Not mine but a good catch.
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Happy Winter Solstice! 🌇🌃
Photos of Animals, Fish, Birds & Bugs on a Canoe Trip
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
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Left to right - Snowy Egret, immature Little Blue Heron, adult Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, immature Little Blue Heron. In the Menunkatusuck, Clinton CT. October 1
Brook trout caught on a caddis imitation as far as I could paddle my canoe up Hay Brook, a tributary of Grand Lake Matagamon in Baxter State Park, Maine. I caught it on September 30, 2023, the last day of Maine's north zone open water fishing season.
This brook trout was also caught on a caddis imitation on September 27, 2023, in Kidney Pond in Baxter State Park, Maine.
Red Throated Loon in non-mating colors. Wheeler Marsh, Housatonic River, CT. Nov 16, 2023
I saw a mature Little Blue Heron up in Vermont this summer. It was hunting along the channel between Lake St. Catherine and Little Pond (Lake). I read that they show up in Vermont now and then but that's the first time I'd ever seen one up here.
I think this dragonfly was trying to align with Grid North on my map, not magnetic, almost got it right.
Oooh, tell us more!
A musk x
Editing my photo library on a dreary, rainy day and I came across this fine fellow. Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans melanoma) seen here among the floating, boggy bits of Bog Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area, ADKs.
There is a small universe of flora on these floating bog islands. Fascinating. The following description is from natural_commun.htm.
The red tinted plant stalks are Roundleaf Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), an interesting insectivora plant. adirondack-wildflowers-roundleaf-sundew-drosera-rotundifolia.html
In the process of withdrawing precious nutrients, the moss adds to the acidity of the water, making it difficult for decomposer organisms to function.
Growth, decay and nutrient-cycling are further inhibited as the soggy mat thickens and blocks out light and oxygen. Leatherleaf, bog laurel, cranberry, Labrador tea, and a few other bog species grow on the floating sphagnum mat, but remain largely undecayed. Slowly, their remains fill the pond, forming an organic deposit called peat. Made up of an accumulation of partially decomposed plant parts, peat is water-saturated year round, with a low oxygen level. This lack of oxygen and high acidity inhibits the bacteria necessary for plant and animal decay. As a result, nutrients that normally recycle from decaying material are locked up in undecayed plant remains and are unavailable to the next generation of life. Plant growth is virtually limited to the bog surface.
Rain water in the trap drowns the unfortunate intruder, and bacteria and enzymes enhance the digestion process. Sundews capture prey with sticky jewel-like tentacles that attract and then curl around their victims.
A forest of spruce and fir often forms in the shallows of old bogs, where the peaty soil is dry and stable enough to support trees. This is a shaky, unstable environment, with wind and heavy snow often overturning trees before they can reach their full size. But growing conditions slowly improve as peat accumulates, the bog fills and surface plants draw moisture from its depths.
Gradually, shrubs creep onto the mat and tamarack and black spruce become established, often growing in clumps or islands.
There is a small universe of flora on these floating bog islands. Fascinating. The following description is from natural_commun.htm.
The red tinted plant stalks are Roundleaf Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), an interesting insectivora plant. adirondack-wildflowers-roundleaf-sundew-drosera-rotundifolia.html
Bogs
Bogs resemble other types of wetlands, but they are more isolated from the flow of both surface water and groundwater and nutrients that links all other wetland communities. Bogs depend on rain for most of their water supply and on windblown particles for the bulk of essential mineral nutrients, like calcium and phosphorus. Highly acidic, with most of their nutrients locked up in decayed plant materials, bogs are difficult environments for plants and animals. Sphagnum moss, which is able to thrive under these conditions, forms a living mat across the open water of a bog pond.In the process of withdrawing precious nutrients, the moss adds to the acidity of the water, making it difficult for decomposer organisms to function.
Growth, decay and nutrient-cycling are further inhibited as the soggy mat thickens and blocks out light and oxygen. Leatherleaf, bog laurel, cranberry, Labrador tea, and a few other bog species grow on the floating sphagnum mat, but remain largely undecayed. Slowly, their remains fill the pond, forming an organic deposit called peat. Made up of an accumulation of partially decomposed plant parts, peat is water-saturated year round, with a low oxygen level. This lack of oxygen and high acidity inhibits the bacteria necessary for plant and animal decay. As a result, nutrients that normally recycle from decaying material are locked up in undecayed plant remains and are unavailable to the next generation of life. Plant growth is virtually limited to the bog surface.
Unique Bog Species
Bogs are nutrient "deserts," and the nutrient that many plants have the most trouble obtaining is nitrogen. Pitcher plants and sundews have solved this problem by developing an adaptation that provides a supplemental nutrient source from captured insects. The pitcher plant has a special funnel leaf that attracts and traps insects. Inside the funnel, hundreds of downward-pointing hairs make climbing out difficult, encouraging descent into the lower pitcher.Rain water in the trap drowns the unfortunate intruder, and bacteria and enzymes enhance the digestion process. Sundews capture prey with sticky jewel-like tentacles that attract and then curl around their victims.
A forest of spruce and fir often forms in the shallows of old bogs, where the peaty soil is dry and stable enough to support trees. This is a shaky, unstable environment, with wind and heavy snow often overturning trees before they can reach their full size. But growing conditions slowly improve as peat accumulates, the bog fills and surface plants draw moisture from its depths.
Gradually, shrubs creep onto the mat and tamarack and black spruce become established, often growing in clumps or islands.
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Did you find those swans in your new canoe?
Working in SE Alaska on the Mainland we saw bears every day. Black bears were common and the coastal salmon eating brown bears. Bald eagles were the most common bird. We saw lots of herds of mountain goats from the helicopter and herded salmon with the prop wash on the chopper. But my hands were full most of the time and I have few photos. I ran into a wolverine above treeline. Some of the black bears followed us around. At first it was very unnerving, but then it started to feel normal. Learn the ways of wildlife.
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Great Blue Herons nesting on the Conemaugh river
Sometimes referred to as the "Blech" we happened across this fine example of the Purple-Fingered Fur Frog in the sunny shallows of a crystal clear lake as it was blissfully photosynthesizing; adding layers and length to it's fuzzy pelt.
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