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Author: Elise

Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Take a walk along a shady pond side, river bank or wetland area this time of year and you’re likely to encounter clusters of plants with odd-shaped, singly-borne, bright orange-yellow pendulous flowers – that’s jewelweed! In fact, jewelweeds often grow in such dense clusters that their canopy can suppress or shade out the establishment of perennial herbs. Although there are multiple species of jewelweed, the most common one we have on Cape Cod is spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). Spotted jewelweed…

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Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)

Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)

The Libellulidae family, also known as skimmers, is the largest and most diverse family of dragonflies worldwide, with more than 1,000 species. Extremely diverse in both colors and patterns, skimmers can rival butterflies in terms of their bold coloration. Widely varying colors and patterns often allow for relatively easy identification of male skimmers in the field, based on a combination of body, eye and wing color and pattern. Immature males and females, however, often look very different and can lead…

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Mouse bot fly (Cuterebra fontinella)

Mouse bot fly (Cuterebra fontinella)

I first heard about bot flies during a college semester abroad in Costa Rica. After having the life cycle of bot flies described to us, my classmates and I lived in semi-constant fear that we would wake up with a bot fly maggot burrowing under our skin (luckily this did not happen to any of the students that year). However, since Costa Rica was where I’d learned about them, I never considered that bot flies could live anywhere other than…

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Common spider crab (Libinia emarginata)

Common spider crab (Libinia emarginata)

While working in Pleasant Bay in Chatham last week, I saw numerous pairs of common spider crabs (Libinia emarginata) in the shallow water. Spider crabs have quite a different look from other local crabs. Their carapace is rounder with a distinctive beaklike protrusion. Their eight walking legs and two claws are long and narrow giving them a very spider-like appearance. This species is also called “nine-spined spider crab” due to the nine spines, or bumps, running down the center of…

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Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)

Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)

If there’s one bird I can almost guarantee to see every day from my house, it’s a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). And while most people are familiar with their high soaring flights, I have been luckily enough to catch them at an entirely different activity: waking up. Almost every morning over the last couple months, as my dog and I are taking our early morning walk, the turkey vultures in my neighborhood are only just starting to stir from their…

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Wild Edible: Wineberries

Wild Edible: Wineberries

In my opinion, berry season is the best season. Scattered throughout the understory of forests and along field edges various kinds of berries, including blue berries, huckleberries, blackberries and black raspberries, are ripening. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius), also called wine raspberries, are another edible berry ripening at this time. Less common and less well known than our native berries, wineberries were introduced from Asia for their ornamental value and with the goal of creating hybrids with red raspberries and blackberries. Wineberries…

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Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora)

Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora)

Visit a salt marsh anywhere in Massachusetts and what you’ll see is an assemblage of grass species, largely indistinguishable from each other to the casual passerby. Although difficult to tell apart from a distance, and sometimes difficult even up close when their flowers or seeds are not present, salt marshes are generally comprised of a variety of species. One of the most common, however, is smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). S. alterniflora grows 2 to 6 feet high and is typically…

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Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton)

Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton)

It was a very butterfly-filled weekend for me. I attended the Thornton Burgess Nature Club’s monthly adult natural history program on Saturday. This month’s topic was “Butterflies” with an up close and personal look at a variety of species within the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly House. Within the Butterfly House, I was able to closely observe monarchs (Danaus plexippus), red admirals (Vanessa atalanta), and question marks (Polygonia interrogationis).  A newly emerged monarch butterfly. A question mark butterfly. …

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Common St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Common St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

To me, one of the quintessential summer-blooming wildflowers is the common St. John’s wort. By, or shortly after the summer solstice, you should start to see its sunny yellow blossoms everywhere. Common St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) can be distinguished from other Hypericum species by its five-petaled yellow flowers (with black dots on the margins) that are approximately 1-inch across, and its many branching stems, growing to a height of 1 to 3 feet, as well as its oblong oppositely…

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American Toad (Bufo americanus) eggs

American Toad (Bufo americanus) eggs

True toads are differentiated from frogs by prominent bony ridges (called cranial crests) on top of their heads, and conspicuous swellings (parotoid glands) behind their eyes. These parotoid glands are a defense mechanism against predators (including cats and dogs), as they will secrete a toxic fluid if punctured. The many warts covering a toad’s body also secrete a similar toxin. However, despite the toxin’s deterrent effect on predators, toads are not poisonous to touch (and they do not cause warts…

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