DATE: December 13, 1997
LOCATION: SNP, North District, Fraser Hollow
WEATHER: Clear, 32 degrees.
GEOLOGY:Mainly Catoctin Greenstone, but crossing over Stanley Fault
onto Pedlar granodiorite.
ROUTE: Starting at Beahm*s Gap, bushwhacking down into Fraser Hollow,
then back up on Hull School Road to Skyline Drive.
BOTANY: Secondary growth deciduous forest. Area was largely clear at
the time of the Park establishment in 1935. Primarily reforested by even
age/size (12 - 14" dia) tulip poplars.
Canopy - Tulip poplars, basswood, white and Virginia pine,
white, red, chestnut oak, black gum, white ash, black locust, black and mazzard
(sweet) cherry, black birch, yellow birch (along streams), a few butternuts
along the Thorton River, slippery and American elm, beech, sycamore, mockernut
and bitternut hickory, black walnut, red, striped, and sugar maple, hemlock.
Shrub layer - Lots of coral berry near the Drive, spice bush
most prevalent only about three or four seen with fruit, with some witch hazel,
mountain laurel (principally on one north-facing slope with other conifers),
pawpaw, ironwood, hop hornbeam, persimmon, sassafras, hawthorn, blueberry,
deciduous azalea, staghorn sumac, chestnut, dogwood, redbud, smooth blackhaw
viburnum, wild hydrangea.
Groundcovers and vines: Grapes, rattlesnake plantain, spotted
wintergreen, partridgeberry.
Herbaceous flowers - too many garlic mustards, black snakeroot,
tall meadowrue, butterfly weed, milkweed, blackberries, raspberries, early
saxifrage, goldenrod.
Ferns - Christmas, polypody, ebony spleenwort, hay-scented.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals - three deer on the road; one dead 8-point buck in the
creek ( a good reason not to drink even apparently safe stream water), a
short-tail shrew missing it*s head, laying on a rock, some bear scat (old scat
with cherry pits, more recent scat with persimmon seeds).
Amphibians - none
Reptiles - none
Birds - Six turkey; two large, four smaller, juncos, titmice,
chickadees, crow.
NOTES: Trip with Steve Bair and Len Wheat. Saw some excellent stone
walls along the old Fraser Hollow road, a cemetary, and a few homesites. Also
found a buck dead in the creek - perhaps shot by hunters and returned to the
Park before dying. Most hemlocks were severely affected by wooly hemlock
adelgids. Found a large concrete basement (10 x10)near where ice used to be cut
and stored (below Hull School/Thorton River trail junctions) - possibly this was
a summer storage for the cut ice.
DATE: November 28, 1997
LOCATION: Old Rag Mtn., SNP
WEATHER: Cloudy, 50 degrees
GEOLOGY: Old Rag granite, with Catoctin Greenstone intrusions
ROUTE: The normal 7 mile hike starting at Weakley Hollow parking lot.
Up the Ridge trail, over the top, down the Old Rag trail to the former town of
Old Rag, and back along the Weakley Hollow fire road. Too many people on this
day-after-Thanksgiving day.
BOTANY: Subcanopy - Witch hazel, sassafras, striped maple, red maple,
black and (a few) yellow birch, staghorn sumac, American chestnut, service
berry, dogwood, and smooth alder.
Shrub layer -Wild hydrangea, mtn laurel, winterberry, deciduous
azalea, blueberry.
Herbaceous flowers - Blackberries, raspberries, wood asters,
goldenrods, evening primrose, sweet cicely, garlic mustard.
Groundcovers - Trailing arbutus, early saxifrage, dwarf
cinquefoil, rattlesnake plantain, clematis.
Ferns - Christmas, polypody, intermedia, bracken, hay-scented,
Lycopodium digitatum, and ebony spleenwort.
ZOOLOGY: Mammals - Amphibians - Reptiles - Birds - One tulip
poplar in the first moist saddle on the ascent before reaching the first rock
false summit (on the inside of the right turn) has been riddled from
yellow-bellied sapsuckers. (Tulip poplars, with their copious amounts of sap - a
symptom of a fast-growing tree - are commonly preferred by sapsuckers - our
winter woodpecker. This moist area supports a large population of large-flowered
trillium, not visible now.) Raven, turkey vulture, titmice, chickadees and
golden kinglets were also seen.
NOTES: Up to a dozen moths were seen over the course of the hike. The
witch hazels, many in bloom at this time, are fertilized by these, normally
nocturnal, insects. For my records, a hike on Nov 15 to Overall Falls, found a
large population of walking sticks, primarily on large tree bark (some had
counts in the twenties on a single tree.)
Canopy - Secondary growth of chestnut and red
oak, black locust, and Virginia pine on drier slopes; tulip trees, hemlock,
white pine, basswood, big-tooth aspen and red maple on more moist soils;
umbrella magnolia, black walnut, sycamore, and white oak on lower elevation
alluvial soils. Black and a few yellow birch, with table mountain pine are found
on rocky outcrops. Interesting view looking downslope to the west from on top
shows a grove of hemlock halfway down with a population of red maple (white
bark) and bigtooth aspen (yellow-brown bark) just below; apparently responding
to some springs surfacing in the area of the hemlocks.
DATE: November 2, 1997
LOCATION: Sugarloaf Mountain, MD
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, high of 55 degrees
GEOLOGY: Sandstone monadnock in piedmont physiographic region
BOTANY: Several different habitats. Approaching the summits (drier and
less soil), the beech and white oak drop out with chestnut and red oaks
dominating with red maple. Highest (and rockiest) had same three and table
mountain pine. Mountain laurel was commonly found in both areas, as well as in
lower, more mesic conditions.
Canopy - Beech, tuliptree, red maple, black cherry, sassafrass,
hickories (pignut and mockernut), Oaks (black, white, chestnut and red), Pines
(Virginia, white and table mountain), (drier saddle had red and chestnut oak and
red maple)(top of ridges and rock outcrops have same last three plus table
mountain pine and black birch in rocks), basswood.
Subcanopy - Witch hazel, shadbush, blackgum, mazzard cherry
(P. avium), American chestnut, black locust, Tree-of-Heaven.
Shrub layer - Mountain laurel, deciduous azalea, blueberry,
huckleberry, deciduous holly, green ash, southern arrowwood viburnum.
Herbaceous flowers - Garlic mustard, skunk cabbage.
