Cacapon State Park and surrounding hills

Last weekend was just one of those times that makes my soul jump with joy, the air was clear, a tiny bit crisp like we get in early spring and it just felt great to be outside without a inch and a half layer of additional clothing. I can see why spring is the time for mating when you finally have freedom of movement.

Up at, what I have named the Newt pond, I check for spotted salamanders and found l clumps of eggs wrapped around submerged twigs like insulation on the pipes in my house and the sperm pack ready to be picked up by females. The little blobs sit atop submerged leaves like little white gelatinous pyramids. Clearly there is extra sperm ready waiting.

At the end of the pond there were large masses of wood frog eggs finding safety in numbers. It is a strategy that hopes to keep the eggs moist. There was one clump on the edge and from experience I knew it would dry out before they had a chance to hatch so I picked it up and realized that it was covered with a layer of ice. Turning it over I had a good look at the individual eggs.

I thought I would look under some of the bark laying on the ground to see if I could find a spotted salamander hanging out before it descends deeper into the earth. They are a part of a group called mole salamanders, a name well deserved. I didn't see a salamander but I did find a centipede curled up. This one is from the order Geophilomorpha, common in rotting logs and the soil. It is very long and at first I thought it was two curled up. Generally they give me the willies but this one didn't move so I had the self composure to take this photo.

There were lots of clumps of this small white cushion moss in the Leucobryum family. The outer layers of the cells are dead and no chlorophyll which creates the white look. My hand is often pulled toward them to caress or pat them on the head.

Since I was so close to Cacapon State Park I decided to drive on over to visit the naturalist there and see what was new.  At the upper lake I found a couple of Canada geese and several red spotted newts. 

The newts were just hanging out but from the enlarged hind legs I could tell they were getting ready to mate.

I love their ability to wiggle through the water or walk on the bottom.

On the narrow trail that skirts the lake I almost stepped on the rather large puff ball.

Dicranum fulvum (Boulder Fork-moss)

I have never seen as much Candelaria concolor (candle flame) lichen as I found covering this branch. I had read that it was pretty common in West Virginia and like anything else the more you learn about it the more you see.

Candelaria concolor (candle flame lichen)

Panther WMA Brooks Bird Club Sortie

Brooks Bird Club of WV has a sortie each year for a week round about Memorial Day.  This year they went to Panther Wildlife Management Area in McDowell County.  This was an opportunity I jumped at because it is down in coal-county and it seemed best to go with a group who knew where to stay and where to visit.  The facilities were very nice at the park as you can see below. We stayed in the group camp building where we ate and made plans for each day.

One the side of the building I found these old Dobson fly egg cases.  They reminded me of the shell fossils I have found in the eastern panhandle. 

We spent mornings on 10 mile bird runs, afternoons and evening on breeding block bird surveys. The Brooks Bird Club is in the middle of a 5 year survey to revised the breeding bird atlas of WV. We also recorded reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and bees that we saw. Another large part of the observation was spent on plants in an attempt to record at least everything we saw blooming. It was like a mini bio blitz. Here are the highlights for me, not in any particular order.

There was a stream along all of the roads with steep mountains in each side and with a little imagination I could believe that if I stood in the stream with my arms outstretched I would be able to touch each side. At one location there was room for only a one lane road yet the traffic went both ways. Below are views of one of the mosses that I found on the dripping outcrops.

Apple moss  (Bartramia pomiformis)

And liverwort

One evening back at the camp I found this Gray Petaltail dragonfly resting on the side of the tree. They are very docile and not easily frightened so I was able to get very close for the photo. 

A new butterfly for me was Northern Cloudywing – Thorybes pylades. This one I had to catch and then release after identification.

One evening went down the road and briefly stopped at an area where a beaver had made a nice pond. You can see the view of the dam from the road. It was about 4-5 feet high and made a nice place to look for dragonflies. 

A Tulip Tree Silk Moth flew in and I took this photo. It is a little blurry because it just wasn’t used to posing. Later another camper interested in insects and I returned to look for bees and dragonflies.

Fire Pink (Silene virginica) isin the Caryophilacea commonly called the pink family.  There are two recognized varieties of fire pink. Most plants of this species are classified as Silene virginica virginica var. virginica, however and endemic subspecies occuers in West Virginia called Silene virginica var. roobusta and I believe that is what I have here.

