. That makes me think that maybe this is evidence that the spiders are on the snow on purpose, or at least that they can ordinarily withstand winding up on the snow. I saw nearly 20 alive in the same spot yesterday, and only 1 dead today. If they were dying when they hit the snow after falling from the trees, I would expect to find more dead today than I found alive yesterday (unless something came by and ate them dead). But there was only 1 dead one today--suggesting that most survived the experience and got to where they are going. I wonder if there are methods for estimating populations based on live and dead finds, sort of like capture and recover surveys. I also found a hairy woodpecker just above the hive opening in the bee tree and a live spider on my way back up the driveway.
12/14/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4568.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had a light dusting of fresh snow overnight, just enough to freshen up the surface. There wasn't a lot out wandering, but I did manage to find 4 spiders out and about, 1 of which was a brown Tetragnatha. I also found a Trichocera fly and a yellow underwing caterpillar, plus the shell of a beetle skin. And 3 more dead honeybees, right under the bee tree from last year. The hive definitely seems to be perennial as well as wild.
12/15/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4570.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We didn't have any new snow overnight, but the air temperature warmed up to the low 30sF. The snow surface temperature today was about 0.2C with some humidity due to melting--ideal conditions for spider hunting, it turned out. I found a total of 19 arthropods on the snow, including 10 spiders of 7 species, a harvestman, 3 beetles (all the same species), 2 caterpillars (same species), and a snow scorpion fly. I also found the remains of a bird. AI thinks it might be a saw-whet owl, but I really have no idea. I was using my point-and-shoot camera once again today. When I got home and saw the photos, I was quite disappointed. I can't see the screen on the point-and-shoot, so I never know if it is in focus. Plus, I haven't figured out how to control the ISO, so the photos are all quite grainy. Time to start hauling out a real camera if the hunting is going to be good.
12/16/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4572.4 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We got about 8" of snow today, and it was snowing heavily when I went out for my walk in the afternoon, with the temperature at the surface about 32F--great conditions for arthropod hunting! I found several Noctua pronuba caterpillars, several soldier beetle larvae, several red scorpionflies (Boreus nivoriundus), 7 spiders, including a single green Tetragnatha, a Eustala, and several species of Cicurina, some winter rove beetles, a ground beetle, a Diamesa fly (first of the season), several Trichocera flies, and a pair of mating Orbellia petersonii flies. I also found a live earthworm, a first on snow for me.
12/17/2022. Chapin Rd, Calais, VT. 5.7 miles today, 4578.1 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow, birds
Today was the annual Christmas bird count. A couple from Blackberry Ridge Rd, which is off of Chapin Rd, met me to do the count together. We had more snow overnight, so there was about 10-12" of fresh snow on the ground, and not a lot of bird activities. We saw a few chickadees, a hairy woodpecker, and some ravens. We also saw a flock of evening grosbeaks, but I wasn't able to get a photo. The arthropods were quite active on the snow, however, which was fun. We found 6 spiders, including several green Tetragnathas and a brown Tetragnatha, plus a wolf spider, plus a springtail, some Trichocera flies, and some brain fungus.
12/18/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4580.1 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
Today the temperature was slightly cooler, about 28F when I went out. Our driveway and Peck Hill had recently been plowed, which may have cut down on the number of wandering arthropods. Still, I managed to find 3 spiders (Eustala, Cicurina, and maybe Grammonota), several Trichocera flies, and an Orbellia petersonii fly.
12/19/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4582.1 miles total.
Categories: arthropods on snow
We had another very light dusting of snow today, and the temperature has stayed up around 32F, so conditions remained good for hunting. I found several brown Tetragnatha spiders, some Cicurina spiders, 3 pirate wolf spiders, some Orbellia petersoni flies, some Trichocera flies, a Diamesa fly, 2 dead honeybees under the bee tree, and my first stonefly of the season.
12/20/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4584.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo and arthropods on snow
There weren't many arthropods out when I went out today and I noted quite a few changes on my bingo card, so I kept my eye out for bingo finds on my walk as well as bug. I managed to find a single brown Tetragnatha spider. I also found an apple tree, some Japanese knotweed, some plantain and some greater burdock for my bingo card.
12/22/2022. Peck Hill Rd, Calais, VT. 2 miles today, 4586.1 miles total.
Categories: bingo and arthropods on snow
We haven't had any snow for a few days, so there weren't many bugs out. Still, I managed to find an Orbellia barbata fly and a large wolf spider. For my bingo card, I collected an evening primrose.
12/25/2022. Albany St, Wilmington, MA. 1.8 miles today, 4587.9 miles total.
Categories: galls
This afternoon I went out for a quick walk around the neighborhood near my aunt and uncle's house. I haven't downloaded a bingo card for Massachusetts, so I didn't know what to look for for bingo. Instead, I focused on galls today. I found some black knot, plus 5 species of oak galls. I also came across a robin sitting in a bush muttering at me as I walked by.
12/26/2022. Albany St, Wilmington, MA. 1 miles today, 4588.9 miles total.
Categories: galls
This afternoon I joined my aunt and uncle for their daily walk around the neighborhood. I showed them a couple of new oak galls that I found, but they weren't very interested. I also found some fungus on a tree branch that was interesting at least to me.
12/27/2022. Albany St, Wilmington, MA. 2.5 miles today, 4590.4 miles total.
Categories: invasives
This afternoon I started out for a walk with my uncle. But he had to fix something on his car first. It was only supposed to take 10 minutes, but it took 45, and by the time he finished, he decided not to walk after all due to the cold. In the meantime, I had poked through his property (for the first time in 45 years) and found some appressed tree club moss. Then I wandered around the neighborhood with my husband riding his unicycle in circles around me. I found garlic chives, Japanese pachysandra, Japanese barberry, and Phragmites.
12/28/2022. Albany St, Wilmington, MA. 2.5 miles today, 4592.9 miles total.
Categories: invasives
I took another walk around the neighborhood here in Wilmington, MA today looking for interesting plants. Meanwhile, my husband rode in circles around me again on his unicycle. Today I found lesser burdock, honeylocust, Oriental bittersweet, and multiflora rose. I also found some hazelnut and cattails, plus a partially squished Noctuid caterpillar on the sidewalk.
12/29/2022. Albany St, Wilmington, MA. 1.7 miles today, 4594.6 miles total.
Categories: invasives
This afternoon my husband decided to accompany me on my walk on foot just to be sure he wouldn't fall from his unicycle and get hurt on our last day here. We didn't have many new and exciting finds today, but we did come across some greater celandine and a brown marmorated stinkbug (indoors, as we were putting our coats on).
12/31/2022. East Golf St, Miami, FL. 0.1 miles today, 4594.7 miles total.
Categories: weeds
This morning I took a quick cruise around the yard of our Airbnb looking for weeds while I waited for our taxi back to the airport. I found a spurge, puslane, white beggarticks, bitter melon, and something that AI thinks is largeflower Mexican clover.
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