Barry, Thank you for this evocative description. I feel like some of these "day reports" should be printed in some local paper or newsletter. People appreciate and protect when they know how special a place is. Maybe local people already do, but even then, it would be nice for people to read. I know it's a hassle to get things in print anywhere, I just wish your community could read this as well as us. (Maybe they do if you post on another group too. Hope so.)
Jenny On May 23, 11:54 pm, Barry Caselli <[email protected]> wrote: > ENTS, > Today I went up in Wharton State Forest to eat my lunch and then to search > out wetlands plants, especially carnivorous plants, to photograph with the > digital camera. First I went to the ghost town of Harrisville and saw some > sundews there. I'm not sure if they were round-leaf or spatulate-leaf > sundews. The Harrisville pond had thousands of Swollen Bladderwort on it, in > full bloom. That was cool. Then I went up to the ghost town of Martha > Furnace. Near there, there is a bog along the Wading River. I checked that > out and photographed tons of either spatulate-leaf or round-leaf sundews and > also thread-leaf sundews. There are dozens or perhaps hundreds of pitcher > plants there, many of them in full bloom. But I estimate that there are tens > of thousands of sundews, probably of all three species. After spending time > in that bog and along the river bank I went into Martha Furnace and checked > out all the Catalpa trees there, which I've discussed here before. I > wanted to see if all the ones I thought were alive actually were. They are! > One was barely hanging on to life, while all the other half-dead-looking > Catalpas that I thought were alive last winter definitely are. Catalpas seem > to be a really tenacious tree. They are amazing, living with the roots half > out of the ground, trunks hollow or broken in half, etc. > > After I was done there I drove to the ghost town site of Calico, arguably the > most mysterious and least known ghost town in the Pine Barrens. I wanted to > see the wetland where the beaver pond is. The beavers have expanded a > pre-existing wetland into a good-sized pond, making two large and deep > puddles in the sand road that goes through there, the Calico-Warren Grove > Road. When I got to the beaver pond I found a man there who was sitting in a > lawn/beach chair, relaxing, listening and watching birds, and whatever else. > I hung out there a long time. Every now and then some frogs would call. > Finally some Pine Barrens Treefrogs started calling. I turned on my digital > camera to video and recorded the sound during the last time the frogs were > calling. That was very cool. > > During the entire day I photographed trees and ferns. I took pictures of > several Blackjack Oaks. Most of them are either very young or stunted. I only > saw one that was tree-sized, and it wasn't big. It's rare to find a large > fully grown Blackjack Oak. I also photographed some Scrub Oak. Most Blackjack > Oaks are about the same size as nearby Scrub Oaks, even though they are > supposed to get to be tree-size. > > So it was another fun day out. The day I stopped at Batsto to see the > chopped-up oak tree I photographed a lot of Blue Flag iris along one of the > roads, and then tons of Blue-eyed Grass in an open semi-wetland near Batsto. > > By the way, the Mountain Laurel, all around, is now in bud. In fact I found > one or two that were starting to bloom. I also found blueberry bushes with > blueberries on them. The berries are small and green right now, as it's still > early in the season. While I'm out in the woods I often wonder how old and > how big a blueberry bush can get to be, or how old and how big a Scrub Oak > can get to be. It would b e interesting to know. > Barry --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
