70+ degrees F. !! Wonderful autumn weather.
Turtle still sunning on rocks in the pond.
Frog jumping when I venture into the wetland.
Mallard pair still paddling around, feeding.
New England Aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae blooming.
Snow overnight. The log is totally exposed, because we are down more than 8 inches of precipitation.
Seed pods of Canada Milkvetch are beginning to dry enough to spill the tiny seeds. In the background is the ubiquitous white asters that grow everywhere among native wildflowers at this time of the year.
This fallen leaf has galls all over it, lumps or complicated structures that look like capsules containing something mysterious. Galls are made by one of 1500 species of gall producers -- mostly insects and mites. Some galls form on leaves where insects feed on the plant matter, or lay eggs. Galls may also develop as a response to infections by fungi, bacteria, or viruses. Dissecting the gall is the only sure way to tell what caused it. That's a whole different adventure!
Among the yellow, purple, and white flowers in the riparian area surrounding the pond, the Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea have long gone to seed.
They bloomed a sunny yellow in May and June. Now, the seeds still stand in umbels on strong stems. The entire plant material remaining turns a golden purple-tinged color -- lovely among the autumn asters.
Birds are already pecking out the sunflower seeds (top) and goldenrod flowers are releasing each seed with pappus, a tuft of hair that helps it disperse in breezes (bottom).
Evidently there are still damselflies or dragonflies among the reeds and grasses on the shore. This sparrow scored one while hopping in the shallow water of the pond.
Since we had several cold days and nights already, Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta who live in the pond are getting ready for winter. Lacking summer heat, this one was wandering very very slowly for a food item or a place to settle. Turtles will spend the next several months in frigid pond water below the frozen ice, with their metabolism and their heart rate slowed way down. They can absorb oxygen from the water through vascularized areas in their mouth, throat, and anus (cloacal respiration). But using oxygen produces lactic acid in their body, which the turtle counteracts with minerals released from its shell and bones. Painted Turtles do not eat during this time, but they do remain alert, especially to light from above. In Spring, when the hours of daylight increase, they will respond.
I have been wandering the riparian buffer and clipping some of the wildflower seed heads to distribute them around the pond. Some native wildflowers exist here already, and we want to spread desirable plants throughout the buffer.
The clipping process is "a few for spreading to make new plants, most left for the birds."
Even after the seeds are gone, the structure of the plant is interesting!
Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum has a stout hairy stem, and the plant's leaves occur along it opposite to one another. In autumn, the flowers go to seed, and leaves turn a rich red-brown color.
The leaves are described as 'perfoliate' because each joins the opposite leaf around the stem so it appears the stem grows through one large leaf. All parts of this plant are toxic and bitter. Birds rarely eat the seeds, but are attracted to the flowers for the many insects there.
