I won’t pretend to know what I’m talking about here, so take anything I say with a grain of salt! I find dragonflies and damselflies to be a nice distraction when there’s not much else to look at and an integral part of any streamside, pondside, or bog experience. Identifying them is quite a challenge, but I pay the most attention to their differing behaviors and flight styles. I found this Blue Corporal dragonfly at Webb’s Mill early in the spring; in fact I think they are one of the first you might find flying in the Pine Barrens. They seem very territorial and like to perch on the ground. I wouldn’t even atempt to ID this bluet; they’re so tiny that even seeing them clearly is a challenge! Bluets are damselflies; they rest with their wings closed and have very thin bodies. This is a beauty of a damselfly from yesterday at Webb’s Mill Bog – I’m calling it an Ebony Jewelwing because I don’t know any better. Unlike a bluet, this damselfly was hard to miss as it flew butterfly-like along the path ahead of me. While its’ body looks mostly blue in this pic, it also looked green when the sunlight hit it at a different angle. Really stunning! I also saw a similar-looking brownish damselfly, which I assume is the female.
A great book I’ve recommended in the past is the Stokes’ Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies – it’s by no means extensive, but a beginner like me doesn’t need the added confusion of a complete guide.
I’ve also had the experience of dragonflies laying eggs in my backyard pond and often come across the nymphs when doing pond maintenance or cleaning out the skimmer. I wish I had pics to share with you because they are so interesting to look at. I’m not sure what exactly the nymphs find to eat out there, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they prey on goldfish fry.
There are more than a million acres of Pine Barrens in NJ and I’m determined to wander through them all! Today’s odyssey was to the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in Burlington County. I tagged along on a memorial walk sponsored by NJ Audubon for a birding buddy who passed away this past winter. He loved the Pine Barrens and was very knowledgeable about the typical flora and fauna of the area.
My main focus today was on botany, but we also saw a few really great birds. It was a treat to be out in the woods with people who know wildflowers. I learned plenty and took enough photos to make your eyes roll in boredom for the next few weeks. Every trip there reveals some new treasure.
We spent an hour or two exploring the white cedar swamp and had a nice long look at a Barred Owl perched way back in the swamp. That was a first! I’ve heard their call a number of times, but have never actually seen a Barred Owl. Sweet!
Another place we visited had Red-headed Woodpeckers – another treat! I’ve only seen them once before and was impressed with the gorgeous pattern of their wings in flight. I wish they were more common.
There’s been a lot of talk in the local newspapers about this year’s gypsy moth invasion. I’d read that the spraying program had been stepped up because they were so bad, but wondered what all the fuss was about. Well, I got a sense for it today and it’s really dreadful. Whole areas of the forest are just decimated and the caterpillars cover everything – if you’re quiet enough you can hear them eating – honest! The immediate area surrounding the state forest headquarters was as black and leafless as if a fire had gone through. I suppose the cuckoos will be happy with so much to eat, but it was sad to see.
So… I’m off to sort through my pics from today and hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. There’ll be more to come from the Barrens.
Is it just my aging eyes or is most of the type on this page suddenly very small and a different font than usual? Something wonky happened with my Blogger template yesterday, I think.
Anyway, I’ve been exhausted most of the week and haven’t done much of anything after work. The training for my new job has me all discombobulated – it’s amazing how tiring sitting on your butt for 8 hours straight can be! Thank goodness the classroom part of the training only lasts 3 weeks – I’m feeling like a caged animal when I get off work, yet when I get home, all I want to do is go to sleep.
Enough whining – sorry! The shrub pictured is Black Huckleberry, very common in the Pine Barrens, and a favorite of mine. I love the color of the flowers. There are a number of similar shrubs that grow in the Barrens, all in the heath family, and I’ve been trying to find most of them this spring. Some of the earliest bloomers are leatherleaf, which has little white flowers and which I saw most everywhere, bearberry which I didn’t find, but which has pretty white flowers edged with pink, and the highbush blueberry. In May and June the huckleberries bloom, as do staggerbush and fetterbush. All have the bell-shaped blooms that you associate with members of the heath family. Huckleberries produce edible fruit, but I’ve read that there are too many seeds for them to be enjoyable eating, yet I’m pretty sure I’ve heard mention of huckleberry jam and pie. Anyone know?
I know we’re way past bluebells in terms of seasonal progression, but I’m still looking over the many wildflower photos I took earlier this spring with the idea of finally identifying some of the unknowns. One of the earliest that stumped me were Virginia Bluebells. I couldn’t ID them from any of my wildflower guides because the buds were still tightly closed when I first found them. Despite what you all said here, I found it hard to imagine that the flowers would change form that much, but sure enough they did. When I returned two weeks or so later, the plants looked like the bluebells that are in my field guides. So for all of my early confusion with this common wildflower, I don’t think I’ll ever mistake it again, now that I’ve had the chance to watch it as it progresses through its bloom period. Bluebells go dormant during the heat of summer and I’m watching that happen right out in my own little woodland garden in the backyard; the plants I purchased at the beginning of May are slowly deteriorating as the days grow hot.
Anyway, I found some interesting info about bluebells that you plant geeks might also enjoy:
“Virginia bluebells have two interesting properties that contribute to their success as ephemeral wild flowers. Virginia bluebells form buds that are pink in color due to the anthocyanin (from the Greek anthos meaning flower and kyanos meaning blue) or colored cell sap that they contain. When the flower is ready for pollination, it increases its alkalinity to change the red pigmentation into blue pigmentation, a color that is much more attractive to pollinators. When the flower is pollinated and seed formation begins, it falls to the ground so that subsequent pollinators will only find those that still require their ministrations. The ubiquity of bluebells in their preferred riparian habitat… is testimony to the success of their adaptations to attract insects.”
from the Hiker’s Notebook which looks like a good source of info about things commonly found in the woods. If you look at my photos you can see that progression from pink to pollination-ready blue, as well as the way some of the flowers have already fallen away from the plant.
