Swallow Falls - The Forest

This is the the third and final post about Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland (previous posts can be found here and here).

Right at the start of the we entered an old growth forest.

Although some are no longer growing.

Seems these chaps spent what would become my birthday weekend here in 1921, in which case I'd be 100 years old.

I wonder if dogs had hiking boots back then.

I suspect it was just as picturesque in those days, perhaps even more.

That's Marie, pretending to be Atlas, holding things up so we could safely pass by.

This tree was still growing.

Another shot of that cool rock.

This one reminded me of The Scream.

Partridgeberry, a plant of the forest floor, and one we have growing in the yard.

As you have seen, this was a very nice park. There was a longer trail, some five plus miles, that, on a drier day, no doubt would have been quite enjoyable methinks. We'll just have to go back.

Pool of Death

It's not looking good for this Beetle.

But the Pitcher Plant is soon to enjoy a meal.

The circle of death.

Around the Yard

Working from home, which I will be doing until at least next September, I spend quite a bit of time in the yard. Breaks that used to take place in the office lunch room or wandering outside the office building now occur in the yard.

And that's a good thing.

Here's some of what I've been seeing ...

Not a tiny pinecone, but Frass. I've been seeing Frass all about the yard, but I've not been able to find the producers. But it is good to know the caterpillars are there.

I am still seeing caterpillars. This Smartweed Caterpillar is still munching away on the pond reeds.

And Yellow bear Caterpillars ...

... are all over the yard.

Other critters visiting ...

A rather devilish looking White-tailed Deer in the not yet deer fenced area of the yard. Look how skinny it is. It is really quite sad. New Jersey has a deer density that is often greater than 100 deer per square mile. The overpopulation is not good for the deer or the other critters that share the forest. A healthy population, not just for deer but for the entire ecosystem, is one tenth that number (references here and here).

Another Northern Short-tailed Shrew. And another dead shrew. This one likely met its fate at the paws of Max. This is not a good thing. 

Snakes have been slithering about the yard.

This Eastern Garter Snake lives just outside the garage in the back garden.

This snake skin was next to the bench in the Bench Garden.

And I think this tail is that of a Black Racer, which was hanging out by the Fish Pond for several days.

I'll end this episode with one of my favorite yard flowers ...

... Indian Pipe, which is popping up in the woods behind the "Hermitage".

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful property.

Crack! Swosh! Boom!

I'm sitting at my desk in my home office, with the windows open, the sounds of the yard mixing with Brian Eno (Ambient 4, On Land) streaming, when I hear ...

... CRACK! ...

                   ... SWOSH ....

                                       ... BOOM ...

What the ...

A rather large branch fell from the big Willow Oak out behind the Bench Garden.

As think as my leg and much longer, but not as large as some tree falls.

Non-trivial never the less.

And ...

... another is on the way ...

Front Gardens

I noted the frog pond in the new front yard meadow project.

You can read about that here Meadow Project.

This is what the new Meadow looks like now:

Not exactly what I was going for.

From the seed mixes I used, only Black-eyed Susan has appeared. Disappointing for sure.

They are pretty though.

There were a few volunteer plants like this Cardinal Flower. 

But it appears to be mostly weeds. So I may do a complete reset this fall/winter. We'll see.

But the Japanese Stiltgrass is mostly gone. And that is a good thing.

Now, on the other side of the driveway ...

... is the Mini-Meadow.

Quite the study in contrasts.

We started the Mini-Meadow in 2015, so maybe we just need to wait. 

I don't want to wait. I WANT IT NOW!

Or at least next year. 

Fingers crossed.

You Can See A lot Just By Looking

The last weekend in July is the annual Cheshire party, which has not been help in Cheshire for quite some time. Kinda like our annual Finger Lakes Trip. But unlike the Finger Lakes Trip, which is somewhere different each year, "Cheshire North", as it has come to be called, is held in Tupper Lake, NY, at my friends Liz and Larry's place.

And for various reasons I have missed data last several, after being there for the first thirty some. But this year we went. 

And while there Patty lost her glasses while wandering about the woods. Looking at plants and fungi, and things. So the assembled masses became a search party. A successful one, as the glasses were found.

As were a few other things ...

I think this is Spindle Shaped Coral, Clavulinpopsis fusiformis, but fungi identification is a non-trivial endeavor.

And I think this is Comb Tooth, Hericium coralloides. These are just two of the many fungi species about the site. Our friend Tree (not his given name) forages for mushrooms and he was reluctant to ID any of what we saw.

We saw plenty of this. Often mistaken for a fungus, Indian Pipe is a flowering plant, albeit somewhat akin to fungi as it has no chlorophyl and, like some fungi, gets its nutrients from other plants. Although unlike fungi, Indian Pipe is parasitic on live healthy plants.

This is a healthy plant for sure, as it was growing all about the site.

I ID'd this as Running Ground Pine (Lycopodium clavatum), but I'm no expert (I'm pretty confident it's a Lycopodium). It's not a pine but rather a clubmoss, a type of plant, like ferns, which reproduces by spores and not seeds. Like fungi.

Finishing with a member of the third kingdom of macro-life (Fungi, Plants, Animals) we have a Northern Spring Peeper. Seen here on Lichen, which spans two (maybe three) kingdoms, Fungi and either Plants (algae) or Bacteria (biology is complicated).

🏕  🍄  🌿  🐸  🏕

It was a fun weekend and good to see old (college) friends. I truly missed going. I'm already looking forward to next year. And I think I'll bring more than just my iPhone camera.

⚾️  ⚾️  ⚾️  ⚾️  ⚾️

The title is a play on something Yogi Berra famously might have said. Of course, he may have also said, "I really didn't say everything I said."

Zombie Tree Update III

This month's Zombie Tree Update shows the main tree is still going strong. 

I'm somewhat surprised that it is still alive. 

It will be interesting to see if, with so few leaves, it  can pump enough food into the roots to survive the winter, and sprout again next spring.

I'll be watching.

The previous update can be found here.

If You Leave It ...

... They will grow.

I blogged last year about a no mow zone where Great Blue Lobelia sprung up. This year they've really taken over the area.

Last year I had to weed out Japanese Stiltgrass, a nasty invasive (we still have it about the yard) but in this section the Lobelia are so thick I don't see any Stiltgrass. Yay!

Two Dogwoods, a Tulip Poplar (to replace the fallen Willow), and a few other natives along the woods edge comprise the the list of what we've planted in this area. Everything else came on it's own.

A testament to the resilience of the natural world, the deer fence, and laziness (although I did place the Willow limbs along the edge, and resurrect the Willow stump).