This is another post full of all of those pictures that don’t seem to fit in other posts.
Well, leave it to beavers. I found a spot where they had dammed up a small stream so close to the road that the road was in danger of flooding. The town will destroy the dam and let the water drain, and then the beavers will dam it back up. This goes on a lot around here and if the beavers persist they will eventually be trapped and relocated.
Beavers can sense when the water level is dropping, even from inside their lodge.
This flock of turkeys wasn’t much better behaved-they were scratching up a golf course.
I tried to puff one of these puff balls but instead of puffing it dribbled a pinkish brown liquid. That’s because it was a wolf’s milk slime mold (Lycogala epidendrum) and not a puffball.
Eastern larch trees, also called tamarack larch or just tamarack, (Larix laricina) turn brilliant golden yellow in the fall and are one of the few conifers that shed their needles in winter. This tree, for some reason, decided to turn orange this year, which is something I’ve never seen. It could be a Japanese or European larch, which I’ve heard sometimes turn yellow-orange. They also have longer needles and larger cones than our native trees.
I wanted to get as close as I could to these common burdock (Arctium minus) seed heads so we could see what made them stick to everything so readily. As the photo shows, each bract is barbed at the tip like a fish hook. This plant is very dangerous to small birds like goldfinches and hummingbirds that can get caught in its burr clusters. If they can’t break free they will die of starvation.
This grasshopper sat in the sun on a post and let me click away as much as I wanted. I thought he might yawn from boredom.
Thousands of virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana) seed heads can be seen on vines draped over trees and shrubs along roadsides. I like the way they resemble feathers.
Pinesap plants (Hypopitys hypopitys) have also gone to seed. You can tell that they’re pinesaps and not Indian pipes (Monotropa uniflora) by the multiple spent flowers along the stem. Indian pipes have a single flower at the end of a stalk. Pinesaps are also yellowish to reddish and Indian pipes are usually white.
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) berries are ripe when the orange outer husks open to reveal the dark red berry. Oriental bittersweet is a very invasive vine that smothers shrubs and chokes out trees. One way to tell it from the much less invasive American bittersweet is by the berry cluster locations. American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) fruits at the tips of its stems and oriental bittersweet fruits all along the stem.
Even though it is also very invasive-so much so that it is now banned from being sold-it’s hard to think of anything quite as beautiful as a grove of burning bush (Euonymus alatus) in the fall woods. This shrub is also called winged euonymus.
I wondered who had been eating all the mushrooms in the forest before I could get pictures of them, and now I know. I’m surprised that this gray squirrel was snacking while sitting on the ground though, because I usually find mushroom stems and pieces up on logs or flat stones that have been used as tables.
This part of New Hampshire has an abundant black bear population and I’ve even had them in my yard a few times. I’ve been wondering when I would meet up with one in the woods though, and have been hoping that he or she will have read the same literature that I have and will magically run away when I clap my hands and yell “Hey Bear!!” Of course, that plan hinges on whether I can still speak and move when we meet. Anyhow, this cave looked like a likely place for a bear to hang out, but I didn’t see one in or around it.
Every time I see this black cormorant the sun is behind him and he is too far away for a flash to have any effect. This makes for some very challenging photography and I’m beginning to wonder if this bird isn’t smart enough to want it that way. He seems to be getting used to people though, and let me walk right out into the open on shore to get his picture. I’ve read that this spread wing posture is common among these birds but this was the first time I saw him do it. Black cormorants are quite large with wingspans of 5 or 6 feet.
The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom~ Theodore Roosevelt
Special note: I have finally gotten around to updating my favorite links, found on the far right side of this page. The blog names that I’ve added are indeed favorites and I read each one daily. If you would like to learn more about nature in other parts of the country and the world, I hope you’ll take a look at each one.
Thanks for stopping by.
Beaver dams and turkeys were things that have only existed for me in books until moving here to Utah…have now found several dams…and while I haven’t seen the actual birds yet, there is a place in the canyons here called “Gobblers Knob” that was named for the wild turkeys that were found there…. I enjoyed your photos this morning, Allen…as always.
