Browsed by
Author: Elise

River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) can be found anywhere there is a permanent food supply and easy access to water, and are common in both fresh and coastal waterways across Massachusetts. Thanks to their well adapted body design, including webbed feet, a streamlined body, a thick muscular tail, and a dense coat of fur, otters are accomplished swimmers and underwater hunters.  Small fish make up the bulk of a river otter’s diet throughout the year, but they will also…

Read More Read More

Eastern white oak (Quercus alba)

Eastern white oak (Quercus alba)

By January, most deciduous trees have completely shed their leaves. Two major exceptions to this rule are oaks and beeches. If you look outside and see a tree still clinging to masses of dried, curled up brown leaves, chances are you have one of these trees.  To help you pick out the eastern white oaks (Quercus alba) from the rest, look for the following characteristics:  Light grey to nearly white bark, broken into numerous chip-like scales, sometimes with a pink…

Read More Read More

Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

Pink lady slipper flowers, which bloom in early- to mid-June, are a challenge to pollinate due to their unique shape. Only bumblebees and a few other larger species of bee are up for the task of pushing through the narrow opening into the center of the blossom. Unfortunately, pink lady slippers produce pollen, but no nectar. So after repeatedly coming up empty-handed after visiting a few flowers, the bees will learn there is no reward for their efforts and stop…

Read More Read More

Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)

The long, four-parted woody fruit capsules of common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) are readily recognizable even in winter. These capsules are arranged in spikes at the tip of the stem. Common evening primrose often grows as a single tall stem, 3 to 6 feet tall, but can develop multiple branches. In the case of a plant having more than one branch, each stem tip will produce a spike of flowers, and ultimately a spike of these woody capsules. The seeds…

Read More Read More

Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

You may have noticed that I don’t often write about birds in my blog. This is not because I don’t see them, or that I don’t find them interesting, but because lacking any serious camera equipment, I so rarely get even a half-way decent photo of a bird. Occasionally, however, a bird comes close enough and is cooperative enough to photograph with nothing more than an iPhone camera. Some places are known for “bolder” birds and the Cape Cod National…

Read More Read More

Nature Study Goals 2018/2019

Nature Study Goals 2018/2019

For many, New Years is a time for making resolutions. For me, it’s a great time for reflecting on what I’ve accomplished in the past year and setting intentions and goals for the new year to come in terms of nature study.  Below is a run down of how I did on my 2018 goals and what I hope to accomplish in 2019. My goals for 2018 included: Post to Seashore to Forest Floor regularly. — I managed to post new…

Read More Read More

Winter weeds: Swamp Rose Mallow

Winter weeds: Swamp Rose Mallow

Excited to put my new copy of Weeds and Wildflowers in Winter by Lauren Brown to good use, I spent the day hunting for unique seed heads and other dried flower parts. The seed capsules seen here were from swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris) and were by far some of the most striking. Each dried swamp rose mallow seed head consists of woody five-parted capsules that appear to resemble a flower themselves. The insides of these capsules are lined with…

Read More Read More

Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

I love warm rainy nights in December. Not because I particularly like rain, but because I love how winter moths (Operophtera brumata) emerge seemingly out of nowhere, to take advantage of the warmer weather. In fact, they’re one of very few Lepidopterans in the temperate region that are active in the late fall and early winter. On nights like we had this weekend, with light rain and temperatures close to 50 degrees, they can be so numerous that they remind…

Read More Read More

Mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia)

Mountain laurel (kalmia latifolia)

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a large, gnarled evergreen shrub, sometimes growing to the size of a small tree. Described by the Sierra Club’s Naturalist’s Guide to Southern New England as “the most beautiful native shrub,” adorned with explosions of intricate white and pink flowers, mountain laurel it is certainly much showier when it is flowering in May and June. However, given its large flat, leathery, evergreen leaves, somewhat resembling those of rhododendrons, even without its flowers it makes a…

Read More Read More

Baldfaced Hornet Nest (Dolichovespula maculata)

Baldfaced Hornet Nest (Dolichovespula maculata)

Normally I stay as far away from large hornets’ nests as I can. But this large weather-worn nest that I encountered on Saturday was uninhabited, which allowed me to examine it more closely than I could have during the summer when it would’ve been occupied by as many as 300 stinging residents. Overall, this nest was roughly basketball sized, and consisted of layers of paper-mache textured sheets surrounding an inner network of hexagonal cells. Although the nest appears grey at…

Read More Read More