Groundcovers - Trailing arbutus, partridgeberry, striped
wintergreen, and tree clubmoss (L. obscurum).
Ferns - Royal, interrupted and cinnamon; all in same wet area.
Also, Christmas, New York and hay-scented, lady, bracken, sensitive.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals -none NOTES: One wetland was found with all three Osmunda ferns (royal,
interrupted and cinnamon), sensitive and lady fern. (This area is a short
distance up the blue blazed trail from the parking lot on Mt Ephraim Road.
Unique shrubs growing in the same wet area included green ash and deciduous
holly. Most noteworthy were the emerging tips of skunk cabbage, up to three
inches high --- all in the same area. Also, two daddy long-legs were observed
attached face-to-face engaged in either a mating ritual or some kind of act of
aggression.
Amphibians
-none
Reptiles -none
Birds -none notable
DATE: September 14, 1997
LOCATION: Appalachian Trail at Blackburn Center to Buzzard Rocks
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, about 75 degrees
GEOLOGY: Weverton Sandstone
BOTANY: Shrub layer - As with most sandstone, the shrub layer was
limited to mainly ericaceous members such as blueberries and huckleberries. A
few mountain laurel and pink azaleas were found as well. A few witch-hazel were
beginning to bloom. Down at the Blackburn Trail Center is a population of
paw-paw which, due to the shady environment, showed no maturing fruit. Within
the moist areas described above in the canopy section were numerous spicebush
(even on the ridgetop) in fruit. Patches of blackberries and raspberries were
abundant. Fruit was found on winterberry holly.
Herbaceous flowers - White snakeroot, smartweeds and wood aster
were found throughout the area. Also occasional starry campion, Asiatic
dayflower, Sweet-scented Joy-pye weed, and an uncommon occurance of Tall
rattlesnake plant (Prenanthes genus), usually found in PA and northwards.
Fruit was found on abundant black snakeroot (black cohosh), garlic mustard, and
an occasional whorled loosestrife. A few Woodland sunflowers, wild sarsaparilla,
tall bellfowers, peppermint were also found. A few Jack-in-the-pulpits were in
fruit. Down in the valley, spotted touch-me-not (the orange one), several
species of yellow daiy-like bidens (Spanish Needles and Tickseed sunflower),
evening primrose, a few New York ironweed, great lobelia, Queen Anne's lace and
goldenrods dominated the ditches and fields.
Ferns - Mainly hay-scented fern, with some cinnamon fern in
moist areas and bracken in sunnier areas. Also a little rock polypody and ebony
spleenwort.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals - Grey squirrels
Amphibians - none
Reptiles - This area is known to have a good population of
rattlesnakes. This time of the year, the snakes are returning to their
"hibernaculums". The young have been born in August in nearby rookeries and have
followed the mothers' scent back to the dens. The weather was ideal for sunning
(above 80 degrees is too hot to sun on the rocks). Six adults and six new borns
were found among the rocks. Of note, all of the snakes were found at the very
top of the scree piles, and all but one were found along a line no more than
fifteen yards long. Most were the dark phase, but the largest (just over three
feet) was a beautiful lime green color. The only one with observable rattles had
ten, indicated it was probably four years old. For more information on
rattlesnakes, see the
Canopy - This short hike was along the
sandstone ridge that makes up the Blue Ridge from the Shenandoah National Park
to Harpers Ferry. Such ridges as this are typically dry habitats, with most
available moisture quickly percolating through the nutrient-poor thin soil layer
into cracks in the subsurface quartsites. Dominant canopy species included
chestnut oak, red oak and pignut hickories. This area is mainly young growth,
with many locusts, black gum, sassafras (some with mature fruit), red maple and
a few tulip tree and Virginia pine. A couple of sassafras seedlings had five
lobes instead of the usual three (or less). A few moist areas included black
and pin cherry, slippery elm, black walnut, hawthorn and black birch. Among the
rocky scree areas, several large American chestnut trees had enough sunlight to
produce a good crop of fruit ("large" to me means that I can't close my hands
around the trunk; i.e., at least 6" in circumference). Sleeping in the woods, we
constantly heard the dropping of hickories (about one every five-ten minutes).
Birds - Carolina wren, titmice, a flicker, turkey vultures and chickadees.
NOTES : Several walking sticks were found (Fall is when they congregate to mate). (This hike followed the Hike Leader training workshop held over the weekend at BlackburnTrail Center.)
Back to Bob Pickett's Field Notes Home Page
DATE: August 17 - 23, 1997
LOCATION: Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness Area, Colorado
WEATHER: Sunny to partly cloudy, highs about 80 degrees
GEOLOGY: Metamorphic sedimentary rock. Red clays of shallow ocean
bottom give the maroon color to the formation.
BOTANY: NOTE: Common names will be those used by our primary field
guide; Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, G. K. Guennel (Volumn 2:
Mountains). ZOOLOGY: NOTES: Also of interest was a herd of approximately 1,000 sheep that graze these
alpine meadows, passing over the West Maroon Pass trail every ten days. Although
this is a designated Wilderness area, this has been specifically identified for
grazing by the Forest Service. Closer observation of the meadows after a pass
actually showed relatively little damage, with the sheep walking in many columns
(following the leaders) pushing over the flowers with their bellies, not
apparently causing substantial damage. My crude guess was that a 5% loss may
have occurred by this passing. I visited some of the Swiss and Austrian Alpine
Meadows three years ago during what was supposed to be the peak time of the
Alpenbloom, and I would have to say that the best of the Maroon Bells area had a
more impressive display of flowers, specifically including parts of this grazed
area. Noting this, I can't presume that the grazing (which I assume has been
going on for generations) is having a deleterious impact on the meadows.
This area is adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Biological Station in Gothic,
established in 1928. (970) 349-7231. They confirmed that the domestic sheep have
been grazing the upper meadows for years. But they are only grazed near the end
of the summer and keep them moving, thus minimizing the impact. In fact, they
confirmed that this area is noted for the best floral display in the region.
They haven't specifically addressed the impact of the grazing on the vegetation.
The person I spoke to had no definitive answer as to why this area was so
profuse. One comment was that this area had some northern and southern species
at their respective southern and northern limits, but I've heard that applied to
many places. Soil type, moisture, exposure---all of the usual suspects were also
mentioned.
Canopy - Spent the week hiking just above and
below the timberline (11,500'). Trees seen nearest the timberline included
Engleman spruce, alpine fir, Douglas fir, Colorado blue spruce and quaking aspen
. Lower elevations (under 10,000 feet) included ponderosa pine, western red
cedar, Rocky Mountain maple, cottonwood, and limber pine.
