Acorns Ho!!!!!!

As I walked around Hix Small Cemetery, I saw flashes of red that were not that of wintergreen berries. I stopped and focused on the mossy area around some of the grave stones and found thin strips of red showing through the split shells of Northern Red Oak acorns. 

In all the years we have lived here, and on all the walks we have taken, this was the first time we have seen acorns germinating. How we have missed this, I don't know. Maybe it is because of my wobbliness that I now have to focus on the ground as I walk and I am seeing much more than ever before. 

Here is an acorn that is showing the beginnings of a root and a shoot. Northern Red Oak acorns require the cold temperatures of winter before they will sprout, and they sprout in springtime (vs White Oak acorns that sprout as soon as they hit the ground in autumn.) We will monitor the germination over the next several weeks.

Star Magnolia

Star Magnolia is such a gorgeous tree and it is in full bloom this week. 

I wish there was a "smell-o-vision" along with this post as the backyard is filled with the scent of the magnolia flowers. Oh my goodness, it is lovely. 

I did an interesting (to me) post on Maine Nature Diary, back in 2020, that explains the anatomy of the Star Magnolia flower. Check it out!

2025 Maine Big Night #7

Maine Big Night #7. Paul was the only member of our team on the road assisting amphibians tonight. Even though there was an inch of rain that fell, and we thought it would be a productive night, it wasn't. We are starting to think that the season is almost over.

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 26 - Start time: 8pm.     End Time: 9pm

Certified Volunteers - 1

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 53F.      Ending Temp:  53F

Precipitation: Foggy

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  10 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog, 2 American Toads, 2 Newts

Species Dead: 3 Spring Peepers

Species Injured:

2025 Maine Big Night #6

Maine Big Night #6. Yay! Our entire team was on the road assisting amphibians tonight.

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 25 - Start time: 7:55pm.     End Time: 9:14pm

Certified Volunteers - 3

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 55F.      Ending Temp:  53F

Precipitation: Rain

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  11 vehicles

Species Live: 41 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog, 2 American Toads, 2 Pickerel Frogs, 1 Eastern Newt

Species Dead: 0

Species Injured: 1 Spring Peeper

Paul with his sign and traffic cone to alert drivers of our presence on the road.
 

American Toad

American Toad (I had to take a side view photo as the toad told me that the other photo made his butt look too big!)

Eastern Newt

April Flowers-Daffodils

 

I am so in love with flowers that I spend every spring, summer, and autumn seasons with trowel in hand. I have many varieties of daffodils because they are a welcome sight after the drabness of late winter and early spring. AND, the deer do not eat daffodils. If you look carefully, you will see that this daffodil line extends far back along half the backyard fence line. This is just a sample of some of them. There are many more varieties yet to open in this line and other places around the yard.

This is one of my favorite varieties. I love the orange center.

This variety reminds me of Spanish dancers twirling their skirts around.

There are so many bouquets of daffodils for me to feast my eyes upon. 

I have different sizes of the traditional yellow daffodils, from petite to giant. Just the medium sized and giant sized varieties are blooming at the moment.

2025 Maine Big Night #5

 Maine Big Night # 5. Only one of my team went out as the rain barely wet the road. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 24 - Start time: 9:55pm.     End Time: 10:55pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 49F.      Ending Temp:  49F

Precipitation: None

The road is damp.

Traffic Tally:  2 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 1 American Bullfrog

Species Dead: 0

Species Injured: 0

PHOTO BY PAUL:

Daffodils and Magnolia blooms

Springtime is such a joyous time as we let go of the almost monochrome winter colors and welcome in the brilliance of the first flowers of the season. I absolutely love daffodils and have planted well over 500 of them in years past. 

The fruits of my labor are eye candy for my soul. These daffodils that line the north border of the backyard are the first to bloom each year. There are many more to bloom in my other gardens over the next several weeks.

The other large flowers that are coming into bloom are those of the Star Magnolia in the backyard. 

There are so many flower buds on all the branches in different stages of development. Drew likens the blooming to that of fireworks in slow motion.

