February 1, 2018: Describe your walk by adding a comment below
Each time you go out and make observations for this project, describe your walk by adding a comment to this post. Include the date, distance walked, and categories that you used for this walk.
Suggested format:
Date. Place. Distance walked today. Total distance for this project.
Categories.
Brief description of the area, what you saw, what you learned, who was with you, or any other details you care to share.
Comments
posting just so i get notified for this. Not sure if i am going to get any good Feb walks, it;'s supposed to get colder and snowy again so maybe skiing instead. I'm getting anxious for spring ephemerals with all this ice though!
2-1-18. Les Salines, Martinique. 2.5 miles today, 842.1 miles total.
Categories: faces, birds
I took the bus out to Les Salines this morning and walked back to town. I wanted to check the mileage, since the bus rides we've taken out there don't seem very long. Indeed, the trip was just 2.5 miles one way, quite walkable, especially before the sun gets warm and the traffic on the highway gets heavy. (There are no shoulders, and the traffic whizzes by all too fast.) One of my first birds was a great egret in the drainage ditch at the border between the farm fields and Les Salines. Further up the road I caught some mockingbirds and waxbills, as well as the usual crowd. I even found a bananaquit in a blooming Gliricidia sepium. I found faces in coconut trees and cactuses. I looked and looked in the Sansevieria for a face, but could only find stripes. The roadkill of the day was what appeared to be a toad, but maybe not a cane toad--it was wood frog size.
2-1-18. Passaic River Parkway, Berkeley Heights, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 200.5 miles total.
Categories: fruit, buds, bark, leaves, green in winter, prickles, fungi, lichen, moss, grass, birds, ice
I found a new path along the local river. I've canoed here long ago but was not aware there was a trail as well (or maybe its new). I scared a pair of ducks who were under a bridge I stepped on, and when the flew off they scared me. Lots of biodiversity here, for a floodplain forest. Plus there were planted bits including a rose with enormous hips and very curved thorns.
I've reached 200 miles; only 60 to go. Not likely to make that before my one-year anniversary of starting this project, but I should be close. As long as my leg continues healing and we don't get a ton of snow and ice. But I'm not holding my breath as we've had 7 storms already and it's barely February.
I love the name banaquit, by the way. It makes me smile whenever I read it.
3-1-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 845.6 miles total.
Categories: buds, birds
I walked out towards the highway this morning, but first with a side trip up to Beauregard to check on the cock farm. The cocks were still there, greeting the day with glee. Around the corner from the cocks were a pair of cats hunting lizards in a banana tree, and a dead hermit crab in the road (first roadkill of the day). From Beauregard I headed out to the cemetery on the edge of town, where I found a dead mouse in the road, and a dead frog covered with ants. Along the way, I hunted and hunted for leaf buds, but didn't see any, so I had to settle for flower buds. I found some flower buds on the vine with clumps of yellow flowers, and one on the politician flower (a low shrub with yellow flowers and elm-like leaves). Finally, I found a leaf bud on what iNaturalist calls Aromia. And high above, I heard a hawk call--sure enough, a pair of broad-wings circling the hill. In the cattle field I saw a common moorhen and heard a green heron. Then as I neared town, I heard a noise from the drainage canal. A cow was lying across the canal, its hoof caught in a section of fence. I tried to explain the problem to a passerby, who laughed and said the owner would come feed the cow this afternoon--I think my limited French failed me when I tried to explain the problem. Then I took a photo and showed it to the gas station attendant, who promised to call the owner right away. A few days ago, Seth herded some cows off the road in the same place. Maybe this time the owner will finally fix the fence.
Congratulations on 200 miles! And congrats on being able to walk 1.5 miles in a day with that bum leg! I don't think I'll make my 1,000 mile goal by the end of February, but it doesn't matter. It's all about the fun of exploring and seeing, not racking up the miles.
2-2-18. Washington Valley Rd., Martinsville, 0.75 miles today, 201.25 miles total.
Categories: fruit, green in winter, buds, birds
I had half an hour before duty today so I walked along the street in front of my squad building. It was windy and cold and I forgot gloves, so kept having to stick my hands in my pockets (and my camera under my arm). I was not expecting much natural vegetation, maybe just lawn weeds, but it turns out there's an empty lot (which used to be part of a cider mill) with a nice variety of weeds, and a house under construction that had huge poke plants and the biggest jimsonweeds I've ever seen. Probably a good thing that the local teens are utterly unaware of how hallucinogenic they are.
Poor cow, I hope they came and unstuck her! Herding cows out of the road reminds me of one of my favorite stories from living in Middlebury. I was driving back from Burlington one evening when the radio show came on with an announcement: a herd of horses was loose on Route 7 in Vergennes, and I looked up and there they were, milling around in the middle of the road (and no one trying to do a thing about it). We still call it the Vermont traffic report.
2-3-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 2.8 miles today. 848.4 miles total.
Categories: grasses, birds
I headed up Calvary Hill this morning for some photos of sunrise over the bay. As it turns out, being a Saturday, there was a ladies' prayer group making their way through the stations on the hill, so I tried to stay clear of their space. I walked around the hill to see what was on the other side (more houses and roosters). And a dead possum in the road. Then I walked out to the highway and did the usual loop around, but in the opposite direction as yesterday. The find of the day was a green heron in the ditch, not far from the snowy egret, and just before where the cow was lying yesterday. I was very glad to see that the fence has finally been repaired, with a lot of brush cutting along the ditch and fence patches. For grasses, I found a Setaria at last, and a cool grass with 2 long fruiting branches. As well as the other ones I found the other day, tall and fluffies, short and clumpy. Hopefully, I'll get some names for some of them someday. I also found a new white flower that looks much like the blue one I found the other day--pea like blossom on a vine with trifoliate leaves.
Gotta love those jimsonweeds!
2-3-18. NJ Audubon, Plainsboro, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 202.25 miles total.
Categories: birds, lichen, fruit, buds, bark, moss
I went back down to pick my daughter up again, to bring her home for her 19th birthday party. I went about 20 minutes out of my way to visit the Audubon Society's southern preserve. I arrived 5 minutes after they opened, desperate for a restroom, and the doors were still locked! I walked for 10 minutes and was finally able to get inside, whew!
They have feeders out, of course, so I saw feeder birds, and there's a lake with possibly the largest number of Canada geese I've seen, but no interesting birds. I did get a clear shot of some deer, though. This is South Jersey, wet and on the edge of the pinelands, so I got some wetland stuff I rarely see like maleberry and fetterbush, but the highlight was ground lichens under blueberry. There was a reindeer type, a pixie cup and a pink one that my lichen book calls "fairy puke". iNaturalist calls it "pink earth lichen" (how unimaginative) and I was excited to see there was only one record from the state. Then I zoomed in and found it was from the very spot I found it. Oh, well, I'm still posting. I see both of you have already posted it as well. There's something about the clay soil of my home, but there are no ground lichens by me. But this site has the coastal plain sandy soil, and it made all the difference.
