Field Notes: October 31, 2018

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMotKXF0Qwhejx3eH6sRptUK

Tasks: put a bit more moss around (still not done)

Weather: clear most of the day but rainy in the evening and overnight, mild comfortable temps

Observations:

• saw a woolly bear caterpillar crossing Bruce’s Bend from pawpaw bed to hybrid plum bed; disappeared into the leaf litter
• juncos foraging in the garden and surrounding yards again; black and white stray cat was trying to stalk them
• noticed a little cloud of mosquitoes by the porch roof around dusk
• saw a small squirrel that I couldn’t tell if it was a gray or red squirrel around dusk (think it was a red squirrel but with a bit of brown and gray and a reddish tail; was eating maple keys in the driveway

Last Bloom: aster, dandelion, catsear, nasturtium, alyssum, calendula

Field Notes: October 29-30, 2018

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMpZv8-R643o-W9UbkIX6AUC

Weather: heavy rain for most of the day on 10/29; sunny and cool but comfortable on 10/30

Tasks: planted Apios americana (groundnut) tubers from K’s friend in several places, marked most of them with stakes, but not all of them (one next to crab by picket fence [marked], one under dead ash tree near stump [marked], one near southern end of brush pile not far from the path [unmarked], one a few feet south of the lilac [marked], some in mint bed, next to raised bed [several of the smaller and less viable ones, clustered into single hole, marked I think?], and one in raised bed just east of sunchokes [biggest tuber, unmarked]; sent two medium/large tubers to EW Nursery (they’re supposed to send me two of theirs to increase biodiversity and species health); grabbed some more moss from B&P’s and put around the edges of beds/paths (not finished)

October 29 Observations:

• really heavy rain, torrential downpour, didn’t really get out into the garden

October 30 Observations:

• saw a few mosquitoes
• so much bird activity!
  • goldfinch (I think) eating goldenrod seeds
  • woodpeckers and nuthatches scouring all the trees for insect protein
  • juncos and little brown birds (possibly sparrows) foraging for seeds and maybe insects in the leaf litter, brush pile, asters, etc.
  • some sort of finch foraging in debris on porch overhang
  • bluejays stealing catfood (I think)
  • lots of activity on feeders across the street
  • cardinal activity on back fence of house nextdoor
  • juncos drinking from birdbath

Field Notes: October 25-28, 2018

10/25/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ppk1ziETugqSs4sP8

10/27/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jjsRTjVNDjgfHEsJ7

10/28/18Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QGB1ciBnXNTNh8hF6

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMrcVEJ2zhwIzpyDiqvNuV8L

Weather: chilly and windy, some sun on 10/25; sunny on 10/26; rained all day on 10/27; overcast, still soggy and a little rainy on 10/28 (chilly but not too cold)

Tasks: B&P offered me some moss that they scraped off the roof of their woodshed so I went and collected a bunch of it on 10/27 and then used it to line some of the pathways and tossed a few patches into the cranberry/blueberry bed on 10/28 (might get more and do more paths soon); emptied some standing water out of tubtrugs and watered the black-capped raspberry tip-starts on 10/28

10/25 Observations:

• went outside twice and no bugs in the garden today; saw something fly away from the porch light when I turned it off and stepped outside, but that was it; may have been a fly
• there were some birds and squirrels around
• one of the pawpaws (the one not caged) dropped most of its leaves; other one has lost a few leaves

10/27 Observations:

• not sure what kind of moss I got from B&P; based on some ID suggestions I got, the lower growing stuff might be Ceratodon purpureus and the taller, bushier stuff might be some kind of Dicranum (another person suggested Hedwigia for the bushier stuff)

10/28 Observations:

• saw some clouds of mosquitoes or midges or gnats or something flying over the yard while I was laying moss along the paths today; looked more like mosquitoes
• found a dead male bumble bee and a live earwig in the tubtrugs; I suspect that the bee may have died inside one of the tubtrugs before it rained, since I haven’t seen a bee in over a week
• heard a large number of birds nearby when I was out front and seemed to be coming from LF’s yard, but I couldn’t actually see them; I think they might have been in one of her bushes, but I didn’t see a single one…so strange
• saw a nuthatch foraging in the maple trees along the driveway and heard another one off in the distance
• lemon balm stalks dead
• sunchoke stalks mostly dead
• grapes have dropped most of their leaves
• crab near picket fence only has a few leaves
• hybrid plum has one leaf left
• pawpaws have dropped most of their leaves
• persimmon leaves beginning to turn black around edges
• snakeroot foliage dying back
• still some aster flowers, but not many
• still some calendula and nasturtium flowers but looking kind of wilty
• saw one dandelion bloom but was closed up
• still seeing a few raspberry flowers but not in good shape
• one of the American plums from K’s garden is starting to change color a bit
• crab apple leaves out front mostly yellow and quickly disappearing
• hydrangea still green and seems unaffected by weather
• starting to see just a little bit of color change on chokecherry and hazelnut leaves
• black-capped raspberry leaves changing from yellow to brown

Field Notes: October 23-24, 2018

FIRST SNOW!!!