Shrub
layer - Willows were present throughout region, with groundcover species
up to timberline. Shrub layer was notably absent for the most part. Colorado
currant, Rocky Mountain alder, red elder, blueberries, twinberry honeysuckle and
wild rose were found in very limited situations, with shrubby cinquefoil, dwarf
rabbitbush, sagebrush found in lower elevations.
Herbaceous
flowers - A bonanza of alpine bloom.
Meadows at 11,000 feet
were carpeted with blue larkspur, lupine, columbine (blue and white),
monkshood, common harebells, flax, tall chiming bells (a species of
mertensia-like our Virginia bluebells-only it blooms midsummer here-like most of
the alpine species), yellow senecios (alternate-leaved), arnicas
(opposite-leaved), Indian paintbrush, white cow parsnip, lovage, tall
valerian, bistorts, geraniums, yarrow, red Indian paintbrush, purple
fireweed, pink asters and five foot spikes of green
gentians.
Wet areas at 11,000 feet had monkey flower, cowbane,
King's crown, Rose crown, little red elephant, marsh marigold (white-flowered),
Parry's primrose, gentians (star, little, mountain and fringed), speedwell, bog
and brook saxifrage, white bog orchid, bittercress, death camas, globeflower,
scouring rush and common horsetail.
Plants found nearest the
timberline included purple fringe (phacelia), sky pilot, moss campion,
alpine avens, alpine sulphur flower, snow buttercup, alpine spring beauty (same
genus as our spring beauty), alpine mouse-ear (a chickweed) and arctic gentian
(both high elevation and wet areas).
Others seen during the week
included jacob's ladder and wood nymph (in spruce woods - the wood nymph was the
only heath family member seen all week), mountain blue violets, alpine milk
vetch, three-nerved fleabane, tall penstemon, fairy trumpet (aka scarlet gilia),
Parry and dwarf clover, nodding onion, subalpine buckwheat, alpine sorrel,
alpine fireweed, alpine and pink pussytoes, yellow stonecrop, sibbaldia, bur
avens, avalanche (or glacier) lily, bracted lousewort, mountain parsley, Gray's
angelica, nodding sunflower, alpine sunflower, thick-bracted senecio, orange
sneezeweed, lambstongue groundsel, alpine goldenrod, tall false dandelion,
subalpine and heart-leaved arnica, spotted saxifrage, wild strawberry, cornhusk
lily (we call false hellebore-different species from our eastern plant),
sickletop lousewort, thimbleweed, Colorado thistle, pearly everlasting, and a
host of unknown grasses and sedges.
Ferns - Only saw one all
week - looked like a dryopteris (wood fern).
Mammals - pika, marmot, porcupine,
long-tailed weasel, mule deer, red squirrel chipmunk and mice (who were the only
ones that would eat the dried papaya sticks-including us). The porcupine was
followed off the trail and observed up close in the shrubs. The long-tailed
weasel visited our campsite at dusk, departing quickly when we were discovered.
Pikas, more numerous than marmots, go eek, while marmots make a much louder
peep. Of the four mule deer, three were male; one single, one pair, and one pair
of male and female.
Amphibians - None, not even a
toad.
Reptiles - None
Birds - Golden eagle,
white-throated sparrow, broad-tailed hummingbird, Wilson and chestnut-sided
warbler, gray jays (aka camp robbers - some ate from my hand at the campsite-the
only ones that would eat my pancakes - including us), pine grosbeak (eating
twinberry honeysuckle fruit), Clark's nutcracker, raven and various chickadees,
juncos and nuthatches.
Our hike itinerary was a loop, starting at the East Fork
trailhead of the West Maroon Pass trail. We travelled counter clockwise over the
West Maroon Pass to Crater Lake, over Buckskin Pass to Snowmass Lake, over
Trailrider Pass to an abandoned beaver dam, over Frigid Air Pass back to the
West Maroon Pass trail. The trail from Maroon Lake (just beyond Crater Lake)
over West Maroon Pass to the East Fork trailhead is a popular day hike, with
shuttle drivers being reserved and paid anywhere from $15 to $50 dollars per
trip. We hiked about 6 to 7 miles per day. With the elevation changes, altitude,
heavy packs (mine started out at 65 pounds), and keying out wildflowers, this
was certainly enough for us.
DATE : August 10, 1997 BOTANY : Woody plants in bloom include common elder, swamp rose, and spirea,
the latter two in the Big Meadows swamp. Ferns included cinnamon, interrupted, bracken, christmas, marginal,
intermedia, spinulose, silvery spleenwort, lady's fern, polypody, maidenhair,
broad beech, sensitive, marsh, hay- scented, New York, and fancy. (17) A NEW
RECORD for just ferns (not including fern allies). This, even without the
common ebony spleenwort and the maidenhair spleenwort that I've seen along the
Dark Hollow Falls trail.
ZOOLOGY : An American toad, mountain dusky and red-backed salamanders,
a few deer, and a black bear. The black bear was apparently a yearling, meaning
it had just been chased away from it's mother that it spent the last year and
this past winter with, and is now out trying to find it's own territory. It
caused a bear jam in the morning as we were just starting out and was seen a
second time (presumably the same yearling) in the late afternoon just below the
Big Meadows Swamp. It didn't show any fear of humans and let me get to within
fifteen feet before turning and walking away from me. Also noteworthy were the
number of rocks, both small and large, that had been turned over along the
trails, presumably by bear looking for grubs, ants, etc. NOTES : This is an excellent six mile hike, although it was heavily
used on this August weekend. (This was also the weekend that Camp Hoover was
open for visitors.) Excellent stream valley habitat, good geology (including the
old Blue Ridge Copper Company mine) some cultural sites (for winter hikes), an
amazing variety of ferns, some good swimming at the Rose River falls, and a very
interesting area around the swamp. Be forewarned that bushwhacking to visit the
swamp can be difficult, especially in the wet seasons. It can also be a hard
place to find, with no large open body of water to focus on. But it does hold
many unusual species of plants and animals. We found broad-leaved spirea and
swamp rose in beautiful profusive bloom together. Rushes and blue-flag iris were
also found (not in bloom) among the gray birch, found here, about as far south
as it gets. A small population of pyrola was also found nestled among the
sphagnum mosses and dewberries. Springtime brings many species of frogs, toads,
and salamanders to the swamp for egg laying. Animal tracks indicated that this
is also a popular place with the deer, racoon, and bobcat. The beaked hazelnuts,
black cherries and cow parsnip provide good food for the bear population as
well.
