Beechwood Wetland Blog

2009-11-04T15:00:00.003-05:00

Today I was seeing red:

(Birders will recognize the silhouette of a cardinal there.)

2009-11-03T21:12:00.005-05:00

Sometimes it's fun to set a little photography challenge to keep life interesting. Today I decided to focus on all the yellow things I could find as I walked in the valley. Here's a selection:

2009-10-27T11:03:00.005-04:00

A view of the pond in October. The vegetation is dying down quickly now.

Look how big this leaf is! (Fairly normal-sized foot included for scale.)

The big dead tree on Marnie's Point continues to provide a home for all sorts of living things.

2009-10-21T13:47:00.001-04:00

"Nature is, above all, profligate. Don't believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil. Wouldn't it be cheaper to leave them on the tree in the first place? This deciduous business alone is a radical scheme, the brainchild of a deranged manic-depressive with limitless capital. Extravagance! Nature will try anything once ... This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent."

from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

2009-10-16T05:31:00.002-04:00

Green spaces improve health!

2009-10-13T22:06:00.001-04:00

2009-10-12T15:34:00.004-04:00

Some snaps from Thanksgiving weekend:

Turkey vultures migrating:

Hairy woodpecker:

A late, well-worn butterfly:

A bookend to the frost we had on Victoria Day:

2009-10-04T12:29:00.000-04:00

2009-09-30T13:25:00.002-04:00

2009-09-29T12:47:00.004-04:00

I was crouched by the pond today, musing that I had yet to see a turtle in it, when something drifted into view:

Oh! I was thrilled! I was -- wait ... it's ... dead? I watched it hang in the water for a long time without moving as I wondered whether our pond is actually as healthy as I'd hoped. Finally the little turtle stretched out its wee legs and lazily turned over.

Whew! I found a second one nearby doing the same kind of thing. I'm guessing this is a form of camouflage: maybe if it looks enough like a floating leaf, it can escape being eaten. The great blue heron was also at the pond, hoping for a tasty turtle snack. I could only find two baby turtles, but I'm assuming there were many more to begin with and some have fallen victim to herons and other dangers.

This one put on a mad burst of speed:

2009-09-22T10:52:00.005-04:00

2009-09-20T15:10:00.003-04:00

Yellow Jewelweed:

And Spotted Jewelweed:

Bees have to really commit themselves to reach the nectar:

The seedpods are excellent fun because they pop open at a touch, spewing seeds and little green springs all over. I've read that you can eat the seeds so I tried one this morning. I found it quite pleasant, but I'll save any more I gather for smuggling to Beechwood and planting.

2009-09-19T06:53:00.003-04:00

As fall approaches I find myself wandering through -- or past -- Beechwood without actually doing any work. I accomplished a lot over the summer and now I think I'll just admire things before winter arrives. The insects are still very active:

A cardinal wonders what I'm up to:

A sedge extends its seeds over the pond:

2009-09-14T13:09:00.001-04:00

Oh, little rose tree, bloom!
Summer is nearly over.
The dahlias bleed, and the phlox is seed,
Nothing's left of the clover,
And the path of the poppy no one knows.
I would blossom if I were a rose.

Summer, for all your guile,
Will brown in a week to Autumn,
And launched leaves throw a shadow below
Over the brook's clear bottom, --
And the chariest bud the year can boast
Be brought to bloom by the chastening frost.

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

2009-09-13T19:12:00.005-04:00

That's our great big bur oak. It has a lot of dead branches but it seems to carry on.

I didn't intend to wade into the muck today but I spotted an Argiope aurantia on the Islet of Langerhans, so what could I do? They're too impressive to ignore.

Did you notice what she's planning to have for dinner?

We could use some rain any time. The pond is losing all its pondiness:

I spotted the Loch Ness monster lurking in the scum:

In places it looks more like a tar pit than a pond:

The crazy clump of cattails is going strong:

Back on dry land, I went over for a closer look at the bur oak and -- wouldn't you know it? -- found another argiope spider:

Elderberries: who's ready for pie?

2009-09-12T13:03:00.002-04:00

Knotweed day! See all those seeds ready to find a new home? I decided to deal with the regrowth right away, along with a few bits I'd missed around the pond. As I worked a couple came along with their dogs and asked about what I was doing. They were curious about poison ivy too, so I walked them down the path a bit farther and pointed some out. It's good to have a working knowledge of it!