10/23/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PRAAmdgU54LPvXx48

10/24/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NvF16vkuh4cZMikD7

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMrQDqQOxqtlOti-c-n_Qy1i

Weather: chilly and gloomy, rain in evening and overnight on 10/23; chilly, windy, and rainy with wintry mix in the morning (light dusting on porch roof and big wet snowflakes mixed in with rain)

Tasks: put out sunflower seeds for squirrels out back and on porch for bluejays on 10/23 (bluejays did not come back after eating catfood)

10/23 Observations:

• no bees today; a few flies and mosquitoes and nothing else
• bluejay(s) eating catfood, so I put out sunflower seed next to cat dish on front porch (did not see any bluejays come back so brought seeds in overnight); saw one very fat squirrel eating sunflower seeds this afternoon
• also noticed the bluejay inspecting the spruce tree next to the porch; probably looking for spiders (there were a lot in there before)
• tomatoes fully wilted now and flowers no longer look viable (hadn’t seen bees on them in over a week anyway)
• got a photo of the aster galls I noticed the other day

10/24 Observations:

• several chubby squirrels eating sunflower seeds out back; one was running around and hiding them in the garden as fast as it could
• some bird activity in the crab out front; couldn’t get decent footage of it but looked like little finches or sparrows; they were drinking from the driveway pond next door as well
• no bees; few other bugs as well; may have seen a mosquito or two
• got some Apios americana (groundnut) tubers from K today (they were from a friend of hers); they look kind of dry; will need to get them in the ground or into a cool damp place soon
• went on a walk to look for some Apios americana seeds where I’d thought I’d seen them growing before; no luck but pretty scenery; didn’t see any bees on my walk either
• noticed some leaves rolled up on the lilac (through the window); I wonder if it’s some kind of butterfly; I think eastern swallowtails use common lilac as a host plant sometimes

Field Notes: October 20-22, 2018

10/20/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PTRp4aSsWwR65Hss8

10/21/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/k4C6sheH7sx3fzAZ6

Rose ID Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kunhyRQGP2ii7zEC9

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMrWO6liqw2NDP8olQNBohMq

Weather: 10/20 comfortable and moderate, 10/21 windy and chilly, 10/22 chilly and slightly windy

10/20 Observations:

• chickadees hunting bugs (and eating ash keys?) in ash trees
• saw a cranefly resting on hazelnut leaves
• discovered the thing I thought was a gall or cocoon on one of the asters in the chokecherry bed was actually the butt of a well-camouflaged cross orb weaver spider!!!
• parsley that I haphazardly stuck in a pile of soil left over from planting is actually thriving with the heavy rainfall and lower temps; and possibly also the increased sun exposure from the ashes dropping their leaves

10/21 Observations:

• still seeing some flying bumbles and some still ones clinging to asters in our yard and a few other scattered areas around the neighborhood
• found the resting bumble that I had moved to a sunnier spot with more nectar had died and was covered in something crusty in a few places; wonder if it had a fungal disease, a parasite, or if something had been munching on it
• trying to ID volunteer roses in yard for past two days (before they drop their leaves); they have the other traits of a multiflora rose (hairy stipule, etc.), but they have straight rather than curved thorns; could be a hybrid of multiflora rose and something else; hesitant to pull them out because without flowers it’s hard to know for sure and I don’t want to pull something endangered out of the ground

10/22 Observations:

• chickadees hunting bugs in the porch roof overhang and nearby ash trees
• not a whole lot of insect activity today; there were a few sluggish bumbles on the asters, but that was about it
• noticed some actual galls on the asters near the lilac; didn’t get a photo; will try to remember to grab one tomorrow