LOCATION : Shenandoah
National Park, Central District; A loop including the Dark Hollow Falls, Hogcamp
Branch-Rose River, Appalachian Trail and return through the Big Meadows
Swamp.
WEATHER : Partly cloudy, high 85 degrees
GEOLOGY :
Mainly Catoctin greenstone, a little Pedlar granodiorite
habitats : typical second growth hardwood forest
with hemlock in the wetter ravines.
species :
Herbaceous plants
in bloom include rattlesnake plant, Canada violets, tick trefoil, Indian
tobacco, spotted and pale touch-me-nots, white sweet clover, selfheal, horse
balm, hairy wood mint, wild bergamot, large houstonia, pokeweed, New York
ironweed, tall bellflower, yarrow, columbine, white avens, agrimony, yellow wood
sorrel, garden phlox, bouncing bet, common and poke milkweed, galinsoga, nodding
wild onion, panicled hawkweed, oxeye daisy, daisy fleabane, chickory, woodland
sunflower, common burdock, stinging nettle, black snakeroot, white snakeroot,
thistle, eastern joe-pye weed, and early goldenrod.
Birds
included red-eyed vireos, chickadees, scarlet tanagers, American redstarts,
eastern wood peewee, phoebe, Acadian flycatcher, and downy woodpecker. Almost
all heard, not seen.
DATE: July 20, 1997 GEOLOGY: Pedlar granodiorite with some Catoctin greenstone intrusions
BOTANY:
Canopy - Typical deciduous hardwood forest with chestnut and northern
red oak dominating. Also, tulip tree, mockernut hickory, and sycamore along the
stream. Other trees include white ash, basswood, black birch, sugar maple,
beech, white and Virginia pine.
Subcanopy - Sassafrass, black gum, red maple, black cherry, dogwood,
American elm, hackberry, hemlock (badly defoliated by wooly hemlock adelgid),
musclewood, serviceberry, black locust, red mulberry.
Shrub layer - Redbud, witch hazel, mountain laurel, shrubby St.
Johnswort (in bloom), azalea, wild hydrangea, spicebush, blueberry, mapleleaf
viburnum.
Herbaceous flowers - In bloom include gray beardtongue, evening
primrose, bluets, mullein, tall bellflower, rough cinquefoil, wild blue phlox,
bouncing bet, white campion, galinsoga, thimbleweed, turk's cap lily, wild
lettuce, nipplewort, chickory, daisy fleabane, thin-leaved sunflower, lizard's
tail, white avens, asiatic dayflower, and tick trefoil. Other non-blooming
include skunk cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit, horse balm, garlic mustard, Indian
pipe, pokeweed, venus looking-glass, jimsonweed, partridge pea, dewberry,
daylily, common burdock.
Ferns - Marginal, christmas, sensitive, bracken, and polypody.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals- none
Amphibians - American toad, two leopard frogs, overwintered green or
bull frog tadpole.
Reptiles - northern water snake
Birds - Wood thrush, chestnut-sided warbler, eastern peewee, scarlet
tanager, common yellowthroat, northern towhee.
NOTES: PATC hike along the Rapidan River. The river shows the
tremendous scars from the June 1995 floods. The red bacteria which thrived in
the water shortly afterwards is gone from the main body of water, but is still
found in the slow-moving swampy tributaries.
LOCATION: Rapidan River,
Shenandoah National Park
WEATHER: Sunny, 85 degrees
DATE: July 19, 1997 GEOLOGY: Unconsolidated coastal plain sediments
BOTANY:
Canopy - Mainly deciduous, with oaks (white, chestnut, northern red,
and scarlet), sweet gum and beech. Also Virginia pine, tulip tree, mockernut
hickory.
Subcanopy - American holly, sweet bay, musclewood, flowering and silky
dogwood, witch hazel, smooth alder, red maple, black gum.
Shrub layer - Shrubs in bloom include buttonbush, swamp rose,
common elder. Other shrubs include mountain laurel, viburnum (possum haw,
mapleleaf, black haw, and southern arrowwood) , highbush blueberry, wild
hydrangea, strawberry bush, sweet pepperbush, smooth and shining sumac,
hercules' club, winterberry.
Herbaceous flowers - In bloom; pickerelweed, spatterdock,
spotted touch-me-not, tall meadow rue, water parsnip, white avens, trumpet
creeper, and lizard's tail. Other plants include skunk cabbage,
jack-in-the-pulpit, groundnut, enchanter's nightshade,, toad trillium,
partridgeberry, large houstonia, wild sarsaparilla, striped wintergreen, dodder,
poison ivy, moonseed, arrow arum, common arrowhead, common cattail,
halbeard-leaved tearthumb, and wild rice.
Ferns - Cinnamon, royal, netted chain, New York, hay-scented,
and christmas.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals- Deer, grey squirrel.
Amphibians - Heard green frog and cricket frog.
Reptiles - Saw two painted turtles and a box turtle.
Birds - Including cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, turkey
vulture, ospreys (many nesting on man-made platforms over water), killdeer,
forster's tern, mourning dove, yellow-billed cuckoo, chimney swift,
ruby-throated hummingbird, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, eastern
wood-pewee, acadian flycatcher, eastern phoebe, eastern kingbird, barn swallow,
American crow, tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, Carolina wren, eastern bluebird,
wood thrush, robin, catbird, mockingbird, starling, white-eyed vireo, red-eyed
vireo, northern parula, prairie warbler, common yellowthroat, hooded warbler,
scarlet tanager, cardinal, indigo bunting, eastern towhee, field sparrow,
red-wing blackbird, common grackle, brown-headed cowbird, American goldfinch,
Nashville warbler, blue grosbeak, and a yellow-breasted chat.
NOTES: Plants above in bold are commonly found in the coastal
plain (rarely found in the mountainous regions). This was a USDA Natural History
Field Studies class led by Jeff Swinebroad (Summer Birding).
LOCATION: Patuxent River
Park --- Jug Bay, Maryland
WEATHER: Sunny, 85 degrees
DATE: July 4-6, 1997 BOTANY:
Canopy - Oaks, such as chestnut and northern red on most moderate
slopes. Pitch and mountain pine, dominate drier slopes. Best soils contain sugar
and red maple, tuliptree, beech, hemlock, black locust, scarlet oak. Other
occasional canopy trees include walnut, ash, white pine, sourwood, black birch,
cucumber magnolia, black cherry, basswood, post oak, and serviceberry.