Glad they saved the cow. I hope the fence will work this time!
2-4-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.2 miles today, 851.6 miles total.
Categories: entire, birds
I made a visit to Nevertheless Rd this morning. That's the road that Seth's been riding his bike on. Unfortunately, I can't get nearly as far along the road on foot as Seth can get on his bike. It's still a pleasant road, Nevertheless. On my way out there I saw the snowy egret who lives in the ditch, and another snowy egret down by the former hole in the fence along the highway. And the green heron down there as well. I wonder if the green heron has always been there, and I have just missed it because it blends in so well with the mud and greenery of the ditch. I heard another green heron in the bushes. I also heard the shiny cowbirds calling from the top of a nearby tree--I hope I caught one on film. For entire leaves I found the rock sedge and puffy white flowers with red beans, also the tropical buckthorn. I found a new-to-me shrub with small pink flowers. And in a fava-bean looking plant with yellow flowers (and entire trifoliate leaves), I found loads of orange and black somewhat fuzzy caterpillars. All in all, a good haul for Nevertheless.
2-4-18. Sneider Rd., Warren, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 203.25 miles total
Categories: Anything I can find to photograph, green in winter, fruit
I sqeezed in a walk while it was drizzling just before heading out to a Super Bowl party. I went down a local street of "McMansions" all immaculately landscaped. There is so little to see nature-wise here. There was a spruce tree with adelgid galls. There was a tiny strip that was covered with black landscape fabric over 10 years ago and now has Draba verna and Cerastium sp. Way down where I turned around there was an un-built lot with weeds and weed-trees, so at least l had something to photograph. For some reason my back was killing me by the time I was done. Maybe it was from rushing and not moving my arms (holding umbrella and camera).
Nevertheless is a wonderful road name; I'd have to walk down it, just because.
2-5-18. Les Salines, Martinique. 1.1 miles today, 852.7 miles total.
Categories: grasses, birds
My husband and I made our regular Monday morning trip to Les Salines this morning, and once there, I went for a walk on the boardwalk by the salt basin. It was windy again, and my hat blew off, falling into the nasty greasy mud. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve it, but what a mess! At the basin I found 2 great egrets, a snowy egret, a green heron, and a feral muscovy duck. And a spotted sandpiper. I also spotted some mockingbirds and grey kingbirds, but no hummers today. Grasses was a fun category for that location, since there were 1-2 or new ones that I haven't seen around Sainte-Anne. They were really long and bushy. Actually, I'm not entirely sure they are grasses, but I think so. Some sort of salt grasses. And if they weren't grasses, then they were still eye-catching. Also, for grasses, I found the ones with seed clumps on each side of the stalk, the seed clumps that catch on your socks or shoes and turn into nasty little burrs if you have to walk through tall grass.
Nature hunting in McMansion-land? In winter? That's about as tough as it gets! Way to go on finding some weeds!
2-5-18. Rosedale Lake, Pennington and Aunt Molly Rd., Hopewell, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 204.25 miles total
Categories: birds, green in winter, fruits, lichen,
I dropped my daughter back at college today, so I stopped by a lake on the way home. It was windy and much colder than I expected. She'd gotten fingerless gloves for her birthday and I was wishing for a pair myself. There were swans on the lake, at least four, and a whole raft of Canada geese, and then two pairs of other duck-like birds I haven't confirmed yet. The shoreline had an okay variety of plants, but nothing special.
I moved across the park to a different parking lot on a woody edge along a brook. The only surprise here was bladdernut.
On the way home I took Aunt Molly Rd. mostly because I liked the name. It went through the St. Michael's Preserve, and I stopped and walked back along the road. There was an amazingly muddy trail through the woods (covered in thin ice, but still quite capable of swamping my shoes. I turned back quickly). Then there was a nice, mowed trail through a meadow, and a little bit of a went sandstone bank along the road back to my car. I would love to go back during the growing season.
Grasses are tough, as are sedges . I've only this year gotten comfortable IDing most of the common grasses by me (and 1 sedge). And it seems like kids are always asking me to ID mowed lawn grass (forget it) (but my aunt who raises horses can do it).
2-6-18. Anse Moustique, Martinique. 3.2 miles today, 855.9 miles total.
Categories: round, birds
I walked out the highway to Anse Moustique this morning, and managed to stay clear of the cars, without having to jump for a ditch. I had fun looking for round things. I cam up with round flowers (Ipomoea marginata and Acacia spp.), round leaves, round fruits (the nasty clingy balls on the common grass, for one), and galls. I looked for knotholes, but didn't find any. My big find of the day was a mangrove cuckoo, in a Gliricidia sepium tree near Anse Moustique. I heard it calling and didn't recognize the call. I just knew it was something different. This was my first mangrove cuckoo of this trip. I'm actually a bit surprised that I haven't seen one before now, but I guess I just haven't been birding in the right places.
We hit 3,000 species today--wow! Congrats to everyone in the project! What a terrific exploration this has been!
2-6-18. Mayflower Court, Martinsville, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 205.5 miles total
Categories: green in winter, fruit, buds, bark, lichen, intentional species
I had 40 minutes between appointments today, so I decided to walk from home. I generally dislike it, as I feel like I've seen everything there is to see and posted all of it. But there were some interesting bits. This is thoroughly landscaped except for a wild bit crossing the brook that goes behind my house. They also all have lawn sprinklers, which makes interesting patterns in the moss and lichens on trees and even algae on mailboxes. You can see exactly how high the water goes. I don't generally photograph planted species, but I'm starting to learn them as well, and made a point of noticing each one. Just as I made the last turn toward home, about 7/8 of the way along, I realized that my camera had been telling me the whole time that it had "no card". I can't see the view screen clearly in any kind of bright light, and I'd not been looking. The SD card was there, but I'd dropped the camera earlier and it must have jostled loose. I replaced it and took some photos on the last little bit, which are all I have for the trip. I did cross the road, though, to get the everlasting pea that I don't think I've ever seen in winter before. Still, frustrating.
3,000 species! That's nearly twice the total species I've ever posted. All your travel has done this project a world of good.
2-7-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.2 miles today, 859.1 miles total.
Categories: fruit, birds
I walked the highway loop in the counter-clockwise direction this morning, adding on a side-trip to the cemetery and the development across the road from the cemetery. Fruits was my random category for the day, so I dutifully shot a varied selection of Fabaceae, including several acacias, aroma, and tamarind. Also the plant I've been calling "white puffy flowers red beans", bitter melon, and a vine with prickly fruits. My road find today was alive--a handsome sphinx caterpillar that I have not seen before. No dead frogs in the road today, despite the overnight rains. Birds today were the usual lot, carib grackles, black-faced grassquits, and cattle egrets. No sign of either the green heron or the snowy egret that lives in the ditch. (Yesterday afternoon, I saw the egret in the tiny parklet close to the beach.)
