I was shooting photos of a wintery Mount Monadnock when spring hopped into the photo in the form of a robin. He’s there in the grass on the left.
Robins are very curious birds, I’ve found. They seem to like watching what I’m doing as much as I like watching them. I had one let me stand right next to it just the other day.
A raccoon has become a regular visitor to where I work. Somehow it has damaged its paw and doesn’t seem to be able to see very well. We think it must be quite old for a raccoon but it still gets around fairly well and can still climb trees.
Two mallards hid in the reeds in a small roadside pond. While he watched me she tipped up and ate. She ate quite a lot, ignoring me the whole time.
They finally got tired of me watching them and swam off. Ducks and other waterfowl are very wary of humans in this area. They don’t swim right up to you when they see you like they do in other places because nobody feeds them, so getting photos of them is usually tough. This pair put up with me longer than most do.
Activity seems to have increased among all creatures except bees, which I still haven’t seen yet. Squirrels are certainly in abundance; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many. This one was hopping across a lawn when I tried to get its photo.
I’ve never seen so many pinecones fall as they have this year either. They’ve made a squirrel’s life pretty easy, as this large stone covered with pinecone scales shows. For some reason squirrels usually like to sit up off the ground when they eat and one or more of them ate a lot of pine seeds on this stone.
There was a storm brewing on an ice covered Half Moon Pond in Hancock on March 29th when this was taken.
This is what the pond looked like 14 days later on April 12th. We’re getting just about one sunny day each week and this one was that week’s day. The ice on the pond wasn’t completely gone but there was very little left. It has snowed again once or twice since that photo was taken.
I found what I thought was a toothed crust fungus, but this fungus wasn’t acting like any other crust fungus that I’ve seen.
This crust fungus had developed fruiting bodies that looked like mushrooms with a hollow stem. On the smaller one on the left you can just see the teeth hanging from the underside of the cap. I don’t really know if the toothed crust developed from the mushroom like fruiting bodies or if the mushrooms arose from the toothed crust. Each “cap” was about as big as an aspirin.
On a nearby section of log the toothed crust, if that’s what it is, had completely enveloped the mushroom shaped fruiting bodies. I’ve never seen anything like this and haven’t found anything like it, either in my mushroom guides or online. If you know what it is I’d love to hear from you.
I know what this is; an orange jelly fungus behaving strangely. Orange jelly fungi (Dacrymyces palmatus) are common here and usually grow on fallen eastern hemlocks. They absorb many times their own size and weight in water and usually shrink when they dry out but this one looked like it was melting. These fungi are eaten in China and are said to improve circulation and breathing.
Plantain leaved sedge (Carex plantaginea) is a large plant as sedges go, with wide, pleated, foot long leaves that wrinkle like crepe paper. It’s large leaves are for gathering light so it does well in the shade under trees, where the one pictured grows naturally. Sedges like cooler weather and cool soil, so they grow and flower best in spring in this area. Once it gets hot their growth slows but sometimes in a cool fall they’ll have a second growth spurt. This one is on the rare side here. I know of only a few plants, all growing in one spot.
Plantain leaved sedge usually blooms in mid spring and this plant seems to be right on schedule. It had several beautiful dark purple flower spikes showing. These flowers will open into wispy white female flowers on the lower part of the stalk (Culm) and the long, yellowish male flowers on the upper part. The flowers are called spikelets and the stems that bear them are triangular, and that leads to the old saying “sedges have edges.” I’m guessing that these flowers will appear in a week or two, depending on the weather.
Soil crunching underfoot in the spring and fall is a sure sign that you’re walking on ice needles. For them to form the temperature at the soil surface has to be below 32 degrees F while the soil and groundwater remain thawed. Hydrostatic pressure forces the groundwater, which is sometimes super cooled, out of the soil where it freezes instantly into a “needle.” As more water is forced out of the soil the process is repeated over and over, and each needle grows in length because more water is freezing at its base. I’ve read that each thin needle is hexagonal in shape and that needles 16 inches long have been found, but most of the ones I see are less than 5 inches long. They are often very dirty.
There is a plant called common cotton sedge (Eriophorum angustifolium) but I doubt this is it because another name for it is bog cotton due to its habit of growing in damp boggy ground, and this plant was growing in a spot that was high and dry. It grew at the edge of the woods under pine trees and I’ve never seen anything else like it. It had a single hairy stem about a foot tall with this bit of “cotton” at the top. It had no leaves because of the time of year. If you know what it is I’d love to know.
An eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) was healing a wound in a strange way, I thought. The wound cork had grown over a scar in a kind of lump rather than flat as it usually does. According to the book Bark, by Michael Wojtech eastern hemlock is the only tree in the northeast that grows wound cork in annual increments. Because it grows this way it can be counted just like a tree’s growth rings. From what I counted this scar took 10-12 years to heal. Native Americans used the inner bark (Cambium) of hemlock as a base for breads and soups or mixed it with dried fruit and animal fat to use in pemmican. They also made tea from the tree’s needles, which have a high vitamin C content. This saved many an early settler from scurvy.
I recently went to see one of my favorite lichens, the poplar sunburst (Xanthoria hasseana.) One of the reasons it is one of my favorites is because it is almost always producing spores in its large, sucker like fruiting bodies (Apothecia.) This lichen grows on tree bark near a pond and has a mounded growth habit rather than flat. This example might have been a half inch across. It’s a pretty little thing.
I might have already shown these turkey tail fungi (Trametes versicolor) but I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter anyway because seeing such beautiful things doesn’t have to happen just once. I certainly think they’re worth a second look. As beautiful as they are though turkey tails frustrate me a bit, because I’ve never been able to find out how they come by their color. They have a wide range of colors and something must influence what color they’ll be. I think it might be the minerals in the wood they feed on, but that’s just a guess. I hope you’ll be able to see at least one thing as beautiful this week.
The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves. ~Kahlil Gibran
Thanks for stopping in.
I like the quote you’ve used very much. I also enjoy your ‘Things I’ve Seen’ posts though I remember reading that they often cause you a little frustration! The plantain-leaved sedge is an interesting plant and I smiled at your description using crepe paper as a simile. I can’t remember the last time I saw crepe paper but we used it constantly at school and home when I was young!
Thank you Clare. Yes, these posts do get me flustered because they take a long time to put together. Often it is the first time I’ve seen some of the plants or whatever and it can take quite a lot of research to figure out exactly what it is.
We used to use a lot of crepe paper in school too, and I’ve never forgotten what it looked and felt like. The leaves on that sedge look exactly the same to me!
I’ve never forgotten the look and feel of it either!
It was nice to see the wildlife in your photos in the beginning of this post. Many birds are curious about us, many mammals also, but most people never notice because they don’t take the time to watch the animals watching us.
If any animal can survive an injury and old age, it’s a raccoon, they’re one of the toughest critters there is, I hope this one ha a few more good years left.
I haven’t noticed an increase in pine cones around here, but you’re right about the way that squirrels have their favorite places to eat, usually an elevated spot.
Thanks for explaining that hemlocks heal in ways that are different than most trees, it explains the growths that I see on some of them.
The lichens and fungi were very pretty, any color this time of year is welcome. I wonder if the jelly fungus is growing the way it is because of the repeated thaw/freeze cycles this spring, along with the snow coming and going all the time?
Thanks Jerry! Yes, I know chipmunks certainly like to watch us, and so do squirrels.
I hope the raccoon is okay too. It seems strange that it would come around for a few weeks and then disappear, but that’s nature I guess.
You could be right about the jelly fungus. This strange up and down weather would be enough to confuse even them, I think.
[They also made tea from the tree’s needles, which have a high vitamin C content. This saved many an early settler from scurvy.]
This shows how God has a hand in everything. Since vitamin C wasn’t discovered until the 1930s, the settlers weren’t even aware they were being protected from scurvy.
In fact, since scurvy wasn’t even discovered until 1747 by James Lind, a Scottish doctor, they didn’t even know about that either. (So you could say they didn’t know what they didn’t know because they first would have needed to know about the latter before they could know about the former. And as we all know, you can’t know what’s in the far future until you know what’s in the near future.) A fascinating fact that you added to the post. Who knew?
PS: You excel at your photography AND writing. It’s so refreshing to read someone who knows his punctuation, grammar, etc. (I am a former professional photographer and current copy editor.)
Thanks very much. I do proof read but still miss things every now and again. The punctuation and grammar must come from lots of reading. Even good habits tend to rub off on you.
I’m sure the settlers knew they were sick, whether they could put a name to it or not. I’d bet that the Natives had a name for it but I’d also bet that the settlers ignored it. Lucky for them the natives had been curing the disease, probably for thousands of years.
