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Month: October 2017

Nature Journaling: Autumn Along Cape Rivers

Nature Journaling: Autumn Along Cape Rivers

Sunday I tagged along with my boyfriend Justin as he conducted river discharge monitoring for the Cape Cod Rivers Observatory. This meant that I had about 15 minutes to spend at each of 6 different rivers while he took his measurements: Herring Brook, Coonamessett River, Quashnet River, Mashpee River, Santuit River, and Red Brook. I decided to spend that time capturing some autumn nature highlights in my nature journal. There were a few small common winterberry (Ilex verticillata) bushes along…

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Wooly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella)

Wooly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella)

The distinctive wooly bear caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) has reddish-brown hair in its mid-region and black hair at both its anterior and posterior ends, giving it a banded appearance. If disturbed or threatened, the caterpillar will defend itself either by “playing possum” (rolling up into a ball and remaining motionless) or by quickly crawling away. The one in the photograph below was actually running away so fast it was difficult to capture a clear picture. Unlike some moth and butterfly species,…

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Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Although many shorebirds are only found in the Arctic during the breeding season, with the onset of fall, many will start appearing along the Massachusetts coast. One example of this is the sanderling (Calidris alba). Sanderlings are long-distance migrants, breeding only on the far northern Arctic tundra, while dispersing to almost all sandy beaches of the world during the winter, including Cape Cod. Sanderlings are medium sized sandpipers and have fairly distinctive nonbreeding plumage: white belly and breast with grey…

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Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)

Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)

Many plants, particularly herbaceous ones, are most easily identifiable when in flower. As we move further into the cold season, and flowers (and many leaves) are essentially absent, it seems like herbaceous plant identification should be impossible. While it can be tricky, many plants have such distinctive seed heads or stalks, that they are identifiable well into the winter. While it’s possible to identify many herbaceous species through their winter characteristics alone, I find that now is one of the…

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Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a small deciduous tree, that produces alternate leaves in three different shapes: a mitten shaped leaf with one large lobe and one smaller “thumb” lobe, a simple oval shaped leaf, and a three lobed leaf. All three leaf types can occur on the same branch. During the growing season, sassafras leaves are bright green above and glaucous below. The species name “albidum” is derived from the Latin word “albus”, which means white, referring to this lighter…

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Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a tall deciduous shrub, with multiple arched, spreading main trunks, forming an irregular open crown. The leaves of witch hazel can be identified by their asymmetrical base, and their coarse, rounded teeth. It is native to woodlands, forest margins and stream banks in eastern North America; more often than not, the witch hazel shrubs I find are indeed along stream banks. Although rarely found east of Barnstable, witch hazel is fairly common in the rocky…

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Common Glasswort (Salicornia maritima)

Common Glasswort (Salicornia maritima)

While tall grasses, like Spartina alterniflora, dominate the more frequently flooded lower elevations of a salt marsh, the high marsh areas, which are inundated less frequently, are home to an entirely different and interesting set of plants.  Glassworts, in particular, are exceptionally colorful this time of year. Many people focus on the changing colors of the leaves of various deciduous trees as autumn arrives, but glassworts put on their own colorful fall display. Although almost completely green throughout the spring…

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