On the way back we found this Snapping Turtle on the side of the road.

The leaves were out and the undergrowth was abundant so actually seeing birds was difficult. Most were just heard and I learned a new way to describe the call of a Swanson’s Warbler: “Sweet, sweet, SISTERSVILLE”.  I will be sure to remember it because I grew up near Sistersville, WV.  They seemed to prefer the mountain laurels for hiding

.

Tiger Swallowtails were every where and at time I felt like I was about to trip over them.

The ten mile trips to identify birds began early each morning and for me they were a good way to see the country side before it woke up.  We stopped every half mile for a total of 20 stops and listened for 2 minutes.

One trip led us to a community that was raising roosters.  You can imagine what the sound was like with each cock sitting atop its home crowing with all its might getting ready for the fight that night.  Needless to say we didn’t stop in front of those houses to listen for birds, dogs were on guard and we just moved along, thank you.

Someone gave us the idea to drive up to the fire tower on the abandoned road. Of course we birded and botanized our way up from rut to rut.  We had only two trucks so some up had to ride in the back.

The American Toad (Bufo americanus) is a common species in this area. One of the fun things to see an American Toad do is eat. It closes its eyes when it swallows and will readily take a mean worm from your hand it you hold still and the worm wiggles.

 It was wonderful trip and I look forward to going on the sortie next year.


Be sure to visit Outdoor Wednesdays for other Outdoor adventures.

Day 2: Blackwater Falls Wildflower Pilgrimage 2011

Day two was just a much fun as the first day. Again we headed up into the mountains, this time to Bickle Knob. Our first stop proved fruitful with the following finds: Clintonia umbellulata, Panax tribolius (Dwarf Ginsing), Streptopus amplexifolius (White Mandarine), Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower) and many more.

 Streptopus amplexifolius (White Mandarin)

Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower)

Trillium undulatum (Painted Trillium)

And then onto Otter Creek.

On the trail we found this birds nest. Inside is lined with deer hair. I wondered if the hair came from a live or a dead deer, there are probably plenty in the area. We suspected that it came from a cavity we found on the side of the hill and replaced it. It probably won’t be used this season but one never knows. Maybe a mouse will find it has all the comforts of home.

I know this was a flower walk but that is one of the good things about naturalist, they stop for everything. This Blister Beetle caught our attention. It is in the family Meloidae and I believe it is a Meloe impressus. You can observe its dark violet color. They are called blister beetles because of their defense mechanism of secreting a blistering agent called cantharidin, a poisonous chemical that will cause the skin to blister. When we first found them there were three and two were getting on top of this one. Mating was suspected but this one was having none of it and ran away leaving the other two confused. The adults feed on pollen. I read that in May to June the female digs into the soil about 1 inch deep where it places about 2,000-10,000 eggs.

Back to the cars and on up to Bickle Knob, we stopped to see the highlights of this trip. First the Stair Step Moss (Hylocomium splendens), a perennial clonal moss. Each year a new feathery frond starts and produces the stepping effect you see below. This makes it possible to estimate the age of the moss by just counting the steps. It is the only moss with this stair step arrangement.

Stair Step Moss (Hylocomium splendens)

Stair Step Moss (Hylocomium splendens)

The next highlight was another moss called Knight’s Plume Moss (Ptilium cristacastrensis). Ptilium means “plume-like” and crista-castrensis from the Latin is crista, “plume”, and castrensis, “military”, referring to the similarity between the moss and the plume on a knight’s helmet.

Knight’s Plume Moss (Ptilium cristacastrensis)

Knight’s Plume Moss (Ptilium cristacastrensis)

At Bickle Knob we found a blooming Halberd-Leaved Violet (Viola hastate). As you can see the leave is long and triangular in shape an apparently reminder early botanist of the halberds weapon in use during the 14th and 15th centuries. The halberd looks like a long pole with a pointed ax on the side.

Halberd-Leaved Violet (Viola hastate)

Bickle Knob is the home to one of the few remaining observation towers in the Monongahela National Forest. I climbed to the top were I was 4,000 feet in elevation and had a great panoramic view of the mountains.

Driving back down the mountain we stopped to see a large stand of Wild Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis). The wild columbine in my area are not as lush and frequent as these.

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis)

Another of my favorites was the Wood-betony also called lousewort.  Both the red and the yellow form were on the bank beside the road.