I enjoyed this post today so much! The raccoon just breaks my heart. Poor old guy has to be pretty crafty to have survived thus far. I could and do watch ducks for hours on end. Interesting to see your robin today as I spied one yesterday. I do wonder about the pinecones. I have seen this here and wondered if it was because of such a harsh winter, but readily admit I know nothing. Odd, because when I was 18, I knew everything.
It is very interesting you have observed new things appearing. I believe our earth may be doing a flip-flop soon and many things will be different before and after.
We have had some sunshine here and a few flowers have popped out. I have my hopes up.
Thank you Penny. I think nature will take care of the raccoon in the way that it does and we’ll probably never know what happened to it.
I’ve read that in our area the profusion of cones is because of the drought we had two years ago. To simplify, if a tree thinks it is dying its first response is to make seeds to ensure the continuation of the species, and boy have they made seeds!
I hope you’re wrong about the flip flop but parts of nature are indeed acting confused. It bothers me.
I hope spring is heading your way. We are actually in a stretch of warm sunny days, which seems almost unbelievable this year.
Even come across any American Chestnut trees in you travels? The tree above ground may be dead but they still live beneath ground and sprout till the virus kills the tree again maybe 2-5-8- years who knows? Paul
From: New Hampshire Garden Solutions To: pmmcphie@yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2018 4:10 AM Subject: [New post] Things I’ve Seen #yiv9835307960 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv9835307960 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv9835307960 a.yiv9835307960primaryactionlink:link, #yiv9835307960 a.yiv9835307960primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv9835307960 a.yiv9835307960primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv9835307960 a.yiv9835307960primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv9835307960 WordPress.com | New Hampshire Garden Solutions posted: “I was shooting photos of a wintery Mount Monadnock when spring hopped into the photo in the form of a robin. He’s there in the grass on the left.Robins are very curious birds, I’ve found. They seem to like watching what I’m doing as much as I like w” | |
Thank you Paul. Yes, I know where there are two or three young trees. Their leaves remind me of beech but are much larger and darker green. I hope they find a cure one day.
Our robins, though quite different from yours in appearance, have the same habit of watching what you are doing with interest.
That’s interesting!
Plantain-Leaved Sedge is an interesting plant. I wonder how it would do in the garden.
I’ve read that it likes higher than average humidity, but it also does well in part to full shade under trees so the sun wouldn’t burn off all the moisture. The one pictured grows by the side of a brook, which is probably 30-40 feet away.
The cotton topped stem looks like a thimbleweed flowerhead. Aka Anemone Virginians. Just a guess. I love your photos and always an inspiring quote at the end. Thank you!
You’re welcome, and thank you Margaret. You could be right. I’ve never paid attention to a thimbleweed after it had flowered. I’ll have to look a little closer this summer.
Sure is wonderful to see the world come to life in spring. I wish that raccoon well; hope he has at least one more good summer. It is interesting about the pinecones. They are doing the same thing here. It seems like it is just raining cones right now.
Thanks Montucky! I agree, that’s why spring has always been my favorite season.
I hope the raccoon fares well too. He seemed good and healthy, except for the damaged paw and poor eyesight.
Everyone I’ve spoken to about it says they’ve never seen anything like the amount of pinecones falling this year, and that includes the old timers. It seems incredible that they’re doing the same thing there, and it sure makes me wonder what is going on!
Just want to hug that raccoon. Love all the fungus too 🙂
Thank you. The raccoon seems to have disappeared over the past few days so I can’t give you an update. Other than its hurt paw and poor eyesight it seemed chubby and healthy, as if it was eating well.
Awww – poor creature
As always thank you for the beautiful pictures. I loved the picture of wintery Mt. Monadnock and the springtime robin. I chuckled at the picture of the storm moving across Half Moon pond. That’s a sight I refer to as “Uh-Oh” when I see it over Newfound Lake. It means I’d better hurry if I want to get indoors dry. I archive your blogs frequently go back to them when I see something familiar from them. If all learning was so beautiful and such fun we’d all have multiple PHD’s. Thanks again.
You’re welcome Carol, and thank you. I think the storm that day was snow, but I know what you mean!
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix and commented:
signs of spring
That’s an interesting quote, i shall have to think about it.
Thank you Susan. Kahlil Gibran was an amazing man.