My husband was chopping down a rotten pitch pine last week and found dozens of beetles under the bark. Knowing my interest for beetles, he brought one home for me to see (and photography with my macro lens!). We were able to identify it as a ribbed pine borer (Rhagium inquisitor), a member of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae) that is widespread throughout North America and Eurasia. The ribbed pine borer is unusual within this family, however, as it has…
As mentioned in my previous post, I recently received a new macro lens attachment for my cell phone. It’s been really fun to wander around my yard and nearby trails with this new close-up perspective. Some things are obviously enhanced by a zoomed-in look, such as insects, moss, lichens and other “tiny” things. But I’ve also really enjoyed a new look at things you wouldn’t necessarily assume you need a macro lens to observe, like trees and shrubs. Below are…
Beech bark disease causes defects and mortality in American beech trees. In North America, this disease is tied to a combined effect of fungi and insect attackers. The introduced beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, begins the cycle by feeding on the bark of a beech tree. Feeding activities of the scale insects create tiny wounds such that the tree becomes susceptible to two different species of Neonectria fungus: N. faginata and N. ditissima. Once the bark is wounded by the scale insect,…
Friday concluded our trip north, so this post will be the last in the Nature Notes from the North Woods series. It had been far too long since I’d been up in the White Mountains, and I already can’t wait to go back. I hope you enjoy the final installment of photos and notes from Maine.
2020 has been hard for everyone. From canceled activities to isolation from friends and family, to record setting hurricane and fire seasons across the country. Despite all of this year’s COVID-, environmental- and political-craziness, there are still many things I am thankful for. In addition to the Thanksgiving toad I came across on my rainy walk this morning (see cover photo above), below are just ten of the nature-related things I’m grateful for this year. 1. Abundant and beautiful local…
Fall comes with the expectation, and often hopeful anticipation, that the leaves on deciduous trees, such as sassafras, white oak, and American beech, will transition to a beautiful array of yellows, oranges and reds before being shed for the season. But pine trees, including our local pitch pines (Pinus rigida) and white pines (Pinus strobus), retain their needles throughout the year. This quality led to the use of the term “evergreen” to describe these trees. But if pine trees are…
I think my most common summer phrase is “berry season is the best season”. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying wild-picked blueberries, huckleberries, red and black raspberries, and wineberries, as well as the blackberries that are just now starting to ripen (I picked my first ripe one this morning). Now that my eyes have a “berry” search image, there’s one shrub I’m noticing everywhere: glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus), which grows as a deciduous shrub or a small tree up to 20 feet…
This past weekend I took a walk at the Eel River Preserve in Plymouth. This site had historically been used as a cranberry bog, but was restored in 2010. The restoration project included restoring 1.7 miles of sinuous stream channel, reconstruction of the floodplain, removal of dikes and water control structures, and planting 17,000 Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) trees. Although these trees are only 10 years old, and still have a long way to go, it was encouraging to…
I hope you had an opportunity to get out and enjoy the mild temperatures we had this weekend. During my typical winter walks, I tend to walk rather quickly in an effort to build up some heat and keep warm. But this weekend’s weather afforded me the opportunity to slow down (without fear of freezing) and explore the tiny winter world of lichens, mosses and galls. One abandoned fence post I came across seemed to have an entire miniature world…
The genus Populus includes poplars, as well as aspens and cottonwoods. While there are a number of native poplars in Massachusetts, others, such as the white poplar (Populus alba), have been introduced from elsewhere in the world. Although it has not spread to nuisance levels in Massachusetts, some states, including Connecticut, have placed white poplar on their invasive species list. Superficially, many poplars resemble each other. But white populars can be easily distinguished from other related species. The most obvious…