In the past week, Cape Cod has been hit with a series of snow storms. Today I was finally able to get out and enjoy a morning walk in the forest before the next storm arrives this afternoon/evening. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any tracks in the forest, but I did find evidence of a number of animals in my backyard upon my return, including the tracks pictured here. The prints from the back feet (larger prints) were approximately 2 inches…
While exploring Johns Pond Park in Mashpee a couple weeks ago, I noticed one pine tree that was covered in hardened sap blobs, each with a distinctive circular hole leading back into the tree’s trunk. At the time I attributed the condition to a pest infestation, but had no way of identifying the specific pest. Thanks to some asking around and sharing the photos of the sap blobs with a professional entomologist, I now know that these “wounds” were caused…
Jelly fungi belong to several orders within the subphylum Agaricomycotina, and are identifiable by the jelly-like consistency of their fruiting bodies, although they range widely in color and shape. This particular specimen found at a conservation area in Mashpee was rubbery and gelatinous (Think: the consistency of a gummy bear). Although many jelly fungi will shrivel and dry up if there is an extended period with no rain, when exposed to water they will return to their original form;…
A few days ago I posted about the reptiles and amphibians I saw while at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. This post will focus on some of the dominant tree species. The three most notable trees were bald cypress, dwarf palmettos and live oaks. Bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) are one of only a handful of deciduous conifer trees (other North American examples include the Dawn Redwood and various species of Larch). Like other conifers, they have needle-like…
Barataria Preserve south of New Orleans, part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, is one of the park’s 6 locations and contains more than 23,000 acres of swamp, marsh and waterways. I had expected to see a myriad of birds while there, but the true diversity in my wildlife sightings turned out to be in the herpetofauna. A few days prior to my visit, Louisiana had experienced unseasonably cold weather with temperatures in the 30s. The bright…
Winter provides unique opportunities for gaining insight about the animals that live around us. With the exception of charismatic gray squirrels, most mammals are relatively elusive. Our headlights might reveal a glimpse of a fox darting across the street, or we may see a skunk or a raccoon in our backyard when we flick on an outside light at night. But to most, the comings and goings of the mammals in our neighborhoods are a mystery. Between Friday and Saturday…
Although most people are probably more familiar with berries that ripen in mid-summer, such as blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, many plants not only produce berries in the late fall, but they persist through winter. Like the high bush cranberries described in a recent post, these winter berry-producing plants provide a welcome splash of color to the landscape. Common Winterberry One of these, aptly named common winterberry (Ilex verticillata) produces round red berries about a quarter inch in diameter, each with a…
Beachcombing often yields glimpses into ocean life, but rarely gives you the full picture. A washed up moon snail shell fails to show you the incredible span on the snail’s body when it’s alive. A gull feather is not only a poor substitute for the whole bird, but it is often difficult or impossible to decipher the species of gull from which it came. Similarly, finding the shell of a mantis shrimp’s tail hardly does justice to the living creature,…
The bright red berries of the highbush cranberry plant growing along the pondshore near my house seemed like an appropriately festive subject for a Christmas Eve blog post. With its coarsely-toothed leaves, which loosely resemble those of a red maple, long fallen to the ground, the bright red berries of the highbush cranberry are readily visible, and add a splash of color to the otherwise tan/gray landscape. But highbush cranberries, in the genus Viburnam, are not cranberries at all; true…
Although most people just notice a sea of grasses when they look at a salt marsh, there are many other organisms that make their home in and among these plants. While many of these animals, such as fiddler crabs and snails are less commonly seen as the weather gets colder, there are others, like the ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) that are not as mobile; once settled, ribbed mussels are very sedentary. Ribbed mussels occur in salt marshes along the western…