Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

 We drove the 8-mile road around the ponds at Forsythe today and saw lots of snow geese.

Caterpillar of Milkweed Tussock Moth

We saw lots of these on the milkweed plants along the road today.  They haven't shown up on our plants yet.  We just have monarch butterfly caterpillars, which is fine by me.

Monarch Caterpillars

We are careful not to disturb the milkweed plants that line the lower part of our driveway, hoping to attract Monarch butterflies.  But since the only butterflies I ever see there are Swallowtails, I assumed that the many caterpillars we found on the plants today were Swallowtails.  I am so surprised to discover that they are actually Monarchs.  So obviously we had visits from Monarch butterflies when I wasn't looking.  Yippee.

Beary Exciting

Momma and her two cubs came to visit this afternoon.  It will be a while before we dare put the bird feeder out again.

Manasquan Reservoir

We all went to Manasquan Reservoir this afternoon to look for birds.  We didn't have a lot of time before it got dark.  But we saw a few in the distance, and this great blue heron fishing right beside the path.

Bryozoans

I finally identified the gelatinous mass found underwater in lakes and streams.  I always thought it was eggs of some sort.  It turns out it is a colony of freshwater bryozoans.  We found some at the west end of the lake.

Wildlife

This morning was the annual loon survey, so we were on the lake at 8 AM looking for loons.  I found the residents - 2 adults and a chick - and watched them for about half an hour.  Then later in the morning W saw a doe with a nursing fawn on the driveway.  My approach spooked the mother but the fawn ducked in next to the woodshed long enough for me to take a picture.

Paddling Middle Saranac and Weller

The two of us paddled about 9 miles today.  We put in at South Creek

paddled through Middle Saranac Lake

and into Little Weller where we saw this amazing sight.  We couldn't tell what we were seeing so we got closer than we should have to this loon on a nest, which was trying to look like a log.  We backed off as soon as we realized what it was, but I got a great telephoto shot.

Then we paddled into Weller Pond and explored, lunching at campsite 85.  The white water lilies (Nymphaea odorata in the Nymphaeaceae) are in bloom

and so are the pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata in the Pontederiaceae).

Spider

As we were unloading from today's paddle I saw this neat spider on the garage.

Luna Moth

We went to the neighbors this morning to deliver the veggies from the farmers' market and found 2 luna moths on their steps.  They must have just come out of their cocoons.

A Raft of Loons

We drove to the beach at Lake Clear today to look for the loons that were reported to collect here every fall.  With binoculars we counted about 40 of them in the distance, but it was too windy to put in the boats and paddle closer.  Maybe next year.

Bear

Woke this morning to this view of a comfy bear sitting on the deck helping itself to the last of the bird food.

Funky Caterpillar

Found this fellow on my clothesline.  It apparently is a tussock moth.  The moth is quite drab.  I wonder why nature makes the caterpillars so fancy.  I guess because it can.

Heron Rookery

Today we finally remembered to take binoculars and camera to view the herons nesting south of Sabattis Circle on Route 30.  These photos are the best I could do from a distance.

Neat Moth

This fellow was on the column of our porch.  If it had been on a tree, we never would have seen it.

Gobble, Gobble

Now that is a bird you don't often get at your feeder.

A Weekend for the Birds

Today we joined AA&J at Hawk Mountain in PA. The migration is slowing down, so we did not see many birds. But they had this golden eagle on displayand we did some rock scrambling and hiking. This is the view from the north lookout.

MOOSE!!!

What is better than seeing a moose by the road?Seeing all the townsfolk lining the road watching the moose. I should have taken a picture of all the people with their binoculars and cameras and of the state police who were trying to keep a bit of order, directing traffic so no one got run over. This bull moose was by the Raquette River next to Route 30. Apparently he had been there all day, meaning we drove right past him on the way to our paddle. This is one of the reasons I love this place. There are so many other folks around like us who get a thrill out of sharing their surroundings with wildlife.

Bear

We were awakened last night by the sound of a bear trying to get into our trashcan. The bear-proof strap that holds the lid on earned its name, but the can is definitely the worse for wear this morning. When we heard the loud noise, W jumped out of bed and got the high-powered light he keeps in his closet for just such an occasion and we watched the very large bear roll the can around a few more times, then give up and saunter away up the driveway. Definitely glad we were sleeping inside four solid walls and not a tent.

Wildlife

We heard a loon calling closeby early this morning, so we went down to the lake to see it. Instead, our attention was grabbed by 4 otters swimming toward the point. We knew they were in the lake but rarely see them, so it was a real treat.

And a couple nights ago while walking back from Rose and Kay's we saw bats flying overhead along the driveway. Because of the white nose disease that is killing them off, I had wanted to go out and look for them, but hadn't gotten around to it. So it was great to see them still around.