{"id":2736,"date":"2012-11-30T10:12:06","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T15:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/?p=2736"},"modified":"2012-11-30T10:12:06","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T15:12:06","slug":"fall-photojournal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/2012\/11\/30\/fall-photojournal\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Photojournal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every season is beautiful in Glen Providence Park<\/strong>– but Fall is just magical!\u00a0 After our first year of monthly photojournals<\/a>, we will continue with quarterly ones- following meteorological seasons, so our Fall photojournal is September through November. \u00a0We continue to work on identifying species of all kinds,<\/strong> with generous help from experts and from our knowledgeable facebook fans and nature walk guides!<\/p>\n

At our August Nature Walk<\/a>, Tom Reeves<\/strong> taught us about two intriguing species that are dependent on the American Beech<\/strong> (which is so abundant along the eastern hill), both of which we saw a lot of in the Fall!\u00a0 The parasitic but harmless Beech-drop,<\/strong> Epifagus americana,<\/em> grows in the roots of beeches and it blooms in the fall- and it is Tom’s favorite plant!\u00a0 Beech blight aphids are fluffy little insects<\/a> that remind us of Seuss’ truffula trees<\/strong>– they feed on the sap of the beech, and they are hysterical to watch. \u00a0There are even videos on YouTube<\/a>– the Beech blight aphids look like they are dancing! \u00a0 If you noticed gray spots on the ground that looked like ash<\/a>,<\/strong> that is mold that grows under colonies of the aphids.<\/p>\n

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9\/28 Sawfly larvae on River Birch<\/p><\/div>\n

Amphibians and reptiles<\/strong> could still be found in October- we were excited to spot our first Wood Frog in the park!<\/strong>\u00a0 It breeds in vernal pools- you can hear its call here<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0Of course we frequently see the Common Garter Snake<\/strong>, but it was interesting to get a good look at how deeply their tongues were forked! \u00a0According to wikipedia, a forked tongue allows reptiles to sense the direction of a smell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Insect indentifications included Sawfly larvae<\/strong>\u00a0on one of the River Birches\u00a0<\/strong>we planted- as identified by BAMONA, Butterflies and Moths of North America<\/a>. \u00a0They looked like a buffet for birds!\u00a0 Facebook fans identified a very fuzzy caterpillar we spotted by the pond as a Lined Ruby Tiger Moth,<\/strong> Phragmatobia lineata<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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10\/5 Ephemeral mushroom “flowers”<\/p><\/div>\n

Another facebook fan identified both the black mushroom “Earth tongue”,<\/strong> and some delicate, ephemeral white mushrooms that look like flowers<\/strong>– likely a species of marasmius.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>For several weeks you could find the fruit of the\u00a0intriguing native Osage orange,<\/strong> Maclura pomifera,<\/em> on the ground along the Sledding Hill- this odd-looking fruit measures about 5″ across, and can weigh over 1 pound! According to wikipedia, the fruit was once used to repel spiders<\/strong> by placing one under the bed, and one study found its extract elemol to be as effective a mosquito repellant as DEET!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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10\/25 White-tailed doe & fawn<\/p><\/div>\n

Like last year<\/a>, we began to see more White-tailed deer in the fall<\/strong>. I spotted this doe and fawn<\/strong> the day that several deer in the park were being oddly tame-<\/strong> I came across one napping on the Shingle Mill Trail, and after initially bounding off, each deer stood watching me from afar- and eventually they actually ignored me as I hiked around the park.<\/p>\n

We were incredibly lucky that there was not more damage to Glen Providence Park from Hurricane Sandy<\/a><\/strong> just before Halloween- several trees fell and the pond level was very high, but the erosion and damage was nothing like that from Hurricane Irene<\/strong> in 2011.<\/p>\n

As the leaves fell, the beauty of the park’s topography \u00a0was revealed.\u00a0 Now it just needs a covering of snow….<\/p>\n

Click on any photo for a closer look, and you can scroll through the photos for a virtual tour.\u00a0\u00a0 And remember we’re always adding \u00a0to the photo albums on facebook<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t