Stream Icicles
While there has been a lack of snow so far this winter, there has been no shortage of icicles. Because of the warm temperatures, streams that are normally frozen are still open, allowing icicles of all sizes and shapes to form along their banks.
White-footed and Deer Mouse Tracks
It may be possible to tell the difference between white-footed and deer mouse tracks, but I certainly can’t. The only clue that sometimes works is to note the habitat in which you see the tracks– they are somewhat more likely to be those of a deer mouse if they are in a coniferous forest, but not always! White-footed and deer mice often travel on top of the snow. They are bounders, leaving tracks that resemble those of a miniature rabbit, with the larger back feet landing in front of the smaller front feet. There is often a tail mark, but not always, as they can and do hold their tails vertically at times.
Snow Worm & Snow Flea
With two new inches of fresh snow on the ground, my hopes were high for discovering some tracks this morning, but something even more unusual met my eyes – worms crawling on top of the snow! Not our familiar earthworms, but skinny and relatively short worms ( one to two inches in length when not moving). There are such things as “ice worms,” but they are found only on glaciers. Our “snow worms” are in the class Oligochaetes, and in the family of Enchytraeidae, just like earthworms, so are members of Annelida, or segmented worms, but that’s about as far as I can go with their identification. According to worm specialist Professor Crawford at the University of Wasington, members of Oligochaetes can’t be identified based on appearance alone. Whatever species they are, if our snow worms are like ice worms, they live off of snow algae and are most active at night. These worms are studied by scientists interested in seeing if their proteins exhibit the right characteristics to be of use in transplant surgeries where keeping an organ cold without freezing is key. I welcome any additional information on these creatures that anyone chooses to post! (Snow flea was included in photo for size reference.)
Christmas fern
Christmas fern (Polystichum achrostichoides), a native, perennial fern, is very common throughout the woods of the Northeast. The association with Christmas is an old one, for the evergreen fronds were once harvested by the ton, baled into bundles and sold to florists for wreath making. One easy way to confirm the identification of this fern is to examine an individual pinna (leaflet). If you use your imagination, each pinna looks like a Christmas stocking! This year’s fronds will die next spring as the new fiddleheads unfurl, revealing the coming year’s fronds.
Mud Dauber Wasp Nest
There are many species of mud dauber wasps in New England that use mud to make cells for their eggs, developing larvae and pupae. One of them is Pison koreense, a small, black wasp with a wingspread of less than half an inch. This particular wasp is native to Korea, China and Japan, and was accidentally introduced in the United States after World War II. Like other mud daubers, this wasp constructs one cell at a time with her mandibles; there can be anywhere from 1 to 12 mud cells (each roughly ¼” long) in a nest, which is often located in a crevice or behind bark. She then hunts for spiders, stinging and paralyzing them before carrying them back to the cell, into which she stuffs them. After collecting 20 – 30 spiders, she lays a tiny white egg on the last (and often largest) spider to be placed in the cell. She then flies off and collects mud with which she seals the cell. The egg hatches, the wasp larva consumes the live spiders and then pupates, spending the winter inside a cocoon inside the mud cell. In the spring the adult wasp emerges from the cocoon and chews her way out of the cell, leaving a circular exit hole.
Beech Bark Disease
Anyone familiar with the beautiful, smooth, gray bark of American beech is well aware that the forest landscape is changing, in part due to the disease that is affecting American beeches. Beech bark disease is caused by not one, but two, agents – an insect and a fungus. The bark of an American beech is initially attacked and altered by the soft-bodied scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, after which it is invaded and killed by fungi, usually Nectria coccinea var. faginata or N. gallegina. This scale insect was accidentally introduced to Nova Scotia around 1890 and since then has spread far and wide, affecting large American beech trees (over 8 inches) the most. Pale yellow eggs are laid by the yellow female scale insects (there are no males – they reproduce through parthenogenesis) on the bark of beech trees in mid-summer and hatch in the late summer or fall. Larvae begin to feed on the bark until winter when they transform into a stage that has no legs and is covered with wool-like wax. The white wax secreted by beech scale insects is the first sign of the disease – heavy infestations of beech scale can cover tree trunks with white wax. Serious damage results only after the invasion of the bark by either one of the fungi mentioned, presumably through injuries made by scale feeding activity.
Arthur C. Bent & the Red-breasted Nuthatch
In 1910, at the request of the Smithsonian Institution, Arthur C. Bent, an ornithologist, began work on a series of National Museum Bulletins which eventually were published as 21 volumes of “Life Histories of North American Birds.” In these volumes Bent not only wrote his own interesting commentary, but also collected firsthand information from over 800 bird observers and included many of their observations, as well. For decades these works were unsurpassed and remained the most comprehensive collection of field observations of North American birds available. The following is his introduction to the Red-breasted Nuthatch. “The red-breasted nuthatch is a happy, jolly little bird, surprisingly quick and agile in his motions. He has the habit of progressing over the bark of trees like his larger relative, the whitebreast, but his tempo is much more rapid, and he extends his journeys more frequently to the smaller branches. Here he winds about the little twigs out to the end, among the pine needles, moving very fast–up, down, and around–changing his direction quickly and easily, seeming always in a hurry to scramble over the branches. He is more sociable, too, than the larger bird, and when a little company is feeding together they keep up a cheery chatter among themselves.”