Thanks Scott. I hope you get to see some turkeys-this is one time of year when they’re active and out in the open. Beavers are very wary of humans around here so they aren’t seen as often as their dams and lodges are. Trapping them to near extinction might have had something to do with that.
This is a very interesting collection! Love seeing these! The bittersweet sure adds color to the fall.
I haven’t see a gray squirrel in years; they are not native here. We do seem to have one of the native species taking up residence with us now though, a Red Squirrel, although this little guy is nearly black. What a contrast to the gray one!
Thanks Montucky. Ilike seeing the bittersweet too, but it’s a monster. I love seeing squirrels too, but we have trouble with red aquirrels wanting to come in and live with us here. I once worked for a lady who had them in her attic and they did many dollars worth of damage. For some reason, gray squirrels don’t seem to want to get into houses the way the red ones do.
It’s a shame that oriental bittersweet is so invasive. I love looking at it.
It is a pretty plant in the fall, but it can and does strangle out trees and shrubs and it is very difficult to get rid of. Our native variety is much less agressive, but it’s hard to find.
Great photos! I always learn something from each of your posts. I’m used to Burdock sticking on my clothes, but it’s heartbreaking to think of birds being caught in it.
I know-I was surprised when I read that about small birds being stuck in burdock too.
I like the squirrel eating mushroom. That might explain some of the crazy leaps they make from one tree branch to another.
I know-I’ve been wondering if they ever get ahold of psychedelic mushrooms. I’ve seen aquirrels do some pretty screwy things.
I really enjoy going along on your walk. Your “neck of the woods” differs considerably from ours.
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve never been to Illinois but I hope to visit someday.
Southern Illinois has the most nature wise. The rest of the state is flat. We have a lot of state and federal sites available for nature lovers.
I hope to see them someday.
The burning bush is wonderful. Where is it originally from?
It’s originally from China and Japan and in the fall healthy bushes are covered with small red fruit that the birds love, and that is how it has become so invasive. It’s too bad because it really is beautiful at this time of year.
What an interesting collection of the odd and unusual as well as the common. Your posts are always interesting. Thanks for adding my blog to the roll!
You’re welcome Sue, and thank you.
Pinesap is one of the many plants I know about but have never seen. Good to know it really does grow here.
Nice shot of the cormorant.
I’ve seen pinesaps a few times this year but they’re nowhere near as plentiful as indian pipes. Glad you like the cormorant-I think that bird might make me crazy if I let him-he’s just about the smartest bird I’ve evrr met.
Beautiful and informative, like all of your postings. Thanks. I was especially intrigued by your comments about the beavers, because just yesterday I got up early in the vain hope of getting some shots of the beaver at my local marsh. I had an interesting conversation with a pair of birders, who were complaining about the fact that the beavers had taken down a bunch of saplings, possibly affecting their birding. One of the things I realize from your posts is how interdependent the different elements of nature are. You could have complained about the squirrel who deprives you of photo opportunities with mushrooms, but instead looked at it as opportunity to take a photo of a squirrel and share some info about his habits. I really like that.
Thanks Mike. It seems to me that complaining about beavers cutting down trees would be about the same as complaining that the sky is blue! I can’t see any fun or profit in complaining about animals doing exactly what they were created to do-better to explain what we can to each other so we’ll all understand. I once lived in a house that was directly across the road from a beaver pond and I spent hours and hours sitting beside the pond with a camera without ever getting a shot of a beaver-even though I had a good zoom lens. Beavers are mighty smart critters. I’ve also been chasing squirrels around since I got this new camera and have only had one opportunity for a shot, which you’ve seen here. They are also damn smart critters.
I will never forget seeing a wild turkey family standing at a busy corner of Rte 9 in Worcester Ma, waiting for the trafficlight!!! I swear to God!! When the light changed and the sign said “Walk” they did!
Great, informative post, as always. Loved the macro shot of the burr…explains a lot!!
Thant’s a funny turkey story. These birds are much smarter than we think. Thanks for the kind words and for visiting.