More nature stuff.

I've got to be honest.  I've been a bit overwhelmed by all the new things I've been learning.  It seems like every time I go out, I find something new and exciting (to me).  It's nice that it gives me something to occupy my mind, but I imagine it makes me seem a bit strange.  How many other folks do you know that go walking around the margin of a lake behind a hotel in New Jersey in search of frogs?  I also spend a lot of time in bushes surrounding hotels waiting motionlessly for whatever insect I'm stalking to sing again.  It's got to seem a bit creepy to folks.  Oh well, it gives me something to do when I'm on the road besides watch TV and read.
I've also been getting back into fishing lately.  Haven't caught much of note yet, but it's still a good time.  Spending lots of time when I'm home (which hasn't been much lately) wandering the yard learning new plants and things.  I don't know why it took me so long to pay attention to all the living things I'm surrounded by.  I guess geology and rocks distracted me for a long time.  Anywho, without further ado, here are some of the things I've found lately:

Some sort of insect eating a fly of some sort.  From the back yard.

A large mayfly I haven't bothered to identify yet.  From the yard.

Is this some sort of poppy?  It's growing beside the road to our house.  Unsure if it was planted or if it's wild, but it's doing fine on its own.  Mom?

A handsome green frog from the back yard.

I'm not sure if this is a mink frog or a green frog.  Teal?

Another angle.

Stalking an American toad on the Waterbury Reservoir near home.

A big ugly American Toad.  There were lots of these guys mating.

The water was full of their eggs.

I even managed to catch a couple in the process of laying them.

Another Fowler's Toad (I think) from New Jersey.

No question about what this big fella is.  Bullfrog!  (From behind the hotel in New Jersey)

Jug-o-rum!

There were also some large snapping turtles roaming around, but I didn't manage to pick them up.  Carapace was probably almost 2 feet long on this one.

And now for some fish.  Rainbow trout caught trolling a spinner while canoeing on the Waterbury Reservoir near home.

Yellow Perch.  Lots of these around and they like to hang around the shore.  You could get them with a dip net if they weren't so quick.

And the biggest fish I've caught so far (maybe ever), some sort of sucker.  These guys get pretty big and I've seen tons of them, but this is the first I've managed to catch.

The same fish.  22 oz. Rock Art "Vermonster" beer for scale.  Anyone know what species this guy is?
Edit:  It's a white sucker (Catostomus commersoni).

















And that's that for now... Hope you all enjoy your memorial day weekend.  I've got plans to run the Winooski with Chrissy tomorrow.  So, expect to see some pictures from that.  Leave some comments, it motivates me to share more stuff if I know folks are reading/viewing it.

New Jersey wildlife.

I've been working down in Pompton Lakes, NJ this week (and coming back next week).  Haven't had much time or opportunity to explore, but tonight I heard some frogs/toads singing from the lake behind the hotel.  Got out the flashlight and the camera and had a look.  I haven't taken the time to look too closely at the pictures I took, but judging by the song, I'm pretty sure these are Fowler's toads (Bufo fowleri).  They're quite different looking than the ones I found in Tennessee, but I guess that's bound to happen 1000 miles away.  There were also a few American toads singing, but I didn't see them.  A couple bullfrogs also making their deep noises, but they were in too deep of much to go after in my flip-flops.  Maybe next time...

Here's a video of that last one singing:  Forgive the shaky camera - I was crouching in the mud holding the flashlight in one hand and the camera in the other.  You can hear others in the background calling (and plenty of traffic on the interstate).  He starts singing about 26 seconds into it.  They didn't seem to mind that I was there at all...

A follow up to Keith's comment about Cherrybark Oak:

Galls galore!

More Tennessee...

Some non work-related things I observed during my trip to Tennessee...

The tree we were parked under during the storm.  Cherrybark Oak?  Southern Red Oak?

Either an American Toad or a Fowler's Toad, or a hybrid of the two...

Another view...

Another one on another day...

Mulberry tree!

Unknown long-legged fly (Dolichopodidae) on a leaf.

A good-sized snapping turtle cruising a flooded ditch.  I couldn't get close enough to grab him for a closer look.

Some sort of large, dessicated salamander.  A mud-puppy?

Any ideas Teal?

A defensive crawfish. 

Do crayfish bask? I observed hundreds of them floating on their sides, clinging to emergent vegetation.  After a while, they'd roll over to the other side.  Many of them were quite soft, so maybe they were molting.  This is the day after all the flooding.

Another basking/molting crawfish...

Barberpole Sedge?

Some sort of amphibian eggs.

A little help Teal?

















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Onwards to Kentucky and beyond!

Some quality Tennessee roadside snacks...

May Apple in Ford's yard.

A spring peeper in Kentucky.  Exactly like the ones we have in Vermont.

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And here's some more things from the yard back in Vermont...

Our tulips finally bloomed.  And so did all the weeds.

False Solomon's Seal (Smilacina racemosa).

Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum).
I think...

Wood frog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles.  Thousands of them...

Some sort of fern-like plant that wasn't in my fern guide.  Any idea mom?

Canada Violet (Viola canadensis).

Blue Violet (Viola papilionaceai).

Ferns unfurling.  Ostrich Fern?

A bunch of them...

Unidentified.  Edit:  Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides).  This will eventually have bright blue berries.

Spider!

View from the upper part of the back yard.  Mt. Mansfield in the background.

Another fern I haven't identified yet.

Apple blossoms.

Blossoms on another tree.

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris).

Some sort of wild onion/garlic growing next to the house.

















Really busy with work lately and for the next month or two.  Too many new (to me) plants and critters to have time to identify/learn them all.  I guess they'll be back next year too!  Can't wait for the insects to get through their nymph stages and start seeing more of them around too.
Off to New Jersey next week, and elsewhere after that.  Nothing far away for a while, which is a bit of a relief.  We hope to get some seeds in the ground soon.  We had a frost last night, so I don't want to jump the gun...