The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or peahens in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like lots of photos. :)
In our last episode, we took a little tour through
Naumkeag, a lovely historic site in western Massachusetts. Today, I'd like to show you the more nature oriented leg of our trip.
Pickerel frog being cryptic
We went to our first wildlife sanctuary, the Lime Kiln Farm Wildlife Sanctuary. Mass Audubon has over 40 wildlife sanctuaries scattered all over Massachusetts. We've only managed to get to 4 so far but we're working on it!
This preserve started out promising. The fields had recently been mowed for hay and a flock of swallows was swooping around picking off insects. We went in with high hopes and no bug spray. What can I say? Forgetting the bug spray is a lesson we never seem to learn!
After most of an hour (it's a small place) wandering the trails and here is the full extent of the wildlife we observed:
It appears to be a common ringlet (Coenonympha tullia). Here's another shot of it laying an egg on a stem of grass.
That's it. No birds, no snakes, one maybe-chipmunk. I say maybe because we only heard it, never saw it. Very disappointing. Another odd thing we noticed - the oak trees seem to be going through a mast year, if the number of acorns on the ground was any indication, but none of them were eaten. Usually, you'd see shells and partially eaten nuts where critters were consuming them. All we saw were whole nuts. It was a little creepy. Where were the squirrels, turkey and deer that should have been feasting?
Oh, and here's the result of forgetting the bug spray:
Poor hubby gets an allergic reaction to mosquito bites and was quite uncomfortable for a few hours. The bug spray went into his pocket for the rest of the trip!
On our way back, we stopped at an amazing shop. I wouldn't normally include a retail establishment in a nature diary, but this place was incredible!
Campo di Fiori sells all kinds of garden pots, urns, statuary, you name it. What was most incredible to me, though, were the gardens surrounding it and the beauty of the arrangements. The owner clearly had an artist's eye and used it well.
Just look at those carved pillars!
They had a sense of humor, too! The little troll had been abandoned by its human so they gave it to the griffin as a companion. I would have loved to take them both home but, alas, my wallet didn't stretch that far!
The next day it was back to nature hiking for us. Heading south towards Great Barrington, we encountered Monument Mountain. While we weren't able to reach the summit (it went almost vertical towards the top which my back prevents me from attempting), we had a very nice stroll around the base and part way up on a carriage trail.
Once again, it was notable for a lack of wildlife. A few birds this time, the old standbys - a chickadee kept pace with us for a ways, a woodpecker scolded us in passing. One thing we did see quite a lot of was mushrooms! It was a lovely shady, damp wood, just the place for fungus. Here are 2 varieties that we found particular beautiful. No idea what they are - any mycologists out there?
One other plant of note was Indian Pipe. We found several patches of this parasitic plant scattered off the trail. Most had already passed their peak but this one little clump still showed the characteristic bent flower stem and still had the pure white color. When they die, the flower head points directly upward and the whole thing turns black.
One last item of interest was this pair of trees, locked in mortal, if slow, combat. Another hugging war! Will the horror never end? ;)
Our last stop was to another Mass Audubon preserve, this one just north of Lenox, off Route 7. The Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is a place we've been several times and it never disappoints.
The critters jumped out to greet us almost immediately. An eastern wood pewee put in an appearance right at the entrance. These cute little birds look very much like a phoebe without the characteristic tail bob.
A little further along, we took shelter from a brief spurt of rain under a tree and found the following insects hanging out. Aren't the colors amazing? I think they are 2 different kinds of juvenile shield bugs and have submitted them to Bug Guide for ID. If anyone here can ID them, though, I'd be much obliged!
This was also a mycologist's paradise and while I won't bore you with a ton of shots, here is one that I had never seen and found quite pretty.
Lastly, we were treated to an amazing encounter that made the entire lack of critters for 4 days worthwhile. We had taken some trails that were new to us and discovered, far too late, that some were quite steep. I found myself staring at my feet more that at the sights around me. The wood were quite dark as it was overcast and raining on and off.
As we crested a steep section of the path, something made me look up to see a great blob on a branch not 15 feet away from me. As soon as I lifted my head, it spread huge wings and soared off to settle in another tree. Fortunately, my reflexes are good and I had the camera slapped onto my face in seconds.
And here is what I saw.
A barred owl! Not even 30 feet away giving me the stink eye! What a treat! Hubby was behind me but close enough that he was able to see it, too. We had less than a minute before the owl got tired of the camera flashing at him and ghosted off in search of a patch of woods uninhabited by papparazzi.
Well! After that, the rest of the walk was anti-climatic except for one thing - the sun came out. :)
And that's the story of our trip to the Berkshires. Where have you been when you had an unexpected encounter with wildlife?
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 on the Daily Kos front page. It's a great way to catch up on diaries you might have missed. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.