That's fun that you're adding some intentional plants. I added some in Gradignan, just as a record to show that the species were thriving, fruiting, or flowering in that location. Who knows, some day records of what was growing where might be very interesting and valuable information for someone, even for planted plants. Too bad about your SD card. That happened to me the day I had the magnificent bobcat in my front yard. Fortunately, the cat waited for me to pull the card out and re-insert it.
As for the 3,000 species, yes, I picked up several hundred new ones in Europe and here. But I have 1800 for the project so far, so there are 1200 in our project that I didn't add. I think most of the 1200 came from New Jersey...It's amazing the diversity we can see when we go out for a walk with cameras at the ready!
2-7-18. Normandy Ct., Warren, NJ. 0.5 miles today, 206 miles total.
Categories: anything I can ID
I only had 20 minutes today, and it was sleeting, but I walked anyway, out my front door and up the newest nearby dead-end road, which somehow I had never noticed the name of before. These are "starter mansions", smaller and newer than the McMansions nearby, with only the landscaping the builders put in, no personality at all, all professionally maintained (by the same company which just mows and whatnot as if this were a single estate instead of a dozen houses). Luckily there's a little older stuff between there and home, but the vast majority of what I photographed today was lichens.
If I did the math correctly, you and I only overlap by between 168 and 786 species, depending on how unique Charlie and Anro's species are. I would have expected more.
I notice we're nearly at 40,000 observations, too. Wow. (by the way, that's 1.2% of everything posted to iNat in the same period)
2-8-18. Lightning Brook, Union and Busy Bee Lane, Warren. 1.5 miles today, 207.5 miles total.
Categories: green in winter, lichen, buds, fruit
I was out by Union so I walked at this park in the corner where two big highways meet. It was very swampy, but luckily frozen hard enough that I could step on it. We had a lot of rain on top of frozen ground, so, oddly the lawn was the slippery part, and anywhere with leaves, including the parts that are swamp, were much easier to walk on. My only surprise was a horsechestnut. I see them fairly often in leaf, but had never realized they had sticky buds. The branching looked alternate, so I was really staring at the leaf scars to be sure they were actually opposite.
Back at home I took a second walk, quick before the kids got home, up Busy Bee Lane, which is my favorite road name near here. This is mostly what my husband calls "old Warren" though a lot of the ranches are being replaced with mansions even here. Some variety in weeds, but not much. This area is the center of the Chinese elm invasion of our neighborhood; there were lots.
2-8-17. Les Salines and Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 862.2 miles total.
Categories: trash, birds, crabs
My husband and I took the bus out to Les Salines again this morning so I could do some birding on our day off. We have been working through the weekends since that's when the beaches are the most crowded and taking days off during the workweek. It's great to have the freedom to set our own schedule. This morning at Les Salines I finally felt comfortable birding there, as if I finally know the place well enough to know where and how to look for the birds. The great egrets were there, but no snowy egrets this morning. There was also a group of 5 ruddy turnstones and 3 semipalmated plovers across the mud flats. And right in the center of the mud flats near the board walk was a green heron who posed for me for several minutes--what a thrill! While I was on the boardwalk, a local man and his son came by with a bucket and stick, crabbing. Although the boardwalk is marked a nature preserve, I guess that doesn't preclude hunting for food. My category generator gave me "trash" today. Plenty of that, although I had the wrong lens--hard to get both the trash and other objects like plants in the same frame. I got some mangroves, some sea puslane, a rush, and a vine with purple flowers.
In the afternoon, my husband and I walked across town to our future neighborhood. We are moving from downtown to a residential area called Belfond on March 1. From past experience with walking in Belfond, I think the birding will be better there, but plants more or less the same. During our walk I captured a wild chicken and a bananaquit.
2-9-18. Anse Dunkirk, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 865.3 miles total.
Categories: white, birds
I took the forest trail through Anse Caritan to Anse Dunkirk this morning. The last time I was on the trail, I had roots for a category, and I think before that I had blue. So white helped me find a few new plants. I think one of my new white blossoms was a mangrove, growing on a rocky cliff just above the water. Well, if it wasn't a mangrove, it was at least a shoreside shrub. For familiar white blossoms, I had leadtree and catstongue (what I was calling tropical lobelia). I also found some white polypores. An early-morning fellow-hiker showed me a shortcut across the point, so I got to see a new section of the woods. While I was on the shortcut, I heard a bird giving a persistent alarm call. I followed it for several minutes until I got a clear shot. It was a bananaquit, which I can catch at my feeder on my porch all day long. But right behind it was a hummer (purple-throated, I think), so it was worth the effort.
2-10-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 2.9 miles today. 868.2 miles total.
Categories: roots, birds, road creatures
It was raining and very windy when I went out this morning, so I took my waterproof point-and-shoot camera. That made it hard to get birds or leaves at a distance. Still, I found the snowy egret in its ditch, some carib grackles a little further on, and the shiny cowbirds in their tree. I tried recording the shiny cowbirds singing since I don't think my photo is good enough for identification. I walked the highway loop clockwise, with side trips out to the cemetery and to the cock farm. Up at the cock farm I saw a spectacled thrush, but I don't know if anyone will believe it from my photo. Out by the cemetery found the usual dead rain frogs in the road. That must be good rain frog habitat since I don't see many on other roads. I captured a couple of African land snails and a millipede on the road as well. Exposed roots weren't that common on this stretch of road, which is one reason why I made the side trip out to the cemetery. On the south side of the cemetery access road is a short cliff cut. That's where I found some Aroma roots and some tamarind. I also found some white leadtree and the black bead that you identified for me. Up on the cock farm road I heard the loudest cock ever, truly a fine set of lungs. It was in a small box of a cage at the foot of a driveway (not at the cock farm itself). I think the owners appreciate its service as a sentinel. Nobody, but nobody can walk through the neighborhood unannounced.
2-10-18. Dock Watch Hollow, Warren, and Lucy the Elephant, Margate, NJ. 1.25 miles today, 208.75 miles total
Categories: fruit, lichen, bark, buds, shells
Every year my husband takes a dip in the ocean to celebrate his birthday. We drive down (2 hours) to Margate, where there is a two-story house shaped like an elephant, and walk out on the beach to take the plunge. This year I put on a suit and went in, too, though I only made it to my waist, as the water was 36 degrees and I couldn't feel my feet (I worried if I ducked under I wouldn't be able to get back up again). 6 of us got wet, four went all the way underwater. On the beach I found the usual shells (Atlantic jingles, bay scallops, surf clams, oysters) and a tiny sand dollar. Back on land someone had planted a tiny palm, I had no idea they could live in New Jersey. I'll have to figure out the species.
