Category: Natural History
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Crested Dwarf Iris
I have always had a fondness for the wildflowers of spring woodlands and have planted them in shady spots as a harbinger of my favorite season. One of the hardiest of the spring ephemerals is Crested Dwarf Iris, Iris cristata. I have purchased many of these (and other native wildflowers) over the years from the… Read more…
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Changing of the Guard
Migrations speak to us, not just as observers of nature but as integral parts of it. The world moves and, deep inside, we long to move with it. Mike Bergin Spring is truly here. I look out the door and see the rapid changes, the appearance of so many new things. But I can also… Read more…
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Paddling the Black River
Last week, my friend, and former co-worker, Jerry Reynolds asked if I wanted to go along with he and another friend on a paddle along the Black River as he prepped for an upcoming program. I jumped at it since it has been years since I paddled the Black (I did go upriver last year… Read more…
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Wood Duck nest
Wood Ducks begin courtship in the fall and continue throughout the winter and into the spring. A couple of years ago I photographed several ducks on the ice at Pungo Lake where you can see several Wood Ducks that appear to have already paired up. On my recent paddle at Merchants Millpond and surrounding swamps,… Read more…
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Merchants Millpond
I enter the swamp as a sacred place Henry David Thoreau Merchants Millpond has always been one of my favorite state parks. When I was the East District Naturalist for the State Parks system oh-so-many years ago (1981-1986), I would go up to Merchants and canoe out after dark to the family camping area after… Read more…
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Marbled Salamander eggs
Two friends from the Museum, Megan and Melissa, invited me to tag along with them yesterday, as they did some fieldwork for a future workshop. Megan made a great find as she and Melissa were turning over logs at the edge of a vernal pool, looking for salamanders – some viable Marbled Salamander eggs. It… Read more…
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Crawling on your back…doing the Grub
Found this huge grub in the topsoil pile the other day as I was adding soil to some garden beds. When disturbed, it curls itself into a C-shape as do many grubs. But this one then did something that only a very few grubs do – it started crawling away on its back. I first… Read more…
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Shed in the shed
Found a large spider shed in my shed this week. Believe it to be from a Dolomedes species (probably D. tenebrosus). This one would have been close to 3 inches across in total leg span! Their group is known as the Fishing Spiders, but this species is often found far from water, as in this… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 