Staghorn Sumac Seed Heads and Their Inhabitants
If you pull apart a red, fuzzy seed head of Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) this time of year, you will find, in addition to a multitude of seeds, a profusion of scat in the shape of miniscule round, grey balls. If you’re lucky, you’ll find the larval insect that produced this scat. Chances are, according to Charley Eisman, author of Tracks and Sign of Insects, that many of the resident insects are in the Gelechioidea family of moths. The larvae of these moths are consumers of Staghorn Sumac seeds, and judging from the amount of scat usually present, they spend a considerable amount of time inhabiting the seed heads. It’s likely that Black-capped Chickadees and other birds you see gleaning sumac fruit are actually there for the larvae as much as the seeds.
Hophornbeam Fruit
The fruits of the Hophornbeam tree (Ostrya virginiana), also known as Ironwood for its strong,hard wood, are drooping clusters of papery, bladder-like sacs each containing a nutlet. The “hop” portion of its name refers to the resemblance of its fruits to those of true hops that are used in the production of beer. Hornbeam refers to a related European tree whose wood was used to yoke oxen; therefore, its American counterpart wood was also used as a “beam” with which to yoke “horned” beasts of burden.
Porcupine Sign
Two inches of snow is enough for even the casual observer to be able to find signs of wildlife in the forest. This hollow tree occasionally serves as a den for a female porcupine in which she rests during the day before heading out at night to feed on nearby hemlock leaves and buds. Porcupines make no effort to leave their den when they urinate or defecate, so eventually it builds up on the floor of the den and spills out onto the ground. You can see porcupine scat sprinkled over the snow (having fallen from the den entrance above) and if you look closely you’ll see several icicles near the lighter patch of wood on the tree trunk. One whiff confirmed that they were none other than frozen porcupine urine.
Common Gartersnake Pigments
12-8-10 Common Gartersnake
The Common Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is New England’s most common and widespread snake. It’s not unusual to find one that has been run over on the road, but rarely have I found a carcass of one in the woods, especially this late in the year. Gartersnakes usually are hibernating (often in groups) in rock crevices, rotting logs or holes dug by mammals by October or so. The warmer-than-usual fall certainly allowed for extended basking in the sun and the ability to find active earthworms later in the season. If you look closely you may see that this gartersnake has a blue tinge where it’s normally a greenish color. Yellow and blue pigments in a snake’s skin fuse to produce the green color in living snakes. After death, the yellow pigment breaks down very quickly, whereas the blue pigment is more stable and remains much longer. Gartersnakes that have been dead for a while can have bright blue dorsal and lateral stripes.
Important Message from the Publisher of NATURALLY CURIOUS
Just a reminder!
You can still order NATURALLY CURIOUS and get it in time for Christmas! We are happy to announce that NATURALLY CURIOUS is in stock at the Trafalgar Square Books warehouse, and you can order your copy through our TSB online bookstore at www.TrafalgarBooks.com. Orders placed by midnight EST on December 18th will receive FREE SHIPPING in the US and WILL arrive in time for Christmas. PLUS get 15% off your order by entering the coupon code SAVE15 at checkout.
You Can Still Order the Award-Winning NATURALLY CURIOUS and Get It in Time for Christmas!
An Important Message from the Publisher of NATURALLY CURIOUS
We are happy to announce today that NATURALLY CURIOUS is still in stock at Trafalgar Square Books, and you can get FREE SHIPPING and have it arrive in the US in time for Christmas if you place your order at www.TrafalgarBooks.com before midnight EST on December 18th. In addition, we are offering 15% off online orders through the holidays—just enter the coupon code SAVE15 at checkout.
We at Trafalgar Square Books are so proud of Mary and her wonderful book NATURALLY CURIOUS! The National Outdoor Book Award for best nature guidebook is a glorious accolade for a naturalist and author whose passion for the outdoors has now inspired thousands.
We sincerely hope that Mary’s book encourages more people to stomp through the snow and mud, wade through tall grasses, squint into the sun, get their hands dirty and their feet wet, and LOOK AROUND, not only when they are on a hike or walking in the woods, but when they are in their yard or walking to the mailbox. There is so much in life to see and appreciate—one only has to know it is there to be amazed.
Happy Holidays from All of Us at Trafalgar Square Books
Wintergreen
Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), also known as Checkerberry and Eastern Teaberry, is an aromatic, evergreen plant that creeps along the ground. Its single, white flowers develop into bright red berries which deer and grouse consume with relish. Not surprisingly, these berries taste like oil of wintergreen. The active ingredient in this oil is synthesized and used as a flavoring in chewing gum, toothpaste, breath fresheners, candy, and medicines, including Pepto Bismol. This same ingredient, methyl salicate, is related to aspirin, which explains why Native Americans chewed and made a tea from the leaves and berries of winterberry to alleviate pain.
Naturally Curious Review in Boston Globe
If you have access to the Sunday, December 4th Boston Globe, look for a review of Naturally Curious (loon and fox photos accompany it)! You can find it at:http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2011/12/04/remembering-nobel-laureate-tomas-transtromer-time-provincetown/UHOY3Ykbc1hzf7YyYktPDK/story.html
Larvae-seeking Downy Woodpeckers
12-3-11 Larvae-seeking Downy Woodpeckers
When cooler days arrive and adult insects become relatively scarce, insect-eating birds are very clever at gleaning the twigs, trunks and buds of trees and shrubs for overwintering eggs, larvae and pupae. Certain galls (abnormal plant growths that house and provide food for a variety of insects) are sought by specific birds. Downy woodpeckers seek the larvae of the Goldenrod Gall Fly (Eurosta solidaginis), which overwinter inside Goldenrod Ball Galls (formed on Canada Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis) before emerging as adults in the spring. A tiny1/4” to 3/8”-wide hole (and an empty gall) is evidence that a downy woodpecker had itself a meal!
Naturally Curious with Mary Holland 
What Other Naturally Curious People Are Saying