Back home, before we left for the shore, I got a morning walk in. I walked from my house, but further up the narrowest road by us than I usually go. I found richweed, which I don't think I've photographed in winter before (and would have assumed was Perilla frutescens if I didn't know what grew here) and I found moonseed and photographed its leaf scars, which I'd never seen before.
I like the idea of a watch-rooster, though I feel sorry for it in the little cage.
2-11-18. Bloys Farm, Round Mountain, and South Branch Reservation, Readington and Echo Hill, Clinton, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 209.75 miles total
Categories: green in winter, lichen, fungi, fruit, buds, bark
Drizzling and foggy today but I went to check out several sites in Hunterdon County. First is a mowed field against fairly dry woods. The back end was getting damp and overgrown. There was a (planted) spring witch hazel in bloom, yay!
Next was dry woods on a hillside with a bit of a babbling brook. Lots of lichen and fungi.
Then the bank of a river that was thinking about flooding. I didn't go far at all here as the muddy trail was particularly slippery.
Finally a former summer camp in a wood of 10,000 (they say) planted Norway spruce and white pine trees from the late 1930s. The most interesting thing here was an old bathtub and rusted pump, in the middle of the woods. Hmm...
2--11-18. Anse Moustique. 3.3 miles today, 871.5 miles total.
Categories: trash, birds, new plants
I hiked out to Anse Moustique (or rather, the Anse Moustique access road) along the highway this morning. My category of the day was trash, which I saw plenty of, mostly beverage containers. But they were mostly in mowed grass, so it was surprisingly hard to get photos of identifiable anything with the trash. I'm tired of that category anyway--maybe I'll wipe it out of my list. I think I'm also feeling familiar enough with the local plants to start looking especially for new ones, ones that I haven't shot before. Mostly what I see now I recognize, enough if I don't know the names. I managed to find several new plants today on the Anse Moustique road. one with tight groups of red berries that reminded me of coffee (but the leaves looked quite different from coffee), and a shrub with small white flowers along the stem and sharply serrated obovate leaves. And some sort of weedy thistle with yellow flowers. For birds along the way, I had gray kingbirds, common waxbills, and black-faced grassquits. No roadkill today, even though I was walking the highway.
Your February dip sounds waay too adventurous, and hilarious from a safe distance. I can't imagine trying to take a dip in 36 degree water! What fun collecting seashells, though!
Congrats on the spring witch hazel bloom! Spring has officially started!
2-12-17. Assiscong Marsh and South Branch Raritan River, Flemington, NJ. 1.0 mile today, 210.75 miles total
Categories: lichen, bark, buds, fruit, birds
Dropped my daughter back at school then drove to check out Assiscong Marsh. Only I took a wrong turn and ended up turning around in a nice pull-off along the Raritan, so I got out and took pictures there. too. Not much interesting but an impressively spiky honey locust. There was a lot of linden, which I don't see all that often, and an interesting gall on a white oak stem.
Once I finally got to the marsh the area was impressively wet. Luckily the road is paved and runs right along it, and was only flooded across in one, shallow spot. Here someone had dumped another deer carcass with the antlers sawed off. There were enormous numbers of loud geese and a few mallards. At the far end was a (presumably planted) Paulownia tree in full fruit. And I found turtlehead, which took me forever to recognize.
Last stop was a turnout by a pretty railroad bridge. There was a hawk here that I think was a redtail but will have to let the birders ID. There was what looked like black cherry but with what looked like wooden flowers at the tips of some branches. There was a cool fern that might be Polypody. And there was an unfamiliar Viburnum with tons of black fruit. But I quickly realized this wasn't really a turn out as much as a turning area for big trucks coming out of the factory across the street, and I had to move my car.
I passed two dead skunks on the road today and thought of you! I was just saying that I haven't seen or smelled a skunk in forever. And the other day there was a bunny in our yard, another thing I haven't seen in a long time.
The ocean dip is pretty funny, though over very quickly.
I think of spring as starting when I see the first crocus in my yard, between Feb 25 and Mar 25.
2-12-18. Les Salines, 1.3 miles today, 872.8 miles total.
Categories: birds, new plants
My husband and I headed out to Les Salines again this morning for some beach time and birding. We went out towards the east end of the beach, so that's where I started my walk. I saw 42 carib grackles this morning and 20 black-faced grassquits, many along the beach road, long before I got to the boardwalk on the salt pond. At the salt pond I found the usual egrets (3 great, 1 snowy). But there were also a lot of the little hard-to-identify water birds, some ruddy terns, some semipalmated sandpipers. I saw some what appeared to be spotted sandpipers. And then there was another water bird larger than all of these, but smaller than a tern. I'll have to wait and see what the experts say. I didn't see many new plants today. There were some rushes by the salt flats that I haven't shot yet, but I decided to skip them and wait for a "graminoid" day. I did shoot a mangrove with small white flowers.
It sounds like you did well at the Assicong Marsh! Turtlehead, Paulownia, and mystery viburnum, a hawk, and dead skunks, to boot--delightful!
2-13-18. Nevertheless, Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3 miles today, 875.8 miles total.
Categories: prickly, birds
I walked out to Neverthless this morning, after pausing to take some photos of the morning Mardi Gras parade. Which traipsed past our apartment at 6 AM. Glad I was up anyway. A hatchback with a sound system, 6 middle aged women in street clothes banging plastic buckets and tin cans with wooden spoons, a little girl dressed in a plastic pink veil, and a tourist. Not many birds till I got clear of the parade. Out by the highway I found my black-faced grassquit and grackle of the day. Also the cowbirds in their tree. The snowy egret was not at its post. I had fun inspecting the thorns on the acacias and mimosas. Some long, some short, some very short. I also found a few other plants with thorns, including one whose stems were as fuzzy as a Rosa rugosa (although this one had nothing to do with roses). On the way back I found an odd worm on the sidewalk, maybe a leech, although I've never seen leeches here...yet.
2-13-18. Valley and Morristown Rds, Gillette, NJ. 1.5 miles today, 212.25 miles total.
Categories: green in winter, buds, fruit, bark, blue.
I have a goal this week to walk 1.5 miles, as I figured I was probably up to it, but had not made it that far yet. So I mapped out where to park so I could go .75 miles out to the railroad tracks and back. I also had exactly 45 minutes to do it in (I walk about a 30 minute mile if I have my camera but try to reign in the photography some). It took me 47 minutes, but I did it. Not a ton that was interesting, but there was a whole row of planted Populus trees, probably cottonwood. They were about 1 foot DBH, but I could tell they were planted because, aside from being in a perfectly straight line, they each still had two posts, one on either side, that must have had wires on them to hold the baby trees up. The wires are all long gone, and there's a whole row of saplings and shrubs in front of them now.
I'm going up to visit my sister's new house this weekend, so I am keeping a close eye on just how far I've gotten on my virtual walk there. I'm on the Mass Pike, but I think even if I manage a mile and a half for the next two days I'll still fall a little short of I-290 and the route up to Wooster. Nevertheless, I'm less than 50 miles away now.
