Mass Audubon's Neighborhood Naturalist Online's Journal

Journal archives for May 2020

May 1, 2020

Quick video on how to use the journal

Hi all,
Here is the link to a quick video I made, which shows how to make a journal entry and how to comment on somebody's journal post.
Comment below if you have questions.
Thanks
ciao
Flavio

https://sway.office.com/UQV1pgjBlaTfZ6Fy?ref=Link

Posted on May 1, 2020 06:54 PM by fsut fsut | 2 comments | Leave a comment

May 3, 2020

Noticing backyard "weeds"

I was wandering around my (small) yard, taking notice of what was coming up in my gardens. I decided to start to pay attention to the weeds as well as the things I intentionally planted, rather than just ripping them out of the ground and tossing them aside.

Uploading some of these plants to iNaturalist helped me to identify and learn a little more about these things that are trying to grow in my yard (many against my wishes). I noticed the differently shaped leaves on each, paying more attention to them than I had ever before as I tried to figure out what they were.

One of the plants that has been especially abundant in my yard over the years is currently covered in lots of tiny, two-lipped, pinkish-purple flowers (and actually looks kind of pretty), and I learned that it's Ground Ivy. It's in the mint family, and sure enough, when I crushed a scalloped leaf between my fingers I got a faint mint-like scent from it. I researched it a little further, and learned that although it is indeed invasive (I knew that part already!), it also has some past medicinal and food uses. I won't be eating it myself since it can be toxic, but I began to have a new appreciation for this pretty little weed that I used to mindlessly rip out of the ground.

Posted on May 3, 2020 09:41 PM by danivaill danivaill | 2 comments | Leave a comment

May 4, 2020

groundcover

May 1, 2020
I have become more conscious of groundcover. My own backyard where I would like to have more native plants seems this season to have groundcover made up mostly of redseed plantain and jewelweed. The jewelweed is fine. On a walk, though, I saw a small yard with widespread azure bluets (houstonia caerulea). That would be a lovely addition to the groundcover!

Posted on May 4, 2020 01:15 PM by maryjb maryjb | 0 comments | Leave a comment

are these all the same plant? or 3 different plants

May 2, 2020
Walking along a short section of the Bay Circuit trail I noticed lots of small green plants coming up at the trail's edge. I focused on the most abundant sorts. There were alot of simple, oval and green leaves with a point at the end of a simple round stem coming up. I saw some leaves that were unrolling as they came up out of the ground, other plants had full leaves at the end of a stalk with the leaf folded back. I also saw small plants with 2 leaves facing each other and in the middle was a short stalk with a tiny green fluorescence/flower. As I passed these I wondered if they were different stages of growth of the same plant or all different species of plants. I periodically stopped to take a closer look. The almost unrolled leaves and leaves which were full and bending backwards were at the end of simple smooth stems with no other leaves or buds. The flowering plants had 2 leaves. One leaf was terminal (at the end of the stem) with the flower at it's base and the second leaf started lower on the stem. I was pretty sure the first 2 types of plants were different stages of the same plant, but not as sure about the flowering plant. Then I found a small plant with an unfurled leaf, thickened at the base of the leaf and close to the ground on the opposite side of the stem I noticed a small triangular shape that seemed like the start of a leaf. This seemed to be the missing link and I have concluded these particular small plants are the same plant at different stages of growth. They are all Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), a native flower.

Posted on May 4, 2020 01:16 PM by maryjb maryjb | 1 comment | Leave a comment

trees

May 2,2020
Walking along a residential street I was again struck by the question: am I looking at the same plant or different types of plants. This time it was with big plants – trees. I saw dangling hairy catkins on a leafless tree. The bark was smooth, reminding my of beeches. Inaturalist suggested quaking aspens. I think of these as a native Western US species, but being in a suburban neighborhood, anything is possible. A little down the road, another leafless tree with dangling catkins. The bark was slightly rougher, but not a great deal different. Inaturalist suggested a black ash. I looked along the street and saw that there was a row of currently leafless trees with catkin flowers dangling, similar size trees and concluded that these are the same tress, probably planted at the same time to line the street. I think they are more likely to be quaking aspen, but I'll have to check back when the leaves come in.

Posted on May 4, 2020 01:17 PM by maryjb maryjb | 2 comments | Leave a comment

Observation

I decided to listen to Barred owls the last few nights. They always seem to be calling around 11-12 pm. They make me think about people that stay up late and have parties because they are always making such a ruckus. I tried to get a photo of them but they flew away. I learned that right now is their breeding season so they could already have a nest or be later couple that is just courting. It is usually colder outside at night, around 40 degrees which makes me wonder if they like colder weather but then I have sometimes heard them occasionally call in the afternoon. It was quite peaceful listening to them however and it had been worth staying up.