Garlic shoots

I planted the cloves from three bulbs of garlic in early November and covered them with leaves.  Drew uncovered the garlic bed this afternoon and found that 22  garlic shoots have broken through the soil. I am looking forward to cooking with the garlic scapes and then the bulbs themselves in several months!

The wood shed is almost empty

You know that cold weather is almost over in Maine when your wood shed is virtually empty. Just enough wood for a few more fires in the wood stove to heat the house. The wood shed was chock full of wood at the beginning of the season.

2025 Maine Big Night #4

Maine Big Night # 4. Only one of my team went out as the rain didn't start until after I was in bed. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 21 - Start time: 10:15pm.     End Time: 11:15pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 43F.      Ending Temp:  43F

Precipitation: None

The road is wet.

Traffic Tally:  0 vehicles

Species Live: 7 Spring Peepers, 1 Spotted Salamander

Species Dead: 2 Spring Peepers, 1 Pickerel Frog

Species Injured: 0

NOTE: 1 Crayfish laden with eggs that Paul placed in the stream that flows from the pond. Paul also said that the peepers were much more lethargic than last time.

PHOTOS BY PAUL:

Spotted Salamander

Crayfish

Crayfish with eggs

Common Digger Bee (Anthophora sp)

This is the time of year to keep an eye out for the Common Digger Bees and their nests. We were walking around Hix Small Cemetery and found so many of these solitary bee nests in the sandy areas. We have to be careful not to step on the tiny nests, although many of them will get destroyed as people drive their vehicles onto the cemetery grounds.

I stopped walking when I neared a couple of nests and just stood quietly hoping to see a bee emerge from each of them. The first nest housed a very shy bee. If you look carefully, you can just see the white tips of their antennae in the nest. This bee never emerged while I was there.

The second nest, next door, had a braver bee who moved into the nest opening and seemed to sun itself while I was standing as still as I could, nearby. Sweet! Did you know that solitary bees live alone, although they may have their nests near each other? The majority of the native bees in the United States are solitary species. They are important pollinators. Here is a nice article on Solitary Bees by the National Wildlife Federation.

2025 Maine Big Night #3

Maine Big Night # 3. Only one of my team went out as I go to bed much earlier. Yay Paul! You rock! Paul assisted the following amphibians across the road:

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 19 - Start time: 10:15pm.     End Time: 11:30pm

Certified Volunteers - 1 (Paul)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 64F.      Ending Temp:  62F

Precipitation: Sprinkling

The road is wet.

Traffic Tally:  4 vehicles

Species Live: 37 Spring Peepers, 6 Pickerel Frogs, 1 Bullfrog, 9 American Toads, 3 Spotted Salamanders, 3 Eastern Newts

Species Dead: 5 Spring Peepers, 2 American Toads

Species Injured: 0

Note from Paul as to the number of toads: I suspect some were just hopping back on the road to hang out cuz it was warm and they know I won't eat them.

Photo of an Eastern Newt by Paul.

Marcescence

Do you want to increase your woodsy vocabulary? Here is a word you might not have heard before: "Marcescence". Marcescence refers to plants that retain their leaves all winter long even after the leaves have withered and died. If you live in a northern state such as Maine, go outside and peer into the woods. No doubt you will see a smattering of young trees that still have crispy, browned leaves hanging on (even though we are now into mid April!) What species do you see? 

Mostly oak, beech, and hornbeam are my guess! (Down south, palm trees show marcescence.) 

Scientists don't know the reason for this retention of dead leaves, but some theories exist. For example, deer and moose prefer tender buds and not crinkly leaves for browse, thus allowing the tree to retain their branch tips. Another theory is that the leaves are shed by wind and storms and as spring advances, some of the leaves drop and provide moisture trapping around the base of the tree. The list of possibilities goes on... And, as new leaves start to form you might see the old leaves still hanging on. I have seen this occur with young beech trees. Interesting stuff!