Thorns or prickly is one of my favorite categories; I can always find one of rose, blackberry, barberry, raspberry, locust, greenbriar or hawthorn. Today I found all of those except the locusts. And there was prickly Carolina horsenettle, thistle, and teasel, too.
2-14-18. Delaware Raritan Canal, Franklin Twp., NJ. 1.75 miles today, 214 miles total
Categories: lichen, green in winter, fruit, bark, buds
I meant to walk 1.5 miles today but saw an interesting dock up ahead and went a bit further and ended up with my longest walk in months. This canal section was much like the others I've walked. Mikania scandens, groundnut were interesting, but the highlight of the day was my first ever grove of Kentucky coffee tree! Big old trees covered in the distinctive fruit, and several small ones with the interesting bark. So exciting.
We're over 40,000 observations, amazing!
2-14-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 0.6 miles today, 876.4 miles total.
Categories: city weeds, city birds
I was awakened at 5:40 by our rambunctious neighbors who decided to have a pajama parade. Since I couldn't sleep, I thought I would head out early for my walk, and got dressed for walking. At the last minute, a grabbed a pair of wooden salad tongs and joined them instead. I had a grand time waking up the rest of the neighbors and dancing in the street, but didn't get any chances to shoot plants or birds along the way. So later in the morning, when my husband and I went out provisioning, I took my camera along and shot street weeds along the way. I cam up with Passiflora foetida, bitter melon (Momordica charantia) and a lovely little Oxalis in full bloom. And a lesser Antillean bullfinch.
A grove of Kentucky coffee trees? In fruit? Wow! I've only ever seen one tree, and it was planted. In Vermont. So it was quite stunted and had no fruit. I can't wait to look at your photos to see what a full sized tree looks like.
40,000 observations--that's pretty good pickings for one year!
I love the salad tong image!
Now the pressure is on; I hope the coffee tree pictures come out well; Lord knows I took a lot of them. And for that matter I hope they really ARE Kentucky coffee trees!
Ironically, I looked at the 14 other observations of Kentucky coffee tree in New Jersey and I have been to the park or general location of every single one without noticing any of them before. I'll have to keep a sharper eye out!
I posted the coffee tree, but forgot to add it to the project before uploading and now I can't remember how to go back and add it now. grr...
2-15-18. Washington's Headquarters, Morristown, NJ. 0.75 miles today, 214.75 miles total
Categories: green in winter, lichen, bark, fruit
My husband was having a benign tumor removed from his leg up in Morristown, and I was his ride, so I went for a walk while I was waiting. The closest park was this national park where George Washington was Headquartered for much of the New Jersey part of the Revolutionary War. I had been since I was a kid on a school field trip. It's about an acre and very thoroughly mowed, but there were a few brushy bits at the edges and a little lichen (though not much). The most interesting part, aside from the signs about Revolutionary history, was a whole row of young Stewartia in the parking lot (and, boy, did it take me a while and some digging to remember what they were; I've only seen one (huge one) before.).
2-15-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 2.9 miles today, 879.3 miles total.
Categories: trees, birds
I walked out to Morne Derrière this morning (the backside of Calvary Hill), then to the highway loop going clockwise, with side trips to the small development by the mill and the fishermen's huts, and a sneak walk through the dunebuggy trails near the highway. For trees today, I looked for anything taller than me with at least one trunk more than 3" DBA. I found the white leadtree, Gliricidia sepium, Tabebuia heterophylla, and what I think might be kapok. Also Portia tree, an escaped breadfruit, and maybe an escaped mango tree. The birds of the day were the usual Carib grackles and black-faced grassquits. I tried hard to get some photos of the cowbirds, but they're very shy. The cattle egrets were not shy at all, though. No road kill, but I did find a live rusty millipede.
Washington's Headquarters? That's a cool place to search for plants!
To add photos after the fact, go to your observations and click the batch edit button. Select the photos by clicking on them, then click the add to project button.
How do you add photos to a project before uploading?
I use the bulk uploader, and do the whole day's photos in one shot, which is why they all have exactly the same location. from my dashboard I click on add observations, then upload photos, do the whole batch, then when they come up I select all, deselect anything that doesn't belong, then on the left side there is a button for "projects". It always glitches and I have to hit it about three times to open the list of my projects and keep it open, but then I just click on this project and the whole batch will be added to it.
And thank you for the batch edit reminder; I was totally overlooking the project button, though I've used it a long time ago.
2-16-18. Anse Caritan, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 882.4 miles total.
Categories: bryophytes, birds, crabs
My morning ramble took me out to Anse Caritan and Anse Dunkirk this morning, via a few sidestreets in town where I knew there was a sewer with some green stuff on the edges. Much to my surprise, the green fluffy green stuff by the sewer turned out to be algae, not a fluffy moss. It took a day of specifically looking for moss to realize that I am not in fluffy moss country here. The southern part of Martinique is the driest part of the island. Even though it rains practically every day, the showers hardly ever last for more than 10 minutes. The mosses that I've seen on mortar and rocks around town are flat little things with barely visible leaves. Under the clip-on lens, they appear to be the same species. And I really didn't see many other species along the road to Anse Caritan, even the part of the road through the dark woods. However, on the beach, I found some interesting species, an Orthotricum (possibly) with capsules, and maybe another species or two. Plus, something that looked pea green and fuzzy. When I aimed my clip-on lens at it, I found it was a liverwort, not a moss--how exciting! I guess the extra humidity from the salt spray and proximity to the ocean must make a real difference for the bryophytes. I found at least 4 crab species including Grapsus grapsus on a rock by the water and a small hermit crab in an interesting flat snail shell. For birds, there was the usual lot of Carib grackles and black-faced grassquits, a mockingbird, and the wild chicken chicks near the fishermen's huts that were day-olds when we first arrived are foraging on their own now, nearly grown up.
2-16-18. Qinnipiac River Park, North Haven, CT. 0.25 miles today, 215 miles total.
Categories: anything I could identify
Stopped at a rest area on the Merritt, even though it was drizzling, and walked just a little ways up the bike path along the river here (with kids complaining). No surprises, but it was nice to stretch my legs.
2-17-18 Alewife Brook Parkway, Arlington, MA. 0.5 miles today, 215.5 miles total
Categories: anything I could ID in the dawn light
I took a quick walk at dawn before breakfast at our hotel. Only surprise was three geese swimming in the brook, but it was a nice wake up
2-17-28. Menotomy Rocks, Arlington, MA. 0,75 miles, 216.25 miles total
Categories: buds, fruit, lichen birds
Walked around the park with my daughter, my sister and her dog. my daughter spotted a redtailed hawk, which was a nice surprise.