2009-09-11T17:29:00.008-04:00

The pond's water level is dropping as the dry weather continues. I could easily cross to the Islet of Langerhans now, although I'd still want my spiffy boots in that mud:

There's still lots of raccoon activity around the pond:

Boneset (white) and Joe Pye weed (pink) pose with some goldenrod beside the pond:

I found this mass of roots beside the pond too. Not quite sure of the reason for it:

Remember the lovely blue flags?

This is what they do in the fall:

The offshore butter-and-eggs tried to spring up again without my noticing, but I'm not that easy to fool:

The wild grapes look just about ready. If I were more ambitious I'd try making jelly, but I guess I'll just leave them for the birds:

There's more boneset in the north half of the site. In fact, there's a very large patch, so if your bones need setting, drop me a line. Can you see the purple-flowering raspberry hanging in there at centre left?

A closer look at the boneset:

Some dog-strangling vine demonstrates its talent for climbing trees:

Here a seedpod has split open to free the fluffy seeds:

In general there's an air of winding down and the beginnings of decay. The flowers that are left are looking a bit worn:

More fluffy seeds ready to take to the air:

The damage from insects and blights can produce its own kind of beauty:

Spot the grasshopper hiding in this picture!

2009-09-10T20:50:00.005-04:00

The first thing that caught my eye on the way to Beechwood today was an addition to the big figure 8 that's been on the bike path for a while. It now features a couple of bright yellow embellishments:

I assumed it was just kids having a laugh (hey, it made me laugh) but later I saw a surveyor at work further along the path, and I couldn't help noticing the fresh markings he'd made on the pavement. In bright yellow paint. Hm.

Remember the patch of Japanese knotweed across the path that was cut down a little while ago? As expected, it's staging a comeback:

I'll try to knock it back once more before the end of the year. Today I got rid of some more tansy -- I'm feeling pleased with the amount of tansy I've dealt with this summer! -- then amused myself by removing some dog-strangling vine. I didn't dig it up, just pulled off what I could, even painstakingly unwinding it from a young sumac; this won't make much difference to the big picture, but at least those particular seedpods won't be spreading their fluff around.

I discovered another empty nest today. It doesn't look very comfy:

One problem with having the goldenrod rising all around and above me: ANTS!

Here's a stinkbug on a cup plant. Honestly, can't we find a better name for these guys? They're such a cool shape.

And have I mentioned the spiders? Can you stand a few more?

They like to build webs around/in the holes in the fenceposts. There's one lurking here at the base of its large, complex home:

2009-09-08T15:34:00.011-04:00

I've fallen behind on my blogging and the pictures are piling up. The insects get most of my attention lately; if I'm not brushing off ants I'm recoiling in horror from the giant mutant spiders hanging at eye level:

This one had caught a nice snack and was wrapping it up for later. It spun its prey around and around very quickly as it wrapped it in silk:

I don't know this one but I'm staying away from the pointy bit:

(Does that flaking paint on the equipment box look like a map to you? I think this bug is heading off to invade Russia.)

It's grasshopper season -- they're everywhere!

Getting back to the flora: an area of Marnie's Point has been invaded by powdery mildew. It looks as if someone threw a bucket of whitewash on the plants:

We've had a surprising lack of thunderstorms and rain lately, so I was fetching a little water from the pond to pour on something I planted earlier in the year. My first dip of the bucket caught a little tadpole, which I watched for a few minutes before I put it back. I think our pond must be pretty healthy to have all these frogs and tadpoles.

The cup plant leaves are fading and going brown like banana skins:

This is what's left of the grand flowers:

There's more colour coming along to take their place, though:

2009-08-30T17:05:00.001-04:00

2009-08-28T13:17:00.002-04:00

Another load of tansy joined the rest of the outcasts on the pile today:

This just in: leafcutter bees like sumac too.

The results of the after-storm cleanup across from Todmorden:

Have I mentioned that the goldenrod is covered in bees?

2009-08-26T18:14:00.009-04:00

It rained this morning, but what an afternoon! I baked in the sun as I dealt with more knotweed and the odd Manitoba maple and tree of heaven. A swarm of tadpoles caught my eye:

Here's some white turtlehead:

One nice thing about being at Beechwood on a summer afternoon is the variety of dragonflies. This is a common whitetail:

A couple of blue ones:

Ooh, a red one!

