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Month: November 2018

Baldfaced Hornet Nest (Dolichovespula maculata)

Baldfaced Hornet Nest (Dolichovespula maculata)

Normally I stay as far away from large hornets’ nests as I can. But this large weather-worn nest that I encountered on Saturday was uninhabited, which allowed me to examine it more closely than I could have during the summer when it would’ve been occupied by as many as 300 stinging residents. Overall, this nest was roughly basketball sized, and consisted of layers of paper-mache textured sheets surrounding an inner network of hexagonal cells. Although the nest appears grey at…

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Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile)

Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile)

Most of what we call “seaweeds” are actually marine algae, not plants. Algae differ from marine vascular plants, such as eelgrass, in that they are more primitive and lack specialized structures such as seeds and flowers, although most do photosynthesize. Seaweeds are often categorized by color: red, brown or green. Codium fragile is a green marine algae that is easily identified by its thick dark green, rope-like, spongey branching form. These branches are soft with a velvety texture. Codium has…

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Atlantic Rock Crab (Cancer irrotatus)

Atlantic Rock Crab (Cancer irrotatus)

Although the beach season is over for many folks, I feel exactly the opposite. I tend to avoid the crowds in the summer, and explore beaches during the colder weather months when they’re mostly empty. The parking is free, the birding is great, and beachcombing is absolutely a year-round activity. On a recent walk along Scusset Beach in Sandwich, I came across many crab shells washed up on the beach, the most numerous of which were the shells of the…

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Animal tracks: Raccoon

Animal tracks: Raccoon

Thoughts of salt marsh wildlife typically evoke images of great blue herons, ospreys, hermit crabs and various species of fish. Seldom due people consider the mammals that inhabit a salt marsh, particularly during low tide when the exposed marsh platform and mud flats provide considerable opportunities for foraging, but many mammals do regularly utilize these habitats for foraging, including raccoons. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are found everywhere in Massachusetts, except on Nantucket. Although we’re all familiar with raccoons’ reputation as masked…

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