|
Abby and I performed reconnaissance work for an upcoming detailed environmental
study to be performed in late May of the is year. We walked
and classified all
of the various wetlands/waters
on the property. The land
included an open pond (with SAV and FAV), extensive
littoral marsh
(soft rush/woolgrass), scrub/shrub buttonbush/alder swamp, forested
streams and
seeps.
|
|
The wetland shrub chokeberry (Aronia) was at peak flower, with
numerous plants
being observed
on the bench of slopes, at the wetlands
edge. This shrub was commonly found with highbush blueberry, which
was also coming into flower, and sweet pepperbush.
|
 |
A close-up of chokeberry in bloom. |
 |
We found several patches of trailing arbutus on the warm sunny, sandy slopes
mixed with lowbush blueberry. This is about the time for arbutus to flower,
but we did not see any.
|
 |
False hellebore was intermixed with skunk cabbage and its roots are very
poisonous. A few bites
of hellebore root and you will be meeting your maker
in no time flat. We found
dozens of freshwater mussels in the nearby stream,
and I was quite surprised how
far geese would go into the interior
of the
wetland forest to feed on young and tender grasses. We flushed several
birds that panicked and were not at all graceful in their attempts to fly thru
the wood to escape.
|
 |
We documented two areas of swamp thicket that were saturated with
braided stream
channels
and thick with buttonbush, smooth alder and
Virginia whitegrass. I'm sure as the
growing season progresses, other
aspect dominants including numerous flowering
herbs will fill in. These
thickets contained large amounts of an epiphyte
(Spanish moss) that I
do not usually see until southern Virginia and then points
further south.
|
 |
Our native bluets were coming into flower and were refreshing to see. |
 |
We performed a creel study in the open water to determine the status of
fisheries. Our May
work will require the review of rare species of both plants
and/or animals, with
part of today's
work determining research plots for herps.
I caught this two-pounder on my
second cast.
|
 |
Other than sunfish as a youngster, this was the first largemouth bass Abby
has
ever caught.
She said it fought like a monster and was a thrilling retrieve. |
 |
Check out the unusual 'golden-eye' on this bass. The fish had very distinct
orange eyes and a lighter color than the other bass caught. All of our fish
were
caught on black & blue laminate,
5-inch Senko worms, with a touch
of Mega-Strike fish attractant. The private
pond, well in the interior of the
property (very low fishing pressure) had lots
of great structure as fish habitat. |
Natural
Resources Inventory
Nature
& The Outdoors - Exclusive Stories
