April Urban Nature Walk at Ponkapoag Pond

[urbpan]

We had a great big group on today's Urban Nature Walk at Ponkapoag Pond! I can't remember the last time we had 10 people together on a walk. Great showing, especially considering the weather was damp and raw.



Hairy vines of poison ivy were in abundance!


There were some early spring mushrooms about, too. I initially identified this as ceramic parchment Xylobolus frustulatus but now I'm not sure.


We weren't the only ones enjoying the path around the pond today. We saw at least three species of humans and their animals out and about.


At an unassuming drainage pool, Mike of the Hit Me With Your Nature Stick blog scooped up a batch of wood frog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles, still wriggling out of the egg jelly!
Edited to add! Above link leads to Mike's blog post about this specific walk!



Everyone got a good look at the tads before they were put back in the water.


Nearby I found a mullein rosette, it's furry leaves holding water.




lizziebelle said, hey here's a spider, but I couldn't see it.
EDITED TO CHANGE: I remembered everything except the correct human. It wasn't lizziebelle it was a new participant whose name is Teá. How embarassing.
Edited to further add: But you should definitely look at lizziebelle's post about this walk, HERE


Oh, there you are!


I submerged my camera in the Ponkapoag to get this picture of a water lily leaf reaching for the surface.


Zari shows us a bone from a snapping turtle skeleton!


Skunk cabbage is unfurling all around the pond.


We turned over a few logs looking for salamanders but mostly found invertebrates, including this lovely soldier beetle! (edited for misinformation! see comments for proper beetle ID! Thanks Jenn)


A boardwalk leads from the main path into an ecologically important bog. Later in the year one can find carnivorous plants in there, probably the closest wild pitcher plants and sundews to Boston.


Despite the cold and damp, the place has an undeniable serene beauty.

Comments

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

It was a fun time, I'm glad so many people showed up! Except it wasn't me who found the spider. :)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Oh whoops! My memory is very stupid. It's good that I take so many pictures.

Beautiful

[mike howlett (from livejournal.com)]

We had a wonderful time foraging with everyone. Being herpers, we're always looking for the cold-blooded and miss so much! It's always great to be out with others who have knowledge about things that I have none! What a great day, despite very few herps!

That beetle

[jenn forman orth (from livejournal.com)]

Looks like I missed out on a fun trip!

That beetle is a ground beetle (Caribidae family), some type of False Bombardier beetle, Galerita sp.

See http://bugguide.net/node/view/625284/bgpage

[gregory adams (from livejournal.com)]

Quite proud my daughter learned how to track horses that just passed us 10 minutes ago on a muddy trail. It's a start!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

SCIENCE!

Provable and reproducable!

Zari did great!