Welcome to Arlington! Keep an eye on that river--you are likely to see hooded mergansers along with the geese. The hawk is a great find!
2-17-18. Anse Moustique, Martinique. 3.8 miles today, 886.2 miles total.
Categories: entire leaves, birds, cats
I noted on the map this morning that if I walked just a bit further, I could make a loop out of the Anse Moustique route and see some new territory as well as finally see Anse Moustique itself. So off I went! I enjoyed the dirt road to Anse Moustique; it was quite pleasant after dealing with traffic on the highway, no cars at all on the Anse Moustique road this morning. Out on the shore trail, however, I came across a campsite with about 8-10 tents of locals with a generator. And a chest freezer. Good to see folks getting out and enjoying the great outdoors, in any case. Lots of cats out on the shore trail this morning, even though there are no residences nearby. No feral chickens, though. For entire leaves, I found mangroves, including manchineel, portia tree, mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria), Croton flavens, blackbead, coconut, and several mysteries. In the pond by the highway turn-off to Anse Moustique I saw a pair of common gallinules. And then there were the Carib grackles, bananaquits, black-faced grassquits, as usual. Roadkill for the day was several dead rainfrogs out on the highway.
2-18-17. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.3 miles today, 889.5 miles total.
Categories: entire leaves, birds, road kill
I walked the highway loop this morning counter-clockwise, with side trips up to the cock farm at Bellevue and out to the cemetery. On my way up to the cock farm I saw a hen with a 5-6 week old chick, presumably feral. I got chased off the road by a local in a pick-up truck hauling garbage bags of baguettes I guess he was in a hurry to deliver. He went so fast around the turn that one of the loaves fell into the road, which I'm sure made the hen's day. Up at the driveway to the cock farm I found a new weed for this trip, The leaves looked vaguely like carrot family, but the flowers didn't, although they were small and white. Plenty of dead rain frogs on the road today. Also a tiny little frog, the smallest I've ever seen, and a cane toad. Also a possum. I found another pair of trysting African giant snails and another planerian, this one very much alive and crawling along the sidewalk. Out by the cemetery I think I saw a broad-winged hawk on the mulch pile, although I don't think I got a good enough photo for ID. I saw the snowy egret in his ditch, and I think I got a good enough photo of a shiny cowbird for verification. Toothed plants of the day included red tasselflower and catstongue.
2-18-18 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA 0.25 miles today, 216.5 miles total
Categories: identifiable when covered in snow
I walked at dawn up and down Mass Ave for a few blocks near the hotel. The snow overnight had just ended, the sky was brilliant blue, and there was snow covering every twig and the northwest face of every flat surface. Stunningly beautiful, and by far the prettiest storm I've seen this winter. Didn't find many plants to photograph, but there was an English ivy that was fruiting right at eye level, which I rarely see.
2-19-17. Nevertheless, Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.2 miles today, 892.7 miles total.
Categories: fruit, birds
I headed out to Nevertheless this morning in search of fruit. Just as I got to the round-about, a convoy of 2 tractor-trailers came zipping about. Much to my surprise, they parked at the beginning of Nevertheless Rd. And even more surprising, one started driving up Nevertheless. The road is what we would call a Class 4 road in Vermont, when it's dry. Closer to Class 5 (if there were such a thing), then Class 3, which is usually drive-able by most vehicles. I followed the trailer as it crawled up the road going clatter-clatter. The trailer was unmarked, but from the sounds, it was full of glass bottles. I can't imagine there were many full bottles by the time the driver got to where he was going with them. After about 15 minutes, the second driver came up the road as well. Actually, there was a lot of traffic on Nevertheless this morning. Maybe there was an accident out on the highway and the regular roads were blocked. Anyway, I had to keep jumping up to the shoulder the whole way out and back. Along the way, I saw plenty of cattle egrets and black-faced grassquits, but not much else for birds. Fruits included Mimosas (fuzzy beans), white leadtree (flat papery brown beans), the red beans of my "white puffy flowers red beans", tabebuia (big wide light colored beans), and the big honking black strap beans of a Caesalpinia (I think). I also shot a grass and rush in fruit. No road kill today, but I shot yet another planarian. I guess there's a planarian crossing near the gas station.
2-19-18. I-84 rest area, Willington, CT. 0.25 miles today, 216.75 miles total
Categories: bark, lichen, fruit
I walked the length of the parking area at this pretty rest area on a bank above a river. We were on our way back home from my sister's. Not many surprises here, but a nice variety of plants, mostly planted, I assume.
2-19-18. Dealaman Park, Warren, NJ 0.5 miles today, 217.25 miles total
categories; lichen, not posted before, buds
I walked in drizzle down a snow-covered, sopping wet, muddy path in town this afternoon. We don't get mud season here like you do in VT, but it was pretty reminiscent. I was headed down to check on the skunk cabbages, and, sure enough, they'd poked little circles in the snow and the blooms were up but not quite open yet. Very pleased to see it, though. Spring really will get here eventually! I need to head over to the garden that plants winter aconite this week and see if it's up yet, always my first "pretty" flower of spring. And I checked on Draba verna in one spot last week, no sign of it, but I'll check another this week if I get a chance. Should be showing up pretty soon. Then again there's not even any sign yet from the earliest crocus in my yard.
Out of curiosity, how long does it generally take you to walk your 3.5 or so miles?
2-20-18. Buck Garden, Far Hills, NJ. 2.0 miles today, 219.25 miles total
Categories: blooming, wild
I walked this local county park rock garden because I knew they had winter aconite. It was, indeed, just starting to bloom. Also blooming were snowdrops, the earliest of their spring witch hazels, Helleborus niger, Adonis amurensis, skunk cabbage, one set of yellow crocuses, and a single flower of winter jasmine. Still very exciting; can't wait for spring to really get here (should be 70 tomorrow! but I dont' think we're done with snow yet, either).
2-20-18. Anse Noir and Anse Dufour, Martinique. 1.2 miles today, 893.9 miles total.
Categories: ferns, birds, fungi
My husband and I visited some Vermont friends who are staying in Anse Noir. We gave one of the the friends a tour of the hiking trail heads in Anse Noir and Anse Dufour. Along the way, I "collected" some ferns that caught my eye. I also found some Euphorbias and a butterfly pea in full bloom. For birds, there was the spotted sandpiper near the creek outlet, some grackles and zenaida doves. And maybe a a kestrel. I also saw a flock of hummers (mostly Antillean crested) on the Caesalpinia tree in the middle of the campground.
It usually takes me about 70 minutes to walk about 3 miles, while taking photos along the way. My goal is to get some aerobic exercise in as well as take photos. So I have to reign in the photos and try to walk fast. Unless I see something important, in which case I simply must take some photos. That happens about ever 90 seconds.
2-21-18. Anse Noir. 0.1 miles today, 894 miles total.
