Catepillars and More

The weather forecast for Sunday was wet and rainy, but everything I was interested in was being held "rain or shine". So I was up before dawn to get to the Assabet Riverfest workshop on photography from your kayak. Then I quickly packed up my kayak, changed, and raced to Great Meadows to join Cherrie Corey's, Sense of Place walk in progress. Today she had a special guest Sam Jaffe who is an expert on caterpillars and butterflies. He is also a spectacular photographer. Check out his on-line gallery or visit his upcoming show and live caterpillar exhibit at the Boston Children's Museum this summer.




Most of the caterpillars I've seen at Great Meadows have been in the beaks of Chickadees and Wood Thrushes. Walking with Sam, it seemed like every few feet he would stop and identify another caterpillar. In fact when I joined the group, they still hadn't left the parking lot/ There was so much to see right there!

Caterpillars can be found many ways. You may see the caterpillar. Since many frequent the bottom side of leaves, you can turn them over and find more. Other ways of identifying that caterpillars are in the vicinity include

• finding curled leaves that they've sealed shut (balloons) for shelter,
• look for partially eaten leaves (if they aren't burnt brown around the edges they are fresh and caterpillars may be nearby)
• notice their droppings "fras" on the leaves below wher they are located.

During the course of the walk we encountered Fine-line Sallows. At the time of the walk they were a mystery, but identification by a botanist that the host plant was Verbena and not False Nettle helped Sam make the identification. This caterpillar is rare for this area.


More mature version of the same caterpillar


Red Admiral Butterfly feeding on False nettle stying put within their leaf shelters on a cold and rainy day


All along the Dike Trail on smaller trail-side elms were Question Mark caterpillars. They take their name from the shape they form.


From left to right fifth, fourth and second instar Question Marks


Close-up of fifth instar


This year is a banner year for Question marks



We also saw a Pearly Woodnymph resting on some foliage. It's protective defense is that it resembles bird splat while resting on the plant.






Here a Double-toothed Prominent has eaten the tip off the elm leaf. It's back develops the saw toothed shape of the elm which it eats. The zig-zagged shape makes it more difficult for predators to realize that something is amiss.



Sam also spotted this Grasshopper nymph nestled down in the leaves of the plant.




It was hard to not let the mind wander while walking. Several things caught my photographic eye. The included:


Water drops on Deer Tongue Grass


Spectacular purple and yellow of False Indigo


Meadowsweet


Red Milkweed Beetle


On the way back to the parking lot Cherrie gave us a lesson on Cattail Reeds. They actually have a male and female parts. In the photos that follow the male portion is on top, just emerging from a leafy sheath. After is pollinates the female portion it shrivels up to the small narrow spiky on the top of the reed. The female portion is the large brown portion of the reed you see. As the year progresses it releases its seeds to the environment.






I was the last one to return to the parking lot because while we were learning about the cattails I spotted this leaf. I loved the way the drops of water circle the edges. This is about the best I could do without my tripod.

Building Inventory Before The Storm

I had been planning to meet a couple friends at Great Meadows this afternoon for a bit of photography. However, the forecast for thunder storms combined with a long commute dampened their desire to come and get rained out.

So I wandered to Great Meadows by myself with the objective to check on the Black-Capped Chickadees. Some of my first winter blog posts also contained Chickadees. My how the colors and background have changed. I hoped to obtain a prize winning camera club competition image. One challenge is like all parents of newborns the parents look quite disheveled. I got close, but I can hear the judge's critiques now. I certainly increased my inventory of Chickadee photos. Which one is your favorite?











The sky was starting to grow ominous. The other two cars in the parking lot decided to leave. The rumbles in the distance didn't seem to bother the animals. Several of the bunnies were out feeding at the base of the tower. Do you think this Mallard was looking for the Duck Trail? He decided to just sit down and ride out the storm in the parking lot.









As the storm moved in, I tried to get a photo of lightning in the distance. Unfortunately, most of the bolts were behind the trees on the right. I missed the few that were straight ahead. Soon the storm was almost upon me. I rethought the wisdom of taking photographs out an open car window at the base of a tall metal tower. Moments later the rain was pouring down...the Mallard just sat down and watched it all go by.

Changing Seasons

The animals are telling us it is still spring time, but the weather is starting to feel like summer. They had been up for a couple hours when I arrived shortly after seven this morning.

It is getting more difficult to see things on the Dike Trail. The Cat Tail reeds are getting taller. Soon I will only be able to photograph the impoundments through a few select openings. The Marsh Wrens that were displaying from the tops of reeds are now generally hid deep within the reeds. This one found one of the few cat tails from last year that was tall enough for an encore performance.






Just past the boat landing along the upper impoundment trail a snapping turtle was laying her eggs. She was busy digging and laying eggs for at least an hour. I don't know if I am projecting human emotions onto the turtle. At one point it looked like she actually shed a tear while laying eggs. Then again being aquatic maybe she was only keeping her eyes moist.








I ran into Alan Bragg who introduced me to a few new birds. They were


Common Yellowthroat


A Brown Creeper - which behaves similar to a nuthatch, except it starts at the bottom of the tree and works its way up



Along the way various things caught my eye. Sometimes I was attracted by their color, the lighting, their shape, or because I didn't know what I was looking at.


Smootish Hawkweed






On the way back to the parking lot, he showed me where a Wood Thrush was nesting. I hate to admit I walked under this nest only two days before and didn't notice a thing. The parents were busy gathering food to feed their young. Click on the last image to see the full size version. You can just see the young chick eating. It must be quite new because you don't see many feathers.