Falling for fall

  

A few foliage shots from southern New Hampshire on 9 October 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Fall in New England!

Turning colors

 

Morning reflections on a lake in Alstead, New Hampshire, 30 September 2019.  

Turning leaves and Common Loon (Gavia immer):

 

One of my favorite times of year in New England!

 

In the puddles

 

A few days ago we were walking in the woods in New Hampshire when Eric noticed some movement in pools of water on the trail. 

We couldn't see what it was at first, but then our eyes adjusted to the dim light and we spotted these wonderful Red-spotted Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens).  

Their scientific name means "greenish with eyespots" — and you can see why, with the greenish-brown background color and the bright-orange-ringed-with-black eyespots on the body:

 

Red-spotted Newts have an interesting life history — they're aquatic as adults.  Note the flattened tail (for swimming) in the photos above.  However, the juvenile stage (called an "eft") is terrestrial, spending 1-3 or more years on land before returning to the water.  

Efts are more reddish in color, have rougher skin, and more rounded tails.  Interestingly, we found one newt that might have been a juvenile transforming into an adult.  Note the reddish-orange color, the rougher skin texture, and a tail that appears to be undergoing metamorphosis into a more fin-like shape:

 

It was fun to visit with these wonderful salamanders!

On the lake

 

Common Loon (Gavia immer) in New Hampshire on 24 September 2018

October dragons

Well, this feels a little strange.  I started learning about dragonflies in New England in the early 1990s.  But I've been living in California for over 12 years now, so I'm a little "rusty" when it comes to identifying some of the species in the northeastern U.S.  

We had a fun experience with a few darners yesterday (3 October 2017) near Alstead, New Hampshire.  We found a warm, sunny field where several darners were feeding.  They were flying a little slowly, perhaps because of cooler nighttime temperatures?  And somewhat surprisingly, when we stood still in the middle of the field, the dragonflies started flying very close to us (looking for insects?) and sometimes landing on us.

Here are two examples.  I'll hazard guesses to the species' identifications, but perhaps I can get some help from some New England friends to confirm the i.d.'s.  

 

Black-tipped Darner (Aeshna tuberculifera)? 

 

Mottled Darner (Aeshna clepsydra)? perched on my mother's fleece jacket!  The striped patterning on the thorax didn't quite fit the classic pattern for this species, but I'm not coming up with another idea (at least not yet).  Here's a close-up of the thoracic stripes:

 

Then Eric spotted another beautiful darner perched on an old birch tree at the edge of a boggy swamp:

 

How about Variable Darner (Aeshna interrupta) for this one?

Here's a close-up (dorsal view), with nice yellow highlights:

 

And in case you're interested in helping to confirm the identification of this species, here's another close-up, this time from the side so you can see the lateral thoracic stripes:

 

Fun with dragons in October!

ADDENDUM (5 October 2017): Blair confirmed all three of my identifications above, so you can now consider the identifications solid.  Thanks, Blair!

Who needs chlorophyll?

In New Hampshire earlier this week, we were treated to nice views of a couple of interesting plants:

 

Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) — This is a non-photosynthetic plant, hence the lack of green color.  A long time ago, I learned that Indian Pipe was a saprophyte, obtaining nutrients from decaying organic matter.  However, it appears that this information has changed.  Indian Pipe is now considered a mycoheterotroph.  The "myco" portion of this term refers to the plant's relationship with a fungus.  Indian Pipe parasitizes mycorrhizal fungi that are symbiotic with trees.

Below is a close-up of some of the flowers, with the yellow flower parts visible inside the petals.  You can also see the thin, scale-like leaves along the stems:

 

 

And the next flower?

 

Little Floating Bladderwort (Urticularia radiata) — While Indian Pipe lacks chlorophyll, bladderwort does photosynthesize, but it is also a carnivore.  There are very small bladders (only 1-2 mm across) along the narrow leaves (the branching thread-like structures in the pictures above and below).  The bladders capture microscopic aquatic invertebrates (!) that swim a little too close to the plant.

There are about a dozen species of bladderworts in New England.  This one is known for its specialized inflated branches, allowing it to float at the water surface.

 

P.S.  Indian Pipe can be found in northwestern California.  And there are six species of bladderworts in California.  Have you seen any of them?

Headed downslope

 

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), Alstead, NH

Photographed on 30 August 2016

Sunset dance

We've been in New Hampshire for a couple of days.  Last night we were watching the sunset and I had just started taking pictures when I noticed a few birds fly into view:

 

They were flying quite high over a lake, with deep wing beats, and quick maneuvers:

 

Their silhouettes were dramatic against the sunset clouds:

 

At times they looked like falcons, other times like kites:

 

A few times they came quite close.  If you look carefully, in the next image you can see a white wing bar near the tip of the right wing:

 

I'm guessing these Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) were in the midst of their migration to South America.  

If you aren't familiar with them, nighthawks are in the nightjar family (Caprimulgidae) and are related to Whip-poor-wills and poorwills.  This is a good time of year to watch for them.  In New England, the Connecticut River Valley provides good opportunities for seeing nighthawks migrating at sunset.  (I saw and heard Common Nighthawks over our house in Sebastopol when we first moved to California, and they have been observed on Bodega Head.)

Wish them a good journey!

 

The "striped collector"

 

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) eating an acorn in Alstead, New Hampshire, on 27 September 2015.

 

Although we knew "striatus" means striped, we weren't sure about "Tamias."  After doing some research, it sounds like Tamias means "collector" or "keeper" — an appropriate name for an animal that stores nuts and seeds underground for the winter. 

P.S.  I posted a photo of a Sonoma Chipmunk (at Point Reyes) on 27 May 2012.

Fall colors

Fall colors, in migrants and foliage, in Alstead, NH, on 28 September 2015:

 

Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)

 

Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

 

 

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

 

 Leaves turning color along the shore of Lake Warren

 

In the shadow

The full moon at 8:58 p.m. EDT:

 

At 10:06 p.m. EDT, with the majority obscured:

 

And at 10:16 p.m. EDT:

 

We felt lucky to be in New Hampshire on a clear night for this amazing lunar eclipse!

CORRIGENDUM (28 September 2015): I corrected the time of the first photo to 8:58 p.m.  (I just made a mistake when typing it in.)  Thanks to Peter for catching this mistake!

Fall migrants

We’re in New England visiting family and friends and have been lucky to catch up with a few flocks of migrant songbirds.  How I miss warbler migration on the East Coast! 

I didn’t end up with great shots, but here are a few for the record and to remember the experience.  We found at least 12 species of warblers in just a couple of very small flocks near the house where we’re staying in southern New Hampshire.  Beautiful!

 

Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

 

Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)

 

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)

 

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

And the 12 species of warblers?  Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, and Common Yellowthroat.