An online resource based on the award-winning nature guide – maryholland505@gmail.com

WELCOME TO A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE FIELDS, WOODS, AND MARSHES OF NEW ENGLAND

Find more of my photographs and information similar to that which I post in this blog in my award-winning book NATURALLY CURIOUS

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Adult Dragonflies & Damselflies Emerging

Most dragonflies and damselflies (order: Odonata) live a majority of their life span as larvae in ponds, streams or swamps.  At the end of their larval stage, which can last anywhere from several months to years, they emerge from the water onto rocks, emergent vegetation or other substrate, split their larval skin along their heads and backs and fall out of their skin backwards, head first, before clasping their skin or substrate and hanging on for dear life as they pump their body full of air, sending fluid into their wing veins.  This process is referred to as eclosion and takes up to several hours.  During this time, they are extremely vulnerable as they are unable to fly.

Within a day or so the eclosing insect’s body dries and hardens, they acquire color and take to the air. Different species of dragonflies and damselflies eclose at different times, providing a wide array of species emerging throughout the summer. (Photo: dragonfly eclosing & recently-eclosed damselfly perched on Yellow Pond Lily/Spatterdock.)

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Posted by  |  June 10, 2024 | Categories: Damselflies, Dragonflies, Eclosion, Insect Molting, Insects, June, Metamorphosis, Uncategorized, Yellow Pond Lily | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Buckbean Flowering

If you are within driving distance of a bog, June is prime time to visit.  Pitcher plants, orchids and many other acidic-loving plants are in flower at this time of year.  One of my very favorites is Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata). 

Buckbean’s elaborately fringed petals are unique.  The most plausible explanation for this seems to be that the intertwined, twisted fringes prevent small insects, which are not functional pollinators, from reaching the flower’s nectar.  Larger bumble bees, flies and butterflies, which, for the most part, manage to avoid becoming entangled in these fringes, do reach the nectar and are effective pollinators.

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Posted by  |  June 7, 2024 | Categories: Bog Plants, Bogs, Buckbean, Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

Trout-Lily Stolon

Now that trees have leafed out, shaded spring ephemerals have flowered and disappeared, their bright blossoms mere memories. However, signs of their presence still remain, including Trout Lily’s efforts to reproduce vegetatively. Congratulations to Sara Hand who was the first NC reader to correctly identify Friday’s Mystery Photo’s subject — a “dropper” or stolon (tubular, fleshy stem) growing from the underground bulb of a young Trout-Lily plant, which most likely bore one leaf and no flower. The tip of the stolon eventually grows back into the soil, where it produces a new bulblet. The stem connecting the two bulbs then dies. Each new bulblet repeats the process in subsequent years resulting in colonies of clonal sister plants which are genetically identical. (Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast, by Carol Gracie)

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Posted by  |  June 3, 2024 | Categories: Clone, Ephemerals, June, Spring Wildflowers, Stolon, Trout-Lily, Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

Red Fox Kits Turning Red

Red Fox kits are born not with a red coat, but a charcoal gray coat which they keep for the first month. (Coyote, wolf and other wild canid pups are also born with this color coat.) At about five weeks of age Red Fox kits begin to lose their dark natal coat and grow a new one.  Once again, this second coat is not the distinct red coat of an adult, but rather a sandy-colored coat which matches the sandy soil of the den site. Now that they are spending time outside the den, but are still defenseless, camouflage is crucial. After five weeks or so, in early June, outer red guard hairs begin to grow through the sandy coat and by the end of June the kits display the bright red coats associated with adult Red Foxes.

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Posted by  |  May 31, 2024 | Categories: Canids, Mammal coats, Mammals, May, Red Fox Kits, Red Foxes | Tags: | 1 Comment

Mystery Photo

Do you think you know what the white circular structure in the middle of this photograph is? If so, go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com, scroll down and write your answer under “Comments.” Its identity will be revealed Monday, June 3.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
 

Posted by  |  May 31, 2024 | Categories: May, Mystery Photo, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Red Oak Nip Twigs Littering The Ground

A recent walk under a Red Oak tree revealed many small nip twigs bearing oak flowers and newly-emerged leaves littering the ground. The 45°angle of the cut on the twig plus incisor marks confirmed that Gray Squirrels were responsible for the fallen twigs. The question is why would a Gray Squirrel be cutting oak twigs that contained no acorns?   

