My lichen book, Lichens of the North Woods by Joe Walewski, says that one of the best places to find lichens is in a cemetery. I suppose that I already knew that but I’ve never really done anything about it, so last weekend I decided to visit an old cemetery in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. The town is North West of Keene on the banks of the Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont. My Grandfather was the town blacksmith here in the late 1800s.
Though many of our cemeteries date to before the revolutionary war this one is relatively young, having been established in 1806. Most of our older cemeteries are bordered by stone walls. Stone was a cheap, easy to find material that built walls, foundations, and even entire houses that have stood for centuries.
There were rings for hitching horses driven into the top of the wall every 10 feet or so. My grandfather would have forged things very much like this.
Instead of pecking wood like he is supposed to, this little clown squeaked and squawked at me the whole time I was at the cemetery. He was quite high on this branch on a dreary, foggy day, so the pictures aren’t the greatest. I think he’s a hairy woodpecker, but he could also be a downy woodpecker. He was about as big as a blue jay, or maybe even a little bigger. In this picture he was either showing how he could hang on with one foot or waving me off.
When I asked him what the problem was he ran up a limb and squawked even louder. (Yes-I really did ask him that.) If you would like to hear what he sounded like, just click here. Ignore the drumming sounds though-this one just squawked and didn’t peck wood at all. At least, not in mixed company.
In spite of the woodpecker scolding I still looked for lichens. This stone was covered with them.
Most of the lichens I saw here were fairly common and not very exciting, but these nice yellow-orange ones were dotted here and there. I think this is the elegant sunburst lichen (Xanthoria elegans.) This lichen has been studied extensively in extreme environments, including that of outer space. It survived an 18 month exposure to solar UV radiation, vacuum, cosmic rays and varying temperatures in an experiment performed by the European Space Agency outside of the International Space Station. Lichens probably have the best chance of any earth based life form of successfully colonizing another planet.
Since I wasn’t seeing any really unusual or beautiful lichens I decided to leave the cemetery to the woodpecker. (He jabbered at me all the way to my truck.) On the way home I decided to stop and see what the beavers were up to. I think this pond is the only body of water that I’ve seen completely frozen over this winter.
Of all the trees in the forest beavers could gnaw on they chose elm, which is one of the toughest. Dutch elm disease swept through this part of the country starting in the 1950s so our elms have a short lifespan with or without beavers visiting.
They gnawed through a couple of smaller ones.
This shield lichen was on a tree and is one of the biggest I’ve seen. I think it is a common green shield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata.) When dry these lichens appear pale gray but become green when they get wet because the algae inside migrate closer to the surface. This one was very wet. Hummingbirds use shield lichens to camouflage their nests.
As it turned out there was no reason to drive anywhere to see lichens as this “lichen garden” that I found less than a mile from my front door shows. I’m still wondering what the whitish bumps are.
A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors ~Henry David Thoreau
Thanks for stopping in.
I love the history of your area, Allen…and find it interesting that your grandfather was a blacksmith…a great trade, very necessary in his time. I wouldn’t have thought to look for lichen at a cemetery, but it makes so much sense to do so…the rock would be undisturbed and be there for years and years with only the weather, hopefully, to touch the surfaces….. Excellent find, too…and so close to home…. And thank you for Mr. Thoreau again….
Thanks Scott. Yes, not only undisturbed stone but many different kinds of stone. Since certain lichens will only grow on certain types of stone, hunting for them in a cemetary increases your chances of finding what you’re after.
Very interesting post! I especially like the “garden” in the last photo. Such combinations are lovely and fascinating.
Thanks Montucky. That little lichen garden grew in a space no bigger than a tennis ball.
I enjoyed your outing.
Thank you!
These are some very pretty lichen pics. Loved reading about some of the history of your area.
The Hairy woodpecker is the largest of the 2 birds about equal in size to to a bluejay. Downy’s are about the size of a house sparrow and as someone wrote before me- the bill is much shorter on the downy.
Hairy woodpecker’s main call is a very loud peek.
Thank you. I’m more into plants than birds so I don’t know them all. Woodpeckers especially usually fly away the minute they see me so I was surprised that this one tried to get me to run away!
You were quite lucky that the woodpecker was so bold.
Yes. I just wish the light had been better-it was quite murky.
What an interesting and informative outing. Is the dull greenish “stuff” with the yellow lichen a liverwort? I’m curoius about the bumps on the lichens too.
No, I’m pretty sure that the green is another foliose lichen but I’m not sure which one. I think the white bumps are the fruiting bodies of whatever lichen that is. It sort of reminds me of a candy lichen, which you showed pictures of a while ago.
Thanks. I don’t remember seeing that foliose lichen. It gives me something to look for … as an excuse to go hiking.
Any excuse to go hiking is a good one! I still can’t find the identity of that dark green lichen but I think the white one might be “Bitter Wort Lichen,” (Pertusaria amara) named for its bitter taste.
I don’t think we have the bitter wort lichen, so glad to see yours.
My field guide says it’s a hairy woodpecker (it has a longer bill and a narrower white eye stripe than the downy).
Thanks for the ID, and reminding me that I have a field guide too!
If the woodpecker was almost the size of a bluejay, then it was a hairy. But, I have no idea why it would squawk at you for as long as it did, that’s rather odd.
From your photos, I think that I would like New Hampshire, and its history. Michigan is a relatively “young” state, as the first explorers here considered it to be a “great swamp, not worth exploring further”. It took people a while to begin moving here.
It’s also very cool that your family history goes back as far as it does in that area, again, my family are newcomers to this area.
One thing I have been meaning to ask you about since you live near Keene, have you met any one from the “Free State” project? And, are they as nutty as they sound on their radio show?
I don’t know why he was squawking either, but he made it abundantly clear that I wasn’t welcome! I was actually only there for a few minutes because there wasn’t much to see, so it wasn’t as if he chased me for an hour.
It’s interesting that Michigan was a swamp, because Keene was too. My family landed in Massachusetts in 1638 and the branch that I belong to has never left New England, so we have a long history here. We were in New Hampshire before New Hampshire even existed-it was originally part of Massachusetts.
I haven’t met any “Free Staters” face to face but I’ve read enough of their poison pen letters to be able to confidently say that yes, they are as nutty as they sound. In fact if you ask me they’re doing all they can to destroy this state. Several who lied about their party affiliation got elected in 2010, but they were given the boot in 2012. While they may be very nice people they’re just too extreme, in my opinion.