Past Peak Bloom: asters, calendula, nasturtium, alyssum

Last Bloom: tansy, lemon balm, tomatoes, raspberries, sedum?, catsear, goldenrod

Sporadic Blooms: daisy fleabane, dandelion

Field Notes: October 17-19, 2018

10/17/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gSqPcTBVuEd116937

10/18/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EAdARSmNFF3XSgHn6

10/19/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nP6oxtTxTc9Vyiz49

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMoPQGBBEo8VGeBfRU1JIbd6

Weather: comfortable temps, high winds and some rain in afternoon on 10/17; sunny but very chilly (fingers were numb!) and extremely windy on 10/18 (temps fell below freezing overnight into morning of 10/19); very sunny with comfortable temps during the day on 10/19

Tasks: covered tomatoes night of 10/18; path raking and deep watering, added a lot of leaf litter from neighbor’s yard on 10/19

10/17 Observations:

• not much to report other than more of the bumbles I’m actually seeing are very still and clinging to the undersides of aster flower clusters; resting and/or dying off for the season, I suppose.

10/18 Observations:

• hardly any insects or birds flying around probably because of the high winds but also the cold
• found what I think is a male bumble (Bombus impatiens?) lying on the stone steps near the back deck; warmed it in my hands and sheltered it from the high winds for about 20 minutes and offered it sugar water but it refused; left it clinging to a clump of asters not far from another resting male bumble; when I checked on it late afternoon/ early evening; may have died and dropped into the leaf litter or flown off
• saw a fly I’ve seen before near the asters; don’t think it’s a hoverfly but may be a kind of flower fly
• saw some sort of weird cluster of mud and seeds (or at least it looked like that) under the ash trees and near the asters at the back of the yard; almost kind of looks like a cocoon but I have no idea what it is; EDIT: it was most likely either a seagull or heron pellet 

10/19 Observations:

• tomatoes definitely had some damage from last night’s below freezing temps despite being covered; they’re definitely on the way out
• one of the male bumbles still clinging to cluster of aster flowers (might be dead or dying; doesn’t look good); later moved it to area that was sunnier and busier with bees in the hopes that the extra warmth and possibility of more nectar might help it get moving, and it did move around a little more but resumed its position of resting just under the flowers
• saw what I think was a queen (was at least larger) bumble foraging on raspberry blooms around 10 am; later saw more bumbles foraging on dandelion and asters; by late afternoon when the sun was shining on the area near FP, there must have been dozens, if not hundreds, of bumble bees all over the asters; it was amazing
• saw some sort of fly foraging on asters around 10 am; later sawmore flies, including hoverflies
• titmice hunting insects and picking at fall webworm nest in front yard crab this morning (around 10 am)
• some other type of bird was drinking out of driveway pond next door and flitting around in our crab, but not sure what kind (was very small)
• saw B&P’s cat, Roger, hanging out on the porch with the scruffy black cat with the torn ear; Roger seemed to be guarding the food bowl but the other cat seemed really relaxed; they wandered off together; friends, maybe?; PF’s calico cat pals around with the black scruff one as well sometimes, so it’s possible!
• saw some sparrows and gold finches in the crab out front; most seemed to just be resting before their turn at the nearby birdfeeders, but one or two seemed to be hunting bugs; I even saw one bird with some kind of caterpillar but I don’t think I got footage of it because I was watching a cat across the street and didn’t switch the camera angle on time (will have to check)
• today, I met a neighbor I hadn’t had a chance to talk to yet; told me that he had robins nesting on or very near his house; this was exciting to me, because I think the young robin family that had been visiting my garden over the summer was probably the same one that he was describing; I think this is the case, because a) I saw an adult robin bringing “fecal sacs” from nestlings and depositing them in the garden; they don’t usually go too far when they do this (I think around 20-50 feet is typical) and b) there were fledglings hanging out in the garden with the parents, so they probably weren’t far from the nest at that point; I spent all summer wondering where those robins were nesting, and now I’m pretty sure I know; too cool
• saw a dragonfly later in the afternoon; landed in some leaf litter near FP and was sunning itself; appeared to have some kind of parasite on its tail but not sure; EDIT: I think the dragonfly was an autumn meadowhawk, and they can sometimes be spotted into early November!