Noteworthies include Carolina hemlock and eastern chinquapin.
Shrub layer - Minniebush, spice bush, paw-paw, redbud, viburnum
(including blackhaw, northern wild-raisin, southern arrowwood and mapleleaf),
mountain laurel, flowering and alternate-leaf dogwood, scrub oak, winged and
staghorn sumac, sweetfern, blueberries, chestnut sprouts, azaleas, maleberry(B),
smooth alder, wild hydrangea(B), witch hazel, catawba rhododendron, pieris,
striped maple, New Jersey tea(B), mountain holly, hawthorn, indian currant,
white elderberry(B), hop hornbeam and snowberry. Noteworthies include beaked
hazelnut (in fruit), wild rose and dwarf spirea (both in bloom).
Herbaceous flowers - Most common are dwarf cinquefoil, striped
wintergreen(B), bush clovers, rattlesnake weed, tick trefoils, toothed
white-topped asters(B), whorled and greater coreopsis(B). Others IN BLOOM
include large houstonia, deptford pink, yellow stargrass, wild indigo, basil
balm, cow wheat, grey beardtongue, white avens, false hellebore, indian pipe,
black snakeroot, whorled loosestrife, sweet white clover, heartleaf and hairy
skullcap, Virginia waterleaf, columbine, hairy-jointed parsnip, yellow wood
sorrel, common, four-leaved and poke milkweed, wild geranium, figwort,
quickweed, lopseed, flowering raspberry, cow vetch, spotted knapweed, Queen
Anne's lace, wild lettuce, teaberry, and butterfly weed. Others NOT IN
BLOOM include wild grape, galax, partridgeberry, both evergreen and common
ginger, pink lady slipper, trailing arbutus, hairy angelica, wild yam, alumroot,
greenbriars, poison ivy, indian cucumber root, wood betony, dutchman's pipevine,
lily-of-the-valley, tall meadowrue, horse balm, bloodroot, perfoliate bellwort,
chickweed, false and true solomon's seal, nettles, impatiens, joe-pye weed,
indian hemp, wild sarsasparilla, jack-in-the-pulpit, spikenard, goatsbeard,
bowman's root, thimbleberry, and bush-clover. Noteworthies include Canada
Lily and wild quinine in bloom.
Ferns - Christmas, New York, hay-scented, polypody, cinnamon, braken,
maidenhair, ebony spleenwort, and rattlesnake plant.
ZOOLOGY:
Mammals - The usual chipmunks, deer (heard overnight at campsite).
Amphibians - Six green frogs at Sulphur Springs.
Reptiles - A dozen or more fence lizards in dry pine habitats. Also, a
water snake along a creek.
Birds - Solitary and red-eyed vireos, chestnut and hooded warblers,
wood thrush, ovenbird, scarlet tanager, nuthatch, eastern peewee, indigo
bunting, goldfinch, eastern towhee, whip-or-will, red-tailed hawk and barred
owl.
NOTES: Area is typical sandstone habitat. This means very rocky, steep
slopes, poor soils, dry and potentially very hot in summer. Many dead pines from
southern pine bark beetle. Devil's marble yard is a large area of car-sized
sandstone boulders. Found one small oak with two dozen oak-apple galls-all
parasitized by long-gone invaders.
This area, just north of Roanoke, has several members of the plant community
that identify it as a little more southern than our SNP. These include galax,
Carolina hemlock, and sourwood.
LOCATION: James River
Face Wilderness Area
WEATHER: Typical summer
GEOLOGY:
Chilowee Sandstone (same as south district of SNP)
The following is a trip taken in mid-June of 1997. Not following the standard format, this highlights a two week trip into North Carolina.
I have often read about the beautiful balds of
North Carolina with their blooms of catawba rhododendrons and flame
azaleas. But, in the past, I have always driven past this area on the way
to the ultimate goal; the Smokies. This year Janet Dombrowski and I
decided that the balds and neighboring areas would be our destination. The
following is a brief description of our two week trip through the mountains of
western North Carolina. The timing of the trip was to coincide with the
bloom of the rhododendrons and azaleas, starting June 14, 1997.
We chose a varied schedule of day trips and
overnight backpacking trips to meet our goals. The following are the days
and locations of our trips:
Saturday - Monday Mount Rogers National Rec Area/Grayson Highlands State Park, VA
Monday Grandfather Mountain
Tuesday - Thursday Linville Gorge Wilderness
Thursday Mt Mitchell
Friday Mt Pisgah
Saturday - Tuesday Shining Rock Wilderness, Pisgah National Forest
Wed. - Thursday Harper's Creek, Pisgah National Forest
Friday - Saturday Roan Mountain
MOUNT ROGERS NRA/GRAYSON HIGHLANDS STATE PARK
(Approx. 10 mile loop trip)
Itinerary: Started at Massie Gap in Grayson
Highlands going north along the Rhododendron Gap trail, camping Saturday night
at Rhododendron Gap. Hiked up to Mount Rogers summit Sunday am, returning
to Rhododendron Gap and continuing along Pine Mountain trail to the
Appalachian Trail before reaching Scales and camped in the Little Wilson Creek
Wilderness area, still on the AT. (The best campsite is above the AT, on
the western border of the LWC Wilderness area, in a large clearing, near
the intersection with the Scales trail.) Continued along AT back to Massie
Gap.
The highlight of the trip was the wild
ponies. Every bald had it's own population of ponies- some very bold and
pettable (and used to being fed). We saw approximately sixty during the
three day trip. From time to time, we left the trail to meander along the
balds and the ponies.
BIRDS - Chestnut-sided warbler, yellow throat,
northern junco, chickadee, song sparrow, towhee, winter wren, wood peewee, and
hairy woodpecker.
MAMMALS - PONIES, red squirrel, deer, and a few
cows. Understand that the large, flat, wet areas of the Grayson Highlands
are former buffalo wallows.
NOTES: Also saw a few mourning cloak and tiger
swallowtail butterflies. This trip may have been our favorite of the two
week vacation. Beautiful weather, gorgeous views of surrounding
area. Met a couple thru-hiking; his trail name was emanon-"no
name" backwards.