The other day I went for a walk in the woods to see birds. Other than being temporarily distracted by a singing scarlet tanager, I didn’t actually see very many birds at all. There were a few cuckoos who kept taunting me, the ever present and wonderful ovenbirds, and a gazillion blue gray gnatcatchers whose song became little more than background static once I gave up trying to spot them. Instead I followed the chipmunk’s chatter and he led me to find some special things… He scampered about under the cinnamon ferns… and helped me see the Pink Lady’s Slippers that I’ve been searching for everywhere… When I got over finding those, I noticed that the Mountain Laurel was just about ready to burst into bloom. Then I met up with a few of these garrish beetles patrolling the sandy paths. None would let me get close enough for a nice pic, despite my dusty knees. Finally I took a break and sat on a bench beside a swampy pond with the chipmunks still chattering at my back. My binoculars were focused on the yellow bladderworts blooming on the far shore when I noticed these tiny flowers at my feet. I think they may be Canada Mayflowers?
On my way out of the woods, the scarlet tanager was still singing and I watched a few bluebirds hawking insects from the grass. I’ve not had any luck with photographing birds this spring, and little luck with finding wildflowers when I go out looking for them, but I seem to do better with one when I’m paying attention to the other. Does that make any sense? Maybe this day I can credit my better luck with following the chipmunk’s antics.
All photos from Allaire State Park, another local warbler hotspot.
I spent yesterday hiking in the Pine Barrens looking for neat plants. I didn’t find many that I was hoping for, but thought I’d share those that I did find. I ended up at Webb’s Mill Bog and was glad to see that it was safe from the recent wildfire. Quite a few rare plants can be seen here, but the trick seems to be knowing when to go looking for them, which I’m still learning. The Pitcher plants were blooming; these are carnivorous plants and insects are drawn to the cluster of leaves (the pitcher) that are below the flower. These pitchers hold water and when an insect falls in, they can’t crawl or fly out and are then consumed by the plant. I was happy to find the first of three closely related bog orchids in bloom – this is Arethusa, which is also called Dragon’s Mouth. The lip of the flower serves as the landing pad for insects, usually bumblebees, who come to pollinate them. These grow only in bogs, peaty meadows, and damp places where sphagnum moss grows. There were maybe a dozen in bloom from my vantage point, and most were growing in close association with small cedars. My favorite find of the day were the sundews – this is a Thread-leaved Sundew – nothing much to it, but these are cool little plants that have hairs tipped with sticky glands to attract and trap insects. This is another carnivorous plant that relies on insects for extra nutrients that can’t otherwise be obtained because of the nutrient-poor environment in which it grows. If you enlarge the pic, you’ll see that there are two flies trapped already in the sticky hairs. They’re tiny things, maybe just three inches tall, but they glisten in the sunlight. They’ll bloom late in June.
My little brookside haunt is just full of surprises! I’m used to fossil-hunters in waders finding me with my face in the foliage trying to photograph some odd flower, but this was the first time I’ve been surprised by a horse and rider.
The flower is Star of Bethlehem, which is one of my all time favorites. It grows like the weed it is in my mother-in-laws lawn, yet any that I’ve attempted to transplant here are never seen again.
It’s a good thing the spring wildflower peak is just about done here because I have many more photos of mystery flowers than I have the time or patience to sort out. I found these blooming over the weekend in my brookside haunt; the jack-in-the-pulpit that I found there has since grown very tall and there’s still some spring beauties blooming. There could be other things hidden away there, but the understory is so full of garlic mustard that it would seem impossible to find anything else. My best guess for this flower is that it’s some type of cress – maybe spring cress? At first I thought bluets, then some type of flax, then maybe a speedwell of some sort – but have settled on cress because of the alternate leaves. Whatever it is there’s lots of it, but this is the only one that I found in bloom so far. It’s been quite fun to return each week and see what’s new and spend a little more time exploring the far ends of the greenway. The last two visits have been especially nice because of the spring migrants that are there in the woods and along the old horse pastures. This weekend I saw the first Indigo Bunting that I’ve seen in a long while and listened to it sing while I rested in the sunshine.
I took these nearly identical photos of an abandoned cranberry bog in the Pine Barrens of NJ about 4 months apart. I hadn’t intended to, but guess that some views hold equal appeal, regardless of the season. I think I prefer the photo from late December below; our trip last week was too early for the plants to be showing very much color or any blooms to help identify them. Bev from Burning Silo had suggested a variety of loosestrife when I first posted the photo at the end of last year, but I’ll need a closer look later in the season to convince myself they’re not just cranberry vines run amuck. The working bogs have been drained of the water that protects the vines from freezing during the winter months – those plants are now showing the reddish/purple color seen below and will begin to bloom in the next few weeks. I hope to get back and take some photos of cranberry flowers as they’re quite unique in form.
I found this Blue Corporal dragonfly at Webb’s Mill early in the spring; in fact I think they are one of the first you might find flying in the Pine Barrens. They seem very territorial and like to perch on the ground.
I wouldn’t even atempt to ID this bluet; they’re so tiny that even seeing them clearly is a challenge! Bluets are damselflies; they rest with their wings closed and have very thin bodies.
This is a beauty of a damselfly from yesterday at Webb’s Mill Bog – I’m calling it an Ebony Jewelwing because I don’t know any better. Unlike a bluet, this damselfly was hard to miss as it flew butterfly-like along the path ahead of me. While its’ body looks mostly blue in this pic, it also looked green when the sunlight hit it at a different angle. Really stunning! I also saw a similar-looking brownish damselfly, which I assume is the female.