Gray Squirrels nest in both cavities (most often in winter) and in leafy nests (most often in summer).  They tend to build their nests in or near trees that produce food and because of the acorns that they bear, oaks are a preferred species.  Gray Squirrels’ summer nests, or dreys, are made of bark, moss, leaves and sticks.  The twigs on the ground were freshly cut, and my guess is that a partially constructed drey high above would soon be fortified with these nip twigs.

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Posted by  |  May 24, 2024 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Marsh Wrens Singing & Nest-building

With legs spread as far apart as avianly possible to clasp nearby bulrushes and cattails, Marsh Wrens are heard far more often than seen.  Their distinctive reedy, gurgling song is like no other.  John J. Audubon compared its “song, if song I may call it… [to]… the grating of a rusty hinge.”   While admittedly it’s not the most musical song, it is varied (males learn 50-200 song types) and is sung with gusto continuously throughout the day and sometimes night in order to stake out territory and to attract a mate.

Equally impressive as the number and constancy of their songs is the number of nests male Marsh Wrens build — at least a half dozen dummy nests for every breeding nest used by a female.  Why expend this kind of energy?  Several theories exist: the dummy nests serve as shelter for newly fledged young, as replacement nests if breeding nest is destroyed, as a decoy for predators, and possibly the number of nests may serve as an indicator of the male’s vigor or quality of his territory, or both.

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Posted by  |  May 20, 2024 | Categories: Marsh Birds, Marsh Wren, May, Uncategorized, Wrens | Tags: | 1 Comment

Common Watersnakes Basking

Common Watersnakes are active both day and night.  During the day they cruise along the surface of the water with just their head above the surface as they search along the water’s edge looking for small fish, tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, leeches and large insects, among other aquatic prey. If the sun is out, however, you’re more likely to see them basking on rocks, river or pond banks, cattail stems, overhanging brush or, as pictured, a beaver lodge.

Between emergence from hibernation and breeding (which begins shortly in the Northeast), Common Watersnakes feed very little.  Often, as in this photograph, they congregate and bask. In the spring, they bask most of the day.  In early summer, they tend to bask just in the morning and by late summer they bask only in the early morning. (A Guide To Amphibians and Reptiles, Tom Tyning) 

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Posted by  |  May 17, 2024 | Categories: Basking, Common Watersnake, May, Reptiles, Snakes, Uncategorized | Tags: | Leave a comment

Shagbark Hickory Buds Opening

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) is immediately recognizable by its large, flat plates of bark that curl away from its trunk, giving the tree a shaggy appearance.  Its attributes are well known: Shagbark Hickory nuts are sweet and edible (to humans and wildlife). Its tough but flexible wood is used for sporting equipment, tool handles, ladders and flooring, and it’s a source of high-quality charcoal for smoking bacon, ham and other meats.  But to me, its most outstanding feature is on display right now, as the scales on its swollen buds open and fold back, petal-like, revealing new foliage that will soon expand into large, compound leaves.

Posted by  |  May 13, 2024 | Categories: Hardwoods, May, Shagbark Hickory, Uncategorized | Tags: | 5 Comments

Male Gray Treefrog Ardor Grows When Female Is In Sight

The peak of Gray Treefrog courtship and breeding occurs in another month, but males are already actively calling near bodies of water. Frogs are highly sensitive to motion so visual cues play an important part in their courtship.

Male Gray Treefrogs are significantly more likely to give their musical, bird-like courtship calls when they are able to see an approaching female, and their calls are longer if females are nearby and within sight. This is a good thing, as research has found that female Gray Treefrogs choose mates on the basis of advertisement calls and prefer long calls to short calls. (To hear a Gray Treefrog calling, go to https://musicofnature.com/calls-of-frogs-and-toads-of-the-northeast/, scroll down to “Gray Treefrog” and click on arrow. Spring Peepers and Green Frog in background.)

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Posted by  |  May 10, 2024 | Categories: Amphibians, Frog Calls, Gray Treefrog, May, May, Uncategorized | 1 Comment