Categories: new-to-me, birds
I wandered around the campground at Anse Noir this morning looking for any new plants that I might have overlooked before. I found a nice fern in the back of a cabin, some dayflower that I may have overlooked on previous trips, a large nettle-looking plant, a plant with opposite leaves and small yellow flowers on long peduncles, a plant with flowers that remind of galinisoga, a Spermacoce, and a sea almond. Birds included Carib grackles, black-faced grassquits, and Antillean crested hummingbirds again, plus a broad-winged hawk and a brown pelican. I also managed to catch a new-to-me butterfly.
Skunk cabbage! Such an exotic plant for us in Vermont--we simply don't have any in Central Vermont since it's doesn't grow that far north. I don't know if I would even recognize it right off. Spring aconite is another one I know only by name. The warm weather that you're getting is even stretching into Vermont. Friends there say it got up to 70F in Montpelier today. Meanwhile, around here, it is very unseasonably wet. All day today we had a continuous stream of showers, every 20-30 minutes, for about 3-5 minutes at a time. Locals say it's not supposed to rain here from Feb. 1 to the end of April. But we've had showers practically every day since we got here.
2-21-18. train station, Somerville, and Delaware Raritan Canal, South Bound Brook, NJ. 2.0 miles today, 221.25 miles today
Categories: fruiting, flowering, green in winter.
I had 40 minutes to kill in Somerville today so walked to the train station, catching weeds along the railroad embankment (mostly mugwort) and lichen on sidewalk trees. Later I went looking for Draba verna along the canal. Didn't find any but instead blooming grey field speedwell and common chickweed. Also today is the day the silver maples bloomed! And no wonder, as it hit 78 degrees (and I was wearing shorts).
I asked about walk times as I am working to increase my distance. It still takes me about 70 minutes to walk 2 miles, and that's in the winter in areas I've iNat-ed before. A month from now it would probably take me over twice that to walk two miles.
2-22-18. Anse Caritan, Martinique. 2.8 miles today, 896.8 miles total.
Categories: landscapes, birds, crabs
When "landscapes" came up for the category of the day, I headed out to Anse Caritan this morning. I had great fun re-visiting some of my favorite scenic spots (and some not-so-scenic) to look for any plants that could be identified in a landscape shot. I put white leadtree in a few photos, and portia tree along the beach. Also buttonwood and the tree with the long aerial roots hanging over the road. I got a rush and some crabs in the crab-lands behind the shore. The spotted sandpiper was on the beach, as well as the Carib grackles and zenaida doves. The thrill of the day was when I was trying to chase down the source of a loud hissing sound high in the trees. It sounded a bit like an angry crow. But it wasn't--it turned out to be a pair of opossums arguing about whose tree it was. That's the first time I've seen live opossums here. On my way back, I walked along the shore in back of the market in hopes of seeing the rock crab, Grapsus grapsus. I found several, but also I spotted a few Norway rats in the rocks above the water, very much alive.
Making mileage is tough with a camera. I'm trying to walk further and take fewer photos, just to get more exercise. It helps that I don't have a car here, so I'm restricted to the same routes, over and over. I've seen most of the common stuff on my routes. The challenge now is to find new things, or find known plants in new places, and remember what I've already tagged. In any case, one reason why I started this project was to work on getting back into shape after a long illness. The project has been a great motivator to get out and walk every day, and I have certainly gotten quite a bit stronger over the year. This morning it took me 95 minutes to walk the 2.8 miles because I was having too much fun with my camera. And the possums slowed me down. I'll blame it on the possums.
2-23-18. Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 2.8 miles today, 899.6 miles total.
Categories: invertebrates, entire leaves, road kill
It poured buckets last night and was still raining lightly when I went out for my walk this morning, so I took my underwater camera and stayed on paved paths. I headed up to Derriere Morne, then did the highway loop in the clockwise direction. I've shot most every kind of plant along this route, but not quite all the pavement weeds, so that was what I watching for, mostly. And with my eyes on the pavement, I found all manner of interesting invertebrates, including a rusty millipede, the black and yellow millipede, an earthworm, and a katydid, also a crab in the field by the highway. The field was rather inundated, and the common gallinules were right up against the fence, so I got a good look at them and some cattle egrets. For plants with entire leaves I shot some sidewalk euphorbias and something that looked like sandmat. For roadkill, I found another tiny frog and a rather grotesque possom (don't look).
2-22-18. East County Park, Warren, NJ. 1.75 miles today, 222 miles total.
Categories: lichen, fruiting, green in winter, buds, bark, birds, not posted before
I had 50 minutes between appointments. It was spitting rain and had rained a whole lot lately and this is the only park nearby. I thought the only paved bit as a sunny loop around two small ponds, but they've just put in a whole other mile-;long blacktop trail past a new dog park and into a section of woods that I've never been in before. Very exciting for a park in my hometown.
I hit 222 miles on 2-22, cool. I also drove right up the path I'm virtually walking again in the evening, because my mom fell in Boston the day before and had an emergency splenectomy that night, So I am back in Boston now, helping out, not four days after I left.
I have never seen live possums and would definitely blame any slow walking on them!
2-24-18. Nevertheless Rd, Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 902.3 miles total.
Categories: vines, birds
I walked out to Neverthless this morning in search of new vines. I don't think I found any new ones, but I had a good time trying. I found several Ipomeas, of which probably one was I. marginata, and another was maybe I. batatas. I also found a Fabacea and the vine I call tropical hop vine. For birds, I had the usual Carib grackle, black-faced grassquit, cattle egret, and grey kingbirds. I also managed to capture a pair of tropical mockingbirds right near my turnaround point on the out-and-back. No sign of the snowy egret who lives in the ditch today. I also caught a white peacock butterfly today, my second this week. Maybe they're in season!
So sorry to hear to about your mother's fall! May she recover quickly from the surgery!
2-25-18. Anse Noir, Martinique. 0.4 miles today, 902.7 miles total.
Categories: spore spreaders, flying things
My husband and I visited our friends in Anse Noir again this morning. We got up super-early so as to get a parking space in the tiny lot above the bay. Then I did some birding at the top of the parking lot and also from the bungalow porch. In between, I collected some ferns, fungi, and mosses. I think one of the ferns was yet another new one. I bet I have half a dozen different ferns for this trip, but none with names. I also found what I think is another spikemoss. It looks much like the one I found up by Mount Pelee. Up in the parking lot I saw an American kestrel as well as the usual hummingbirds, however, I didn't get a photo so it doesn't count. Later, I did get a photo from the bungalow porch, but my camera settings were wrong, so the photo was too blurry to keep. Guess we'll have to back again tomorrow. Other flying things included a dragonfly, possibly a wandering glider, and a butterfly.