Field Notes: October 16, 2018

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qirB6LBgnLu6Z3xJ9

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMoPVa-C6lPgTSMuW7RwB8mG

Weather: sunny and chilly, windy

Tasks: raked paths and driveways

General Observations:

• sunchokes basically done (one little wilting bloom left)
• almost all the leaves gone from the ash trees
• almost all leaves gone from crab alone picket fence; crab near Beetle Bay and in front yard still have a lot of leaves
• not much insect activity around noon; saw one bumble active on the aster flowers; a few more bumbles later but not many
• a few other insects (stink bugs and leaf hoppers, I think); one possible stink bug was on the persimmon cage; EDIT: got ID for a few of the bugs–one was a tarnished plant bug (L. Lineolaris) nymph (in the leaf litter not far from the calendula flowers those bugs like); the stink bug on the the persimmon cage is probably Banasa calva or Banasa dimidiata
• chickadees and purple finches eating ash keys (not sure if I got footage of chickadee yet)
• nuthatch and bluejay activity
• squirrel climbing along porch railing and digging in flower box (probably burying or digging up food)

Sporadic Blooms: dandelion, forget-me-not, wild lettuce, greater celandine, raspberries, wild pansy, white clover

Past Peak Bloom: asters, calendula, sedum, nasturtium, alyssum

Last Bloom: sunchokes, goldenrod, sweet annie, tomatoes, tansy, lemon balm

Field Notes: October 11-15, 2018

10/11/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YxmmiKJ6C8YaDgDYA

10/12/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/A9T14Qm3KDSs9ypY7

10/14/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fhmHyAXKwhvaxouG9

10/15/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/G9qcjLdhpUscSjrCA

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMo3bVMnjUnGQ2RyuSoUf98y

Weather: Thursday 10/11 soggy and chilly; Friday 10/12 not sure; Saturday 10/13 rainy and cool; Sunday 10/14 sunny and cool; Monday 10/15 soggy and cool

FIRST FROST 10/13-10/14: after many false alarms the past few weeks, we had our first frost overnight Friday 10/13 into Sunday 10/14; tomatoes probably only survived because I covered them; many other annual flowers and vegetables died at friends’ houses; did not have much die-back here but things are pretty insulated due to leaf mulch, tall grasses, tangled patches of plants, and improvised coverings; we are also on a hill where early frosts are sometimes less damaging (heat rising and all)

Tasks: covered the tomatoes most nights except the night of 10/15; raking leaves out of paths and into beds most days

General Observations Thursday 10/11:

• not much going on in the garden; saw one soggy little bumble clinging to some aster flowers

General Observations Friday 10/12:

• saw a cloud of gnats or some other kind of small flying insects in the late afternoon sunlight in the backyard
• still see the weird black fungus near the black cohosh (dead man’s fingers or something similar looking)
• saw some bumbles

General Observations Saturday 10/13:

• was rainy; nothing remembered or photographed from garden; nothing to report

General Observations Sunday 10/14:

• had our first frost last night; deck was slippery with think layer of ice this morning
• bumbles and a few hoverflies on asters
• noticed a little spider in the leaflitter

General Observations Monday 10/15:

• catsear appears to be done for the year
• bluejay picking at fall webworm nest in front yard crab; other birds flitting around in the tree as well (probably sparrows)
• little bumble resting on/clinging to aster flowers (very still); other bumbles more active
• interesting (possibly new to me) hoverfly on the asters; could be a bee or something as well; was really hard to tell what it was from the footage
• some sort of strange cocoon or egg sac (or gall?) on asters near the chokecherry; leaves a bit chewed up where it is attached to the plant; EDIT: took another look at it on 10/21 and blew on it, and out came a very large cross orb weaver spider!; I think it was just very well camouflaged, and the brown ball I was looking at was its abdomen from behind; it wasn’t in a sac or anything, just sort of balled up and hiding
• front yard crab has dropped a lot of leaves
• mosquito nectaring on dandelion in front yard
• clump of mushrooms that looks like hen of the woods growing under ash tree in B&P’s yard; K said probably is hens growing on old oak roots but don’t know of any oaks in the area; ash is very large and old
• noticed that the sensitive ferns died back

Sporadic Blooms: dandelion, forget-me-not, goldenrod, raspberries, wild pansy, wild lettuce, greater celandine, white clover

Past Peak Bloom: tomatoes, alyssum, nasturtium, sweet annie, sedum, asters, calendula

Last Bloom: tansy, sunchokes, lemon balm

Field Notes: October 10, 2018

10/10/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CfwuCwx2f2WWcL9MA

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMpgvWg5XLG3xT9yXO3E_72I

Weather: very warm and mostly sunny (overcast at times), rain expected overnight; today was probably the last warm day of the year

Tasks: raked pathways and driveway; swept off the deck (all leaves went into garden beds or yard areas)

General Observations:

• noticed a bumble nectaring on a few remaining forget me not flowers near a clump of asters (unusual)
• saw some kind of bee that looked like a bumble but was moving differently and had a shiny black butt; possibly a carpenter bee (was on aster flowers)
• saw a northern paper wasp entering tiny hole in eaves over back door; possibly a queen looking for an overwintering site
• purple finches gorging on ash keys in overhead trees
• white throated sparrows foraging in leaf litter near Beetle Bay
• noticed a sick squirrel; some difficulties with its motor functions on one side of its body; seems thinner and dirtier than the other squirrels; being chased off and bullied by other squirrels; read that squirrels can be fatally afflicted with racoon roundworms, which can also infect and kill humans (need to remember to be careful and wash my hands when I come inside)
• saw a robber fly on the shed (looked like the one I rescued from the tubtrug full of water nearby); flew away before I could get a photo of it
• leaves falling like crazy!!!
• big-root geranium changing color
• lot of leaves have fallen from crab near FP
• pawpaw leaves starting to turn yellow
• I think I saw the black hoverfly again (Sericomyia militaris), but the eyes were slightly different (could have been a bee or wasp; was moving really fast and didn’t get good footage of it)
• bees and flies were very busy today, especially on the aster flowers; some bumbles still active around 6:30 PM (at dusk)

Full Bloom: asters, sweet annie

Sporadic Blooms: white clover, dandelion, raspberry, wood sorrel, wild lettuce, greater celandine, forget-me-not, Pennsylvania smartweed, white clover, goldenrod

Past Peak Bloom: sunchokes, calendula, tomatoes, alyssum, sedum

Last Bloom: nasturtium, catsear, spearmint, tansy

Field Notes: October 8-9, 2018

10/8/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BBb9vhbJpGRoUWjF9

10/9/18 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5uZdqYJ1dViTxYgg9

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnGUo2GUHmMqyCTPsFOGvrXo7-WeU91W5

Tasks: put out some sunflower seeds for the squirrels on 10/9

Weather: much warmer than last week (probably our last warm spell before regular frosts arrive); really sunny and warm on 10/9

General Observations:

• October 8:
  • Found a number of insects and spiders inside a large clump of “hen of the woods” mushrooms I brought back from some nearby woods (was foraging with K); there were several dark spiders, a medium sized shiny black beetle, a lot of small gnats, and a large firefly larva (Pyractomena species) that was curling its back end as it moved and had the ability to retract its head; only got footage of the firefly since I was in the middle of processing the mushrooms and was just trying to get the critters off the kitchen counter and out into the garden
• October 9:
  • Lots of bee activity on the asters, along with a paper wasp (northern paper wasp?), hoverflies, and other kinds of flies; saw a new-to-me kind of hoverfly (probably Sericomyia militaris, which is associated with unharvested, boggy, peat-based forestland; apparently, the larvae eat decomposing plant and fungal matter while the adults are pollinators)
  • Bumbles still going for tomato and sunchoke flowers
  • Still haven’t seen the assassin bug again
  • Lots of leaves falling from ash trees and more from maples
  • Sugar maple and ash keys still falling from trees
  • Spotted a cardinal on the neighbor’s fence; have been hearing one for a few days
  • Lots of woodpecker, nuthatch, chickadee, and sparrow activity; woodpeckers on barn and fences nearby; chickadees hunting bugs all over the garden (in and around the sunchokes and lovage stalks, among and under the raspberries, in the crab apple (especially looking under the bark)
  • Tarnished plant bug on calendula flower
  • Big black dragonfly doing circles over the garden and deck; at one point was curling up its body while in flight; didn’t really get good footage
  • Saw several kinds of stink bugs on the side of the house; brown marmorated stink bug right by the opening into the back door; possibly trying to get in for the winter
  • Saw a new type of beetle near the very back door we don’t use; some type of wood boring insect in the family Buprestidae, probably in the genus Dicerca (several species in this genus that look very similar: Dicerca divaricata feeds on maples, birches, plums, ashes, redbuds, elms, and beeches; Dicerca lurida feeds on alders, hickories, and oaks; Dicerca obscura feeds on common persimmon and staghorn sumac but I think we are a bit north of its natural range, despite the fact that I have a persimmon and there are sumac trees everywhere; most likely D. divaricata b/c there are reports of them in October (unlike the other two which are summer fliers), Maine is within their range, and their host species are present in and near the garden (may also be a species not named here, though); either way, it is probably not a tree pest, but rather an opportunist feeding on dying trees, of which we have several)