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN
Itinerary: Hike from visitor center 1.5 miles to
Alpine Meadows and return.
In the clouds the whole afternoon - no
views. The hike is difficult and different with it's use of ladders and
cables. The ladders taking you almost vertically up are exciting.
Some sloping rock slabs have cables to help walk with. They are not
optional equipment with wet rocks! Quite an adventure even with no
views. Must be outstanding on a clear day. A $9 day use fee (no
overnight camping allowed) gives you access to a very nice natural history
museum and "natural habitat" enclosures with black bear, river otter,
deer, and mountain lion. Sheer cliffs and exposed precipices abound, as
attested by the local TV crews there to take note of the woman who fell to her
death from a major tourist viewing outcrop two days prior to our visit. A
short suspension bridge over a deep chasm has some interest additionally.
Elevation along the ridge is from 5600 to 5949 feet.
BIRDS - Golden kinglet, winter wren, northern
junco.
NOTE - Under better weather conditions, a linear
2.4 mile trip along the crest to Calloway Peak ( and back 2.4 miles) would be an
ideal day trip. Also, the famous Linn Cove viaduct is located a mile from
the exit for Grandfather Mtn on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
LINVILLE GORGE WILDERNESS
(An approximately 9 mile
loop)
Itinerary - This wild and primitive area is
suitable for a several day backpacking trip. However, a shuttle is
required if backtracking your route is not desired. It is basically a very
narrow valley from a mile and a half to three miles across with the stream at
1800' and the ridge at 3400'. Based on the recommendations of the
Wilderness ranger, we chose to park at Wiseman's View and walk back up the road
to BabelTower trail, take that down to the Linville Gorge trail, following it
downstream and coming out on the Conley Cove trail before having to walk
back up the road to Wiseman's View. (The ranger said the road was too
rough for non four-wheel drive vehicles below Wiseman's View, due to recent
storms, severely limited our options. I believe he was overly
conservative.)
We took a leisurely three day, two night trip to
cover this distance. Ample time was given to sunning and playing along the
stream on both afternoons. Other than seeing a group of twenty who were
totally not prepared for the afternoon shower that drenched them on the Babel
Tower trail, we say no one until nearing the end of the Conley Cove
trailhead. Of the many trips we made over the two weeks, this is one I
would not highly recommend. This is mainly due to the many low limbs that
constantly caught my pack and the general closeness of the dense shrub layer
that precluded many open views. Keep in mind that we did only one small
part of the 11.5 mile gorge.
NOTES - The highlights of the trip were the herps.
Four water snakes and a garter snake were found along the stream. Other
herps included American toads, red-backed salamanders, spring peepers, and
several dozen red-spotted newts in some isolated pools in the boulders
surrounding the creek. Eleven were in the largest bathtub-sized pool while
four sink-sized pools each had only one resident newt in charge. Once out
of the valley and at Wiseman's View, we "viewed" two copperheads and a
five foot black rat snake. Interesting plants included the devils' bit and
Carolina rhododendron.
BIRDS - Oven bird, northern junco, phoebe, vireos
(solitary and red-eyed), rufous-sided towhee, pileated woodpecker, warblers
(hooded, northern parula, black-throated green),
MOUNT MITCHELL
Itinerary - A short, 4 mile hike along the Black
Mountain Crest trail from Mt Mitchell north over Mt Craig to Big Tom and
back. Elevations are mainly above 6,000 feet, with the summit of Mt
Mitchell peaking at 6684, the highest peak in the eastern U.S.
NOTES - Another example of northern boreal spruce
forests. The Fraser firs have been decimated by the introduced
woolly-balsam adelgid; an aphid-like insect. Red spruce, mountain ash (not
a true ash), yellow birch and red elderberry dominate with wood sorrel and
yellow-bead clintonia covering the mossy ground.
BIRDS - Winter wren
Saturday - Lunch at Skeeters (Umbergers)
in Wytheville, VA. (From Blue Ridge Magazine-Wythe CO., May/June
1997. Hot Dogs on a paper napkin. Start trip with a three day, two
night backpack loop in the Mt Rogers Recreation Area of Virginia. After
checking in at Visitors' Center, hike to Rhododendron Gap. Love the wild
ponies. Take pictures with rainbow.
Sunday - Up to Mt Rogers summit which is
wooded with spruce. Then, back to packs, through Scales, and overnight in
the Little Wilson Creek Wilderness. Left the trail for roaming across the
balds, checking out the ponies. Many were approachable; some even
touchable. Found great campsite further ahead at Wilson Creek and A-Trail
intersections. Black maples are in the area.
Monday- hike out, had lunch in Boone, and
drove down to Grandfather Mtn. See animal habitats on bear, mtn lion,
deer, river otter. Hike over cabled rocks and ladders over MaCrae peak to
Alpine Meadow. Cloudy and foggy. Met TV crew at suspension bridge
re: girl who feel to her death on Saturday. Janet's boot fell apart, and
we went back to Julian Price campground for the night. Watched a dense
small population of fireflies with males hovering three feet aboveground;
females responding in the grass.
Tuesday - Drove to Boone, got boot glued, bought tape recorder, got food and drove to Linville Gorge. Got no response to giving us a ride to end of gorge. Met Forest Service employee, who gave us old stick candy, and recommended Babel Tower-Conley Cove loop. Dropped car off at Wiseman Overlook and I walked mile and a half to Janet at Babel tower trail head. Soon got into good downpour which ended as we got to the Tower. Low branches everywhere made trail progress slow and somewhat exasperating. Spent night at bend in trail in cove. Took hike after dinner, finding "comfortable" rock in creek, finding several northern water snakes along creek.
Wednesday - Hike on to old hunting lodge
site and camp at Conley Cove trail intersection.
Thursday - Climb out of gorge. Janet
hikes back to car, I key out plants. We drive to Wiseman's View, see
two copperheads and Carolina rhododendron (Rhododendron minus). Hear
whistling car sound as we leave parking lot. Drive down to MT Mitchell, hearing
sound off and on along Parkway. See turkeys crossing Parkway. Drive
up to Mt Mitchell and hike to Mt Craig, a mile away. Craggy Gardens was
two weeks from rhododendon peak of bloom! Due to car, drive to
Asheville and spent the night at Boulder Creek trailer park. Drive into
town and have dinner at Possum trot grill. I had crawdad dip, Janet had
tomato and cheese salad. We had cheese cake for dessert. (Mine
chocolate, Janet's mango.)