2-26-18. Anse Noir, Martinique. 0.4 miles today, 903.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, yellow
We visited Anse Noir again today, for the last time for a few weeks. I hiked up the cliffs on the north side of the bay for some bird watching. The hill was relatively quiet, though, with fewer birds than I hoped for. The Albizzia was blooming, so there were a few Antillean crested hummingbirds in the blossoms, and some bananaquits. I had a brief visit from a shiny cowbird, and an Antillean saltator who refused to show himself. Down in the bay, the brown pelican was feeding. And as soon as I got back to our friends' bungalow, a pair of broad-winged hawks circled the bay. For yellow, I found 2 blooms on the hill. One was could have been Fabaceae, based on the shape of the blooms, but the leaves had two leaflets, not three. The other bloom was new to me (for this trip, anyway), and had very long compound leaves. Up on the the hill I noted a very sweet scent and found it was coming from the Croton flavens, which is just coming into bloom.
2-23-18. Water Tower, Arlington, MA. 0.5 miles today, 222.5 miles total
Categories: fallen leaves
My sister, Dad and I walked after a late dinner, after coming back from the hospital. It was quite dark but I was determined to get something observed for iNat every day, so I shot a few of the more identifiable fallen leaves. The water tower by my sister's house looks, according to my kids, "like the Coliseum but not ruined".
2-24-18. Riverway, Boston, MA. 1.25 miles today, 223.75 miles total
Categories: lichen, moss, fruiting, bark, birds
I walked at lunch time through the Medical Center area and over to Riverway along the Fens. This is a very thoroughly used urban park so mostly mud, grass, and big trees, but some weeds down by the waterway, and ducks in the water itself. It was nice to get a break from the hospital and especially the chair that poked me in the thighs.
2-25-18. I-90 Rest Stop, Westborough, MA. 0.25 miles today, 224 miles total
Categories: lichen, fruiting, green in winter
On the way to the hospital in the morning I had to stop to allow a whole flock of geese to cross the road. I kind of wished it was ducklings I was making way for, seeing as how I was in Boston and all. My Mom was doing better, though still in the ICU, healing but slowly. I had to head home in the afternoon and stopped on a rest area along the MassPike. There was a fenced dog run here with two stone benches and a big, blue fire hydrant, and absolutely nothing else but grass. But across the access road was a lovely bank planted with gray birch and white pine and covered with lichen. There was sweet fern, too, which I don't see often.
2-26-18. Ann Van Middlesworth Park, Hillsborough, NJ. 2.0 miles today, 226 miles total
Categories: fruiting, flowering, green in winter, lichen, birds.
I had a mammogram this morning very near this lovely park with a pond. I walked across the dam into a section I'd not been in before. I followed a cleared area that I think had buried utilities, and then what I thought were foot paths but turned out to be deer trails. Between a fence and a lot of old fallen trees (from Hurricane Sandy, presumably) and muddy, slippery ground I thought I'd gotten myself well and truly stuck, but eventually made it back out to the paved path. I stuck with that for the rest of the walk, but it was a very good thing I'd done the appointment first as by then I was liberally splashed with mud.
The alders were (half) blooming, the first I've seen this year. I saw a large bird, presumably a hawk, though rather stout and broad in the wings, swooping among the trees twice. Otherwise it was mallards and geese, and the usual trees and weeds. Still a fun exploration.
2-27-18.Anse Caritan, Martinique. 3.1 miles today, 906.2 miles total.
Categories: birds, crabs
We have guests visiting from Vermont this week. I took one of them out along the Anse Caritan trail through the woods. We were walking at a brisk pace and talking, so I didn't get many photos. Still, I managed to capture a few birds and a few crabs along the way. Including a hermit crab in a new kind of shell. I'm really getting fascinated by the kinds of shells that the hermit crabs dig up to live in. Birds that we saw included the feral domestic chicken chicks (nearly grown up now!) and the Muscovy duck who lives on the beach, some gray kingbirds, some Antillean crested hummingbirds, and a bananaquit.
Glad to hear that your mother is doing better! A spleenectomy is a tough surgery! Also glad to hear that you got out walking every day during the visits! I spent many a day visiting my father in the hospital, and yes, the chairs just don't fit well. One highlight of the visits was birding from the hospital window. It was amazing the number of hawks I could spot in downtown Oakland (Pittsburgh) from the window. As for a hawk that swoops through trees, that sounds like maybe a sharp-shinned.
2-27-18. River Rd. Park, Pluckemin, NJ 2.25 miles today, 228.25 miles total.
Categories: blooming, leafing, green in winter, lichen, fruit, buds, bark
I went for a bike ride this afternoon, but less than 5 minutes in my front tire burst with a noise like a gunshot. So my walk started with walking the bike back to the car. I covered a section of this park that I'd never been in, and a bit that I'd biked through but not walked before. Mostly it was redcedars with not much undergrowth. Honeysuckle was starting to leaf out and silver maples were blooming. Elm buds were just breaking.
2-28-18 Peter's Brook and Torpey Parks, Somerville, NJ. 2.75 miles today, 231 miles total.
categories: green in winter, blooming, fruit, animals, lichen
This was the longest walk I've taken in one go since we started this project a year ago. I walked along a brook, past a sewage treatment plant, a factory, a farm with two sheep, two chickens, and a donkey, and the new, extremely fancy sports complex. Then I found a field on the river floodplain that I believe is directly on the cleaned up half of one of the biggest SuperFund sites in the country. I had no idea it was a public park that I could walk in. I will have to go back. Highlight of the trip (other than the field) was blooming Draba verna (though you nearly need a microscope to see it). But I also enjoyed the farm animals; not what you usually come across in the "big city" of Somerville.
2-28-18. Belfond, Sainte-Anne, Martinique. 0.9 miles today. 907.1 miles total.
Categories: birds, fun flowers
My husband and I went to the bus stop this morning with our friend to catch the early bus to Les Salines. But the bus was running on the driver's schedule this morning, not the published one, so we missed the bus by about 20 minutes. Our friend was determined to get to Les Salines, so she took off down the highway on foot. My husband and I went to the Pointe Marin beach in Sainte-Anne instead, which, in our opinion is just as nice. I took my birding lens and went for a stroll around Belfond, especially the area around the sewage treatment plant, which is some of the best birding in town. No great egrets, but a few cattle egrets (and cattle), and plenty of tropical mockingbirds. I also heard a mangrove cuckoo in the mangrove swamp, as well as a green heron, and I saw 2 spotted sandpipers. I didn't manage to get photos of the cuckoo, green heron on sandpipers, but I put them on my ebird list for the morning and wound up with 14 species for the walk. I think that's more species than I ever got at Les Salines. While walking near the sewage treatment plant I found the white-puffy-flower-red-bean plant with both blooms and beans. Then as we were walking back from the beach, my husband pointed out a dead carpenter bee in the road. This was the first time I had seen what up close--it was huge, as big around as my thumb.
Congratulations, everyone, on one year for this project! Together, we are over 1,000 miles already! The adventures we have had, and the species we have seen!
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