Life at Candlewood Lake

This early summer I came to see a group of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) nesting along the shores of Candlewood Lake.

Double-crested cormorant males bring the material to the female and she builds the nest. They mate at the nest once it is build and defend it by snapping and head-waving with their open bill.

Cormorants may lay up to 7 eggs, although 3 or 4 is the north. Mortality is low. They produce a clutch of 1 to 3 fledglings and both parents take care of feeding the babies.

In this pictures the young are not so young anymore. The nest is also visible.

On the botany trail of Mohawk State Forest

This time of the year you will find great opportunities to see rare and handsome plants at Mohawk State Forest.

I visited the area with my Great Gran Children about two weeks ago. We went to the Black Spruce Bog which is located across from the Forest Office.

There is always a lot to admire in such a place. Bogs have a charm of their own. They are acid enough to provide the visitor with special plants, and if you

Russula emetica

 

Amanita muscaria

 

Sundews

 

Pitcher Plan

would happen to fall on one, you would be preserved for years to come, just like on those bogs in Ireland. Do not fall!

I found two special sets of plants. In the area of Carnivorous Plants, here we see The Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) and the Sundew (Drosera spp.), and in the area of Fungi I found the infamous Amanita muscaria and Russula emetica, both poisonous but charming.

Collections from two small Ponds

A Small collection was done at two bodies of water, one a large Pond and the other a semi vernal pool.

The small pond is located in Bristol at the Indian Rock Preserve; the semi vernal pool is located in Woodbury at the Flanders Nature Center.

The Pond yields a total of 11 families, ten insects and one a fresh water crustacean. The vernal pool yields eight families, five insects, to mollusks and one fresh water crustacean.

 

Indian Rock Preserve		Flanders Nature Center
Order	Family	Order	Family
Odonata	Cordulidae	Odonata	Coenagrionidae
	Macromildae	Lepidoptera	Pyralidae
	Lestidae	Tricoptera	Limnephilibidae
	Gomphidae	Megaloptera	Coridulidae
Hemiptera	Nenidae	Molusca	Spheriidae
Tricoptera	Polycetrodidae	Molusca	Physa
	Limnephilidae	Isopoda	Caecidotea
Diptera	Chironomidae
Ephemeroptera	Leptophebidae
Amphipooda	Hyalellidae

 

I found that the Large Pond had more diversity of insects, but the semi vernal pool had more overall diversity of organism.