(no subject)
Finished making a meter frame and took it to the marsh to count fiddler crabs.
Observed:
A pair of mute swans (Cygnus olor) in the bay, scared away by a kayak.
A great egret (Ardea alba). How can they fly so silently? I would not be able to.
Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), all over the place. Beautiful bird. Sad story.
An angry catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). Why do they always look annoyed?
Four willets (Tringa semipalmata), screeching and fighting above the bay. Three others in the marsh, quiet, shy and overall discreet.
Poison ivy started to bloom; Mike says, there are only two or three specimens in the herbarium, because everyone tries to stay away from it, as I did last season; I should take latex gloves and a plastic bag with me next time.
According to the Noreast tide chart, the previous tide was not exceptionally high, but the place had been obviously very well flooded, with the water coming in also via the old channel (which is apparently not a very common thing now), and staying in the 'back' marsh pan by the time I was there (almost at the low tide).
A lot of dead phrag on the beach.
Saved nine or ten horseshoes, among them one female. About four times as many were already dead.
Looks like the mysterious bush might be blooming soon. But where are the fruit?
Collected a cherry and black locust, which I think I omitted last season.
As to the fiddlers, I counted not more than four or five per sq. m. There are surely many more. The sand was still very wet, and it must take them a while to open their burrows. Maybe, at night? Need to find out.
Observed:
A pair of mute swans (Cygnus olor) in the bay, scared away by a kayak.
A great egret (Ardea alba). How can they fly so silently? I would not be able to.
Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), all over the place. Beautiful bird. Sad story.
An angry catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). Why do they always look annoyed?
Four willets (Tringa semipalmata), screeching and fighting above the bay. Three others in the marsh, quiet, shy and overall discreet.
Poison ivy started to bloom; Mike says, there are only two or three specimens in the herbarium, because everyone tries to stay away from it, as I did last season; I should take latex gloves and a plastic bag with me next time.
According to the Noreast tide chart, the previous tide was not exceptionally high, but the place had been obviously very well flooded, with the water coming in also via the old channel (which is apparently not a very common thing now), and staying in the 'back' marsh pan by the time I was there (almost at the low tide).
A lot of dead phrag on the beach.
Saved nine or ten horseshoes, among them one female. About four times as many were already dead.
Looks like the mysterious bush might be blooming soon. But where are the fruit?
Collected a cherry and black locust, which I think I omitted last season.
As to the fiddlers, I counted not more than four or five per sq. m. There are surely many more. The sand was still very wet, and it must take them a while to open their burrows. Maybe, at night? Need to find out.