Posted on May 4, 2020 02:52 PM by jobird jobird | 2 comments | Leave a comment

May 5, 2020

Following a bumblebee

I was walking around in my yard, checking out all the violets sprouting up in my lawn, when I saw a bumblebee flying around close to the ground. I noticed that it was frequently stopping, but not at any of the violets or dandelions as I would have expected, instead just to crawl around on the ground for a brief bit before moving along. I decided to follow this cute fuzzy insect to see if I could figure out what it was doing, since it did not seem to be stopping at flowers for any nectar. It was pretty warm out (mid 70s), nice and sunny, but a little breezy. I began to wonder if it was either looking for a nest or a place to start a new nest in a hole in the ground. It darted all around my yard, stopping every so often to inspect the ground, and I followed it until it worked its way over to my neighbor's.

I never did get to figure out exactly what it was doing. When I tried to research this further online, I learned that bumblebees live in colonies, and only the queen survives the winter by burrowing for shelter, emerging in the spring to lay eggs. This led me to more questions - would this have been the queen that I saw? Is it too early in the year for a queen's offspring to be fully grown? I saw another bumblebee of the same size also exhibiting similar behavior. Would there be more than one queen in an area as small as my yard? I have more research to do :).

Posted on May 5, 2020 03:16 AM by danivaill danivaill | 1 comment | Leave a comment

Squirrel Training

It's about 7 am. Mother squirrel makes her way through the bushes, up a vine, and jumps to the branch that leads to the crotch of the tree that holds her nest. A moment after poking her head in, two smaller versions of her come out of the nest. She turns and heads back down, following the same route. The little ones behind her hesitate, try other routes to only find a dead ends, and, eventually, all are on the ground. Mother leads the way along the edge of the lawn, staying close to shrubbery and trees. For a moment, they disappear. Then the movement across the green shows their location. She is on the edge of the roof. A quick scurry over the ledge and down a window screen finds her on top of the air conditioner. After entering a hole in the mesh covering the AC, she sits on top. With a sudden leap she flies into a young tree. This tree is supple. She holds on as the branches sway back and forth with her weight. As the swaying slows, she makes her way down the tree and across the lawn. What next? Two little squirrel's head up the tree. I could almost hear them asking, "You sure we can't make it this way, mom? It looks a lot easier." But they find with no leverage to push off the soft branches and make the distance up to the AC, they'll have to follow the path shown to them. For the next twenty minutes, the kits practice: looking over the edge of the roof and estimating how to let go of it, while throwing themselves inward to catch a screen. Trusting they'll hold fast to a swaying branch after they leap into it. And trusting their mother as she leads them on to the next training.

Posted on May 5, 2020 01:09 PM by belled belled | 1 comment | Leave a comment

Where'd the fox go?

Somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 every morning for a couple weeks, a fox has walked past the back deck. It darts past, and back. It will dart around the outside edges of the green. I even see it one morning in the front of the building. And on another, on the other side of the fence, running near the apartment complexes retaining pond into the wooded area. Another resident a few buildings down says he saw it coming from the direction of the creek. I've walked along the creek. There are prints down that I can identify as "dog." I'm not familiar enough to identify fox from domestic. However, it would make sense that the fox is making a circle of the area. There is a small forested area between here and the gulf course. Maybe the fox has kits in a den there and each morning heads down to the creek and up through the condo buildings. There's lots of reasons to and over the next couple weeks, I think I may be right. The mother squirrel's babies go from four to two. There is a lone baby rabbit eating just off our deck every morning. There are three lone baby squirrels in front. Although, I witnessed the ravaging of their nest by a red-tailed hawk. Seeing them alone, I realize it was probably the mother that the hawk carried away. All those little songbirds tried so hard to shoo it away.
But, now there's no fox. Is it a balance? Has it headed off through the gulf course in order not to totally decimate the new spring population? Or, has it become a part of the food chain. My son suggests an owl. I look it up. That's actually possible, as are bears, wolves, badgers, eagles, and even humans.

Posted on May 5, 2020 01:24 PM by belled belled | 1 comment | Leave a comment

Backyard Robins

I spent a lot of the winter months watching songbirds outside of my kitchen window, but now that I've run out of birdseed I'm not seeing them as much. The robins have been back in my yard again though, and I've started to get to know them a little better instead! There are a few that I've been able to identify as regular visitors because of some unique markings. My favorite one is paler in color overall, and has very prominent white markings around its eyes, almost like it got overzealous with some eyeliner. Another one I've noticed is darker in color, with a much more black than grey head, and a more saturated rust colored belly. This one seems to have what I can only describe as a "derpy" look to it, much less sophisticated than the one that goes heavy on the white eyeliner.

I began to notice over the last week that my "derpy" robin seemed to be gaining some weight, it was a bit fluffier than I recalled at first. Did this mean that it was a female, perhaps pregnant? After researching the differences between male and female American robins, I learned that the males tend to be darker and more saturated in color than the more muted females (which makes sense), so most likely "derpy" is a male. Maybe he's just been getting a few more worms and grubs in this warmer weather?

I also observed another Robin trying its hardest to perform the fruitless act of removing a hanging string from a trellis I have up for sweet peas. I figured this bird was trying its hardest to build a nest and felt this was the perfect addition. It was a little amusing to watch it persistently pull at that never loosening string, but I do feel bad it labored so hard for no reward!

Posted on May 5, 2020 08:48 PM by danivaill danivaill | 2 comments | Leave a comment