On the way to Beechwood I found some goldfinches enjoying a patch of bull thistles:

The roses are turning themselves into rose hips:

Some plants put their energy into developing various burrs and stickers that attach themselves to me anywhere they can. This is how my gloves looked when I was finished today:

Can you stand looking at more bugs? I can't resist the goldenrod full of busy bees:

And one more spider:

2009-08-24T20:35:00.009-04:00

Normally I'm not the type to get excited over footwear, but I think these are pretty spiffy:

They allowed me to get over to the little islet (which I think I'll name the Islet of Langerhans) and clear out the purple loosestrife lurking there. The boots could stand to be a bit taller, but as long as I squelched fairly quickly and didn't linger in one spot, I was fine. I'll just confine my pond incursions to dry spells when the water level is lower.

(Boots made in Canada and bought at Canadian Tire.)

The loosestrife joined more knotweed on the pile:

Some other things I saw around the pond:

I can't quite figure out those tracks. The smaller ones look like raccoon prints, but there were a couple of really large, deep ones that puzzled me. I didn't see any others in the area. Perhaps a large creature swung down on a bungee cord, snatched a raccoon, and pushed off again. (It's really not hard to solve these little mysteries if you just think it through.)

Seed pods formed by a ... plant of some kind:

It was a day of strange fruit. First, on the bike path:

I can just hear the local ants: "This is fantastic! What is this?!" Then, in the pond, a nice example of Rondus wimbledonii:

Finally, a few more bugs to admire:

Don't get close to the pointy part on this one:

This is a beetle pretending to be a scary wasp:

2009-08-23T10:51:00.004-04:00

Today was a repeat of yesterday, but without the mink. I cut a lot of knotweed and yanked out a few other bits and pieces around the edges of the pond. I found more turtlehead and more buttonbush, more water plantain and lots of sedges to admire, and freed up some space for things like maple trees:

Some butter-and-eggs and thistles had cleverly moved off-shore in an attempt to evade me, but my jurisdiction reaches that far and I was able to pull them out by the roots:

Two black-crowned night herons, one adult and one juvenile, were watching over the pond when a great blue heron arrived with a mighty croak. (Scared me half to death.) The adult night heron wisely moved over and made room in the big dead tree:

Here's the young'un:

The goldenrod is really coming on strong now:

The cup plants are still holding their own:

I found another cicada. (Or the same one? Hard to tell.)

There are elderberries ripening:

I must admit I've never seen the appeal of elderberries, but I know people who love a nice elderberry pie. Another fruit I don't enjoy is blackberries, which I've realized is probably what we have growing at Beechwood, even if I thought they might be dewberries. (I've never encountered blackberries growing before so I wasn't expecting them, although it seems pretty obvious now.) I tasted one this morning and it fit with my very limited experience of eating blackberries: they don't taste like much of anything. I just don't get the point.

2009-08-22T16:30:00.009-04:00

More artwork, this time created by some kind of leaf miner:

There was a welcome coolness in the air this morning, although the dampness remains, and I got a lot of work done before it got too hot. I cut down a bunch of Japanese knotweed and pulled some of the usual tansy, Queen Anne's lace, and thistles. The knotweed's showy flowers are helpful in giving away its location:

It was too early, cool and damp for this bumblebee to be up and about -- I had to give him a few minutes to collect his thoughts and move on before I cut down the knotweed he'd been resting on:

More insect life:

Here's a funnel web spider in its complex home:

(Aha, researching funnel web spiders has just given me the name of the Unnecessarily Long spiders I saw the other day: they're really called running crab spiders.)

Bugs are interesting but my favourite sighting today was a mink running across the path as I arrived at Beechwood. That's the second time I've seen one there -- they must like hunting in the pond.

I was afraid all our turtlehead had disappeared, but no, here it comes!

I love that flower. We have it in that lavender colour and also in white. I'm also finding more great blue lobelia around the site. It's very encouraging to see these things doing well.

I keep heading for purple thistles to pull them up, only to discover they're really purple asters starting to bloom:

I'll be darned, these dewberries are actually ripening into a dark purple/black as promised:

Stay tuned for a taste test soon.