Pedicularis canadensis (Wood-betony)

Pedicularis canadensis (Wood-betony)

This was just a small sample of what we found along the road. I would have to write about 5 more blogs to show everything but these were the highlights for me that day.

Stop by Outdoor Wednesday to see how others spent their time outside this week.

Moss at Cathedral State Park and the surrounding area

At last here are the photos of the moss from the "moss walk" at Cathedral State Park in West Virginia.  As I mentioned before I was on two walks with Sue Studler so this is the best photos from both trips. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I hope my photos do her justice because her knowledge of bryophytes is just incredible.

Moss are tiny little plants that are often over looked but once you focus in on them you can see them everywhere.  At first I was just enjoying finding them and looking at the diversity. Now I am a little more interested in their names and learning about their life history. Wikipedia said there are 12,000 species world wide and Annotated Checklist of the Hornworts, Liverworts, and Mosses of West Virginia by Studler, Stephenson and Harmon lists 270 species found in my state so far.

Moss grows on dead trees, live trees, rocks, soil, buildings, concrete, well just about anywhere. Above and below is a little gem called Hypnun imponens (Flat Plait-moss). The leaves reminded me of Native American bead work especially when it sparkled in the sunlight. You can click on all of the photos for  closer views.

Hypnun imponens (Flat Plait-moss).

Other than the fact that they are wonderful to look at moss is also important to the ecology. In a cool forest like Cathedral the Hypnum imponens provides a habitat that is favorable to the establishment of conifer seedlings, such as hemlock and yellow birch.

Hypnun imponens (Flat Plait-moss).

Moss reproduce by means of spores and require water for the whip-like tails of the sperm cell to swim to the female organs for fertilization. It is a fascinating process and I encourage you to look it up and learn more. It is way too complicated to explain in detail on a blog like mine.

Below is a moss that grows on rocks and is called Dicranum fulvum (Boulder Fork-moss)

Close up of Dicranum fulvum (Boulder Fork-moss)

The name refers to the forked peristome teeth. You can read an explanation of peristome on my previous post called Discovering Moss.

Dicranum montanum (Mountain Fork Moss)

This one is Dicranum montanum (Mountain Fork Moss) growing on the base of a tree. The Dicranum family have that windswept curly hair look. The tiny microscopic males are very hard to find among the larger females of this group. Robin Kimmerer in her wonderful book "Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses" says, "When a fertilized female produces spores, those spores are without gender. -- If a spore drifts to a new log that is unoccupied, it will germinate and grow up to be a new full-sized female. But should that spore fall onto a patch of Dicranum of the same species, it will sift down among the leaves of the existing females and become trapped there, where the female will control its fate. The female emits a flow of hormones which cause that undecided spore to develop into a dwarf male, a captive mate that will become the father of the next generation in the patriarchy."  There is certainly more going on in the moss world than meets the eye.

Below is another Dricanum called Dicranum scoparium (Broom fork moss) and is probably familiar to many of you because it's large size. It was one of the first ones that I learned to identify.

Dicranum scoparium (Broom fork moss)

Close up view of an individual Dicranum scoparium (Broom fork moss)

This next one I found interesting because it grows in the water but it lacks the beauty of the land loving mosses. Fontinalis novae-angliae (New England Water Moss) name refers to springs or "fountains."

Fontinalis novae-angliae (New England Water Moss)

The mats of Fontinalis novae-angliae are an important habitat for stream invertebrates and even a protective site for fish eggs. So even though it looks disgusting it is doing an important job in our streams.

Neckera pennata (Feathery Neckera)

This one seems to spiral around the tree and I believe Sue said that is only grows in old growth forests.

Neckera pennata (Feathery Neckera)

Rhodobryum ontariense (Ontario Rose Moss)

The generic name Rhodobryum translates into the common name, Rose Moss, and refers to the flower-like arrangement of the leaves and the red tinges.

Well, that was a pretty good sampling of the mosses I saw that weekend. I will save the others for another time because they were all so interesting. We saw Sphagnum fimbriatum (Ragged Hair peat moss), Sphagnum palustre (Common Spoon peatmoss),  Thuidium delicatulum (Delicate Fern Moss), Ulota Crispa (Cushion Moss),  Bartramia pomiformis (Apple Moss), and Leucobryum (White Cushion Moss).

This was a close up view of the outdoors, for the longer view please check out Outdoor Wedensdays.