November 16th. Clean up on aisle 207! An early afternoon walk east from Route 207.

 

Two large dead trees down and broken on the trail oughly 100 feet from the parking area.

 

A male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) far out on the pond.

 

He and his mate were the only waterfowl I saw.

 

 

 

Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus).

 

With the trail generally pretty bleak, I went looking for green.

 

I found it in many species of ferns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under loose bark, a parasitic Ichneumon wasp (Family Ichneumonidae) ready to overwinter.

 

The rule I learned as an undergrad was to always replace loose bark that was covering invertebrates.

 

A Slug sheltering under bark too.

 

Looks like a Jelly Fungus (Order Tremellales).

 

I was surprised to see these red leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

Round-leaved Pyrola (Pyrola rotundifolia) is evergreen.

 

More green in various mosses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foliose Lichen mixed in with moss on an old railroad tie.

 

Foliose Lichen on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

I turned back west after reaching the power lines.

 

For most of the year the little pond there was dry.

 

Across the trail, a lot of clearning has been done but not cleaned up.

 

November 17th. Crustose Lichen (Lecanora sp.?) on a rotted fallen branch.

 

Lousy low light, backlit photo of a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).

 

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) hacking into a long-dead branch.

 

Near the top of the photo, you can see an old horizontal bark beetle tunnel.

 

A much longer, broader tunnel between the bird's foot and tail. In both cases, the beetles were long gone and the bird is probing deeper.

 

Nice to see the water level high enough at the marsh for some to flow out of the south side.

 

November 19th. Twentyone degrees and very frosty.

 

Most of the marsh with a thin coat of ice. Water level a healthy high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An ice-free area.

 

A male Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus).

 

Lots of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) flocking. Two in this photo.

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm, what's this?

 

 

 

Ah, American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis).

 

More Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis).

 

 

 

Hawk at the Route 85 trailhead.