Loon arrival at Caesar Pond

I awakened to a loon calling on Caesar Pond. Yahhhhoooooeeeee!!! I need to renew my boat registration and Drew needs to get the dock in the water. Let the season of pond birding begin! 

2025 Maine Big Night #2

 We had a very good Maine Big Night. The rain stopped before we arrived at our survey location and there was just a drizzle left over. There were so many spotted salamanders (and most were of good size). The spring peepers are so difficult to see on the road as they are so small, although Paul found the biggest one that he had ever surveyed. The pickerel frogs were very energetic and are large. And, in the pond we heard a cacophony of mainly spring peepers calling with the occasional wood frog. (Photo courtesy of team member Caroline)

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LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

April 15 - Start time: 7:55pm.     End Time: 9:15pm

Certified Volunteers - 3 (Paul, Laurie, Caroline)

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 46F.      Ending Temp:  45F

Precipitation: Drizzle

The road is wet.

Traffic Tally:  21 vehicles

Species Live: 34 Spring Peepers, 3 Pickerel Frogs, 1 Wood Frog, 13 Spotted Salamanders, 2 Newts

Species Dead: 6 Spring Peepers, 2 Spotted Salamanders

Species Injured: 0

Unruffled Ruffed Grouse

Drew parked the car, got out, and was getting ready to take one of our dog nephews for a walk today, when an unruffled ruffed grouse casually walked past Drew, around the car and then entered the woods. Look how well the grouse blends into the sand at the side of the road. They are so well camouflaged that we rarely see them in the woods.

Lesser House Fly

Today, we saw the first flying insects on our woodsy walks. We saw were a swarm of Lesser House Flies flying all around us over at Hix Small Cemetery, especially as we entered a somewhat shady section. They were so annoying.

I am not a fan of these flies, although they and their larvae do a service of feeding on feces and rotten foods. Unfortunately, they may be disease vectors as they move from feces to human food, Yuck.

We also saw several small bees flying around us as well. I couldn't get close enough to identify them as they were quite skittish.

Snow Total for 2024-2025 Season

 We had 59" of snow for the season. Even though the snow total is low, we had a colder than normal (for the last few years) season which allowed the snow to stay on the ground for longer periods of time and not ice up. Drew got to go snowshoeing many times, whereas last year he only got out once.

A walk along Center Point Preserve

Today was a picture perfect day with the temperature rising to almost 60F. We have had so much cloudy, rainy, snowy weather of late that my mood was increasingly dark. Today was a short reprieve as we are getting another 4 days of rain/snow/clouds starting again tomorrow. So, we celebrated today with a 3 mile walk at the Center Point Preserve, in Bowdoinham. Such a joyful day.

The trail was surprisingly dry, even after all the rain and snow we have had. And, all the snow had melted in the forest.

I just had to take a selfie to show my happiness during this gorgeous, sunshiny day. I also reached the top of the trail at Center Point which overlooks Merrymeeting Bay. It was so windy, which was nice as the heat from the sun warmed us up in sheltered areas.

The view from Center Point. This is one of my favorite places to spend a few hours.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage

 We went on a lovely 3 mile walk at Center Point Preserve today. The trail was surprisingly dry even after all the snow and rain of late. We are always thrilled to see skunk cabbage in one small wet area on the trail.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage is a native wildflower in the eastern part of North America. It is one of the first plants to flower in springtime and is found mostly in wetlands. It is thermogenic, which means that it can produce its own heat, and indeed can melt snow surrounding it. What you see in early springtime are just the flowers. The red "leaves" you see in these photos are called spathes (which are modified leaves associated with reproductive organs.) The flowers are inside. As far as the name Skunk Cabbage, these plants produce a strong odor that increases as the plant matures. This odor attracts pollinators like beetles and flies.

The plants arise from rhizomes underground. The species name is foetidus meaning "bad smelling."

The spadix is the structure that develops the flowers. Female flowers develop first, followed by male flowers. The female flowers become unreceptive by the time the male flowers form to prevent self-fertilization. By the way, it is the spadix that generates the heat.