Friday - Fix car (replace front brakes),
drive to Mt Pisgah campground and meet Jean and Jim Renfro (Jim is the
meterologist for Smokies National Park). Wait out hour long hail and rain
storm in tent before hiking up to top of Mt Pisgah (mile and ½ ).
Got a fire going, we had dogs and chili, somores.
Saturday - Start four day backpack in
Shining Rock Wilderness. Nice balds. Hike to Shining Rock.
Outrageous! Shining Rock itself is about a 40' by 200' white quartz
boulder. And this is just the exposed part! At Flower Gap, I hike
back to old mine. Find old growth Catawba rhododendrons and Pieris
floribunda that I can't put my two hands around. Mountain laurel about
same. Saw double sunset on June 21 (Setting sun fell under low cloud line,
reappeared and disappeared again at horizon.
Sunday - On to Cold Mtn for a day
hike and found three-leaved cinquefoil mentioned so prominently in Maurice
Brooks' book 'The Appalachians'.
Monday - Pine crossbill at Shining Rock campsite before we leave.
Got lost on Dog Loser Knob. Hike north to Tom's Cove. Get a
ride. Swear never to bushwhack behind Janet again (just joking - for the
most part). Continue hike from Big East Fork, see Carolina allspice and
find ideal campsite along creek near the beginning of the trail. Enjoy
last rays of sun, swim, watch fish hunt from edge of rock. It was
interesting noticing how the biggest fish had the best fishing spots; the
smaller the less desirable sites. Walk after dinner and notice abrupt
change of habitat once over rock outcrop separating moist stream side from dry
hardwood forest.
Tuesday - Notice backpack is flexing on frame. Backpack actually breaks. FORTUNATELY, we were less than a hundred yards from the Blue Ridge Parkway (South Spring Top) and on our last day (car parked at Black Balsam Knob parking lot. Drop off packs along BR Parkway, do rest with day pack. Lots of new prefab bridge walkways. Drive back, pick up backpacks, camp at Lake Powhatan outside Asheville.
Find rhododendrons at Craggy Gardens still in bud---probably
two weeks behind schedule (Now about June 22.)
Wednesday - Go to NC Arboretum, fail to
find national champ mountain laurel. Buy new pack. Drive up to
Harpers' Creek in Wilson Creek drainage basin. Stay at overused
campsite.
Thursday - Find super double cascade and
pools. Go up to high falls and walk up cascade rock. Almost get lost
(this time I don't follow the bushwhacker) - get soaked. We leave packs at
end of loop and pick up packs and spend night at double cascades - again, kinda
dumpy.
Friday - Drive up to Coffey's Store and
find out info about flood, drownings, photos of suspension bridge construction,
she being his sister, not wife, and her, not having time to take hikes through
area. Mtn laurel is called ivy, rhodos are white and pink laurel.
Drive to Roan Mtn. Find Robbin's ragwort in bloom (Senecio robbinsii).
Find rhodos are going to peak probably on 4th of July. Hike up to shelter
on A-trail. Spend the night with guy from Tennessee working for the state
DNR advising on forest management.
TWO WEEK TOTAL
TREES AND SHRUBS
Alder, Smooth
Ash, White
Azalea, Flame
Azalea, Smooth
Basswood
Beech, American
Birch, Black
Birch, Yellow
Black Gum
Blueberry
Boxelder
Buffalonut
Bush-honeysuckle, Northern
Carolina Allspice
Carolina Silverbell
Cherry, Black
Cherry, Fire
Cherry, Pin
Chestnut, American
Chokeberry, Black
Cranberry, Southern Mtn.
Currant, Indian
Deerberry
Dogwood, Alternate-leaved
Dogwood, Flowering
Elderberry, Common
Elderberry, Red
Elm, American
Fir, Balsam
Hawthorn
Hazelnut
Hemlock
Hickory
Locust, Bristly
Locust, Black
Hercules' Club
Holly, American
Holly, Deciduous
Hop Hornbeam
Hornbeam, American
Horse-chestnut
Huckleberry
Hydrangea
Magnolia, Cucumber
Magnolia, Frasier
Magnolia, Umbrella
Maleberry (Lyonia)
Maple, Black
Maple, Mountain
Maple, Red
Maple, Striped
Maple, Sugar
Minnie-bush
Mountain Andromeda
Mountain ash
Mountain laurel
Mountain Pepperbush
Mulberry
Oak, Red
Oak, Black
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Scrub
Oak, White
Pawpaw
Persimmon
Pine, Red
Pine, Pitch
Pine, Table Mountain
Pine, White
Redbud
Rhododendron, Catawba
Rhododendron, Great
Rhododendron, Piedmont
Rose
Sand Myrtle
Sassafras
Serviceberry
Sourwood
Spruce, Red
Spiraea
Strawberry-bush (Euonymus)
Sumac
Sweet Gum
Sweetbells, Swamp (Leucothoe)
Sweetbells, Upland (Leucothoe)
Sycamore
Sweetshrub
Tree-of-Heaven
Tuliptree
Viburnum, Arrowwood
Viburnum, Smooth Blackhaw
Viburnum, Hobblebush
Viburnum, Maple-leaf
Viburnum, Northern Wild-raisin
Walnut, Black
Willow, Silky
Witch Hazel
HERBACEOUS AND LOW GROWING WOODY PLANTS
Allegheny Pachysandra
Alumroot
Angelica, Hairy
Aniseroot
Arbutus, Trailing
Aster, Wood
Baneberry, White
Beardtongue, Gray (Penstemon)
Bedstraw
Bellflower
Bellwort, Perfoliate
Bishop's Cap
Bittercress
Black Cohosh
Blue Cohosh
Blue-eyed Grass
Bluets, Common
Bluets, Creeping
Bowman's Root
Buttercup, Creeping
Buttercup, Hispid
Buttercup, Tall
Canada Mayflower
Carrion-flower
Chickweed, Mouse-eared
Cinquefoil, Common
Cinquefoil, Dwarf
Cinquefoil, Three-leaved
Cleavers
Clintonia, White
Clintonia, Yellow
Cohosh, Black
Cohosh, Blue
Columbine
Cow Parsnip
Cress, Mountain
Crossvine
Dandelion, Common
Deptford Pink
Devil's Bit
Dewberry
Dodder
Dog's-tooth Violet
Dutchman's Pipevine
Evening Primrose, Common
False Solomon's Seal
Field Sorrel
Fire Pink
Fleabane, Daisy
Fly Poison
Foamflower
Galax
Geranium, Wild
Ginger, Wild
Ginseng, Dwarf
Goatsbeard
Golden Alexanders
Greenbrier, Common
Hawkweed, Field
Hawkweed, Orange
Heal-all
Hellebore, False
Henbit
Hepatica, Sharp-lobed
Horse Balm
Horsetail, Common
Indian Cucumber root
Indian Pipe
Iris, Crested
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Jewelweed
Large-leaf houstonia
Lily of the Valley
Lily, Roans'
Loosestrife, whorled
May-apple
Mayflower, Canada
Meadowrue, Early
Meadowrue, Tall
Meadow Parsnip, Hairy-jointed
Milkweed
Miterwort
Monarda
Nettle
Orchid, Cranefly
Orchis, Showy
Ox-eye daisy
Parsnip, Cow
Partridgeberry
Pearly Everlasting
Phacelia
Phlox
Pink, Deptford
Pipsissewa
Poison Ivy
Pokeweed
Pussytoes, Plaintain-leaved
Ragwort, Balsam
Ragwort, Golden
Ragwort, Robbins'
Ramp
Raspberry
Rattlesnake Plantain
Rattlesnake Plant
Rocket, Dame's
Roseybells
Rue Anemone
Sarsaparilla, Wild
Saxifrage, Lettuce
Saxifrage, Michaux's
Selfheal
Sheep Sorrel
Sicklepod
Skunk Cabbage
Snakeroot, Clustered
Snakeroot, White
Speedwell, Common
Spiderwort
Spring Beauty
Squawroot
St. Johnswort, Dense-flowered
St. Johnswort, (mitchellanium)
Star Flower
Stitchwort, Lesser
Stonecrop, Wild
Strawberry, Wild
Sweet Cicely
Tasselrue
Teaberry
Teasel, Common
Tick-trefoil
Touch-me-not, Pale
Trillium, Large-flowered
Trillium , Red
Trillium, Vaseyi's
Turkeybeard
Turtlehead, Pink
Turtlehead, Purple (cuthbertii)
Umbrella leaf
Venus Looking-glass
Violet, Common Blue
Violet, Halbert-leaved
Violet, Marsh
Violet, Northern White
Virginia Creeper
Water Hemlock
Waterleaf, Broadleaf
Waterleaf, Virginia
Wineberry
Wood Betony
Wood Sorrel
Yam
Yarrow
Yellow-eyed Grass
Yellowroot
FERNS
Bracken
Broad Beech
Cinnamon
Christmas
Common polypody
Ebony spleenwort
Hay-scented
Interrupted
Intermedia
Maidenhair
New York
Rattlesnake Fern
Silvery spleenwort
Spinulose
Back to Bob Pickett's Field Notes Home Page
DATE: May 31 - June 1, 1997 GEOLOGY: Mixture of localized limestone and sandstone
BOTANY:
ZOOLOGY: NOTES: Weekend trip sponsored by "Virginians for Wilderness", a local
group who primarily oversees Forest Service timbering contracts. Two leaders
were very knowledgable. Bob Mueller, a geologist related vegetation to geology.
For example, alkaline plants of limestone preference include large-flowered
bellwort, chinquapin oak, sharp-lobed hepatica, redbud, bladdernut, moonseed
vine. Acidic plants include beech and red maple, round-lobed hepatica, and
perfoliate bellwort. Robert Hunsucker (HC 64, Box 266, Hillsboro, WV 24946) is
the most knowledgeable naturalist I've ever met. Vascular, non-vascular (mosses,
fungi and lichen), birds, herps, insects, --- he does them all.
Recommends Lyman-Bensen Plant Classification (2nd edition best) and Wilber
Duncan Trees of the SE USA (UGA).
Bob has done 60 inventories of sites. Robert has joined him and together they
have done this site and many others.
Bob mentioned several good spots: Fannie Bennett Hemlock Grove (SE of Spruce
Knob-Sawmill Branch), Seneca State Park, Skidmore Tract (Rte 33- skidmore fork
roadby reservoir- go as far as possible), Pott's pond (Allegheny Co?) on Pott's
Mtn, Fifteen-knob Creek, Cranesville Swamp.
LOCATION: Blowing
Springs Recreation Area, VA
WEATHER: Cloudy, cool, rain on Sunday
Canopy- (Mixed hardwood) Linden, ash, beech,
sugar, black and red maple, white and red oak, chestnut oak and hickory
on drier slopes. One butternut hickory, several chinquapin
oaks.
Subcanopy - cucumber magnolia, blackgum, amalanchier,
dogwood, ironwood, hop hornbeam, paw-paw, black cherries, hawthorn, redbud, both
American and slippery elms.
Shrub layer- Maple-leaf and blackhaw
viburnum, bladdernut, blueberries, huckleberries, Russian-olive, rosebay rhodo, flame azalea (in bloom-orange), euonymus, witch-hazel,
spicebush.
Herbaceous flowers - Lots of squawroot, hog peanut and
desmodium foliage (tick trefoils). Also Seneca snakeroot (Polygala senega),
aconitum foliage, wood betony, sweet bedstraw (G. trifolium), small skullcap
(Scutillaria parvula), gray beardtongue (Penstamon canescens), groundnut foliage
(by creek), canada mayflower foliage, dame's rocket, watercress,
foamflower, lettuce saxifrage, wild sarsaparilla, goatsbeard foliage,
water hemlock, spikenard foliage, heart-leaved alexander and yellow
pimpernel, columbine, virginia waterleaf, creeping phlox (Plox
stolonifera), four-leaved milkweed, wild stonecrop, sharp-lobed and
round-lobed hepatica, blue-eyed grass, (yellow stargrass, lily of the valley
foliage, white clintonia, fairy bells, large-flowered and
perfoliate bellwort, solomon's and false solomon's seal, nodding wild onion-all
in the lily family), blue cohosh and black snakeroot foliage, clustered and
short-styled snakeroot (Sanicula canadensis), heuchera villosum
foliage.
Ferns- RECORD DAY --- 18 ferns and fern allies -
Royal, interupted, bulbous, spinulose, marginal, maidenhair, broad beech,
christmas, fragile, walking, bracken, sensitive ferns, ebony, maidenhair
and silvery spleenwort, rattlesnake fern (botrychium virginianum), common
horsetail and scouring rush(equisetum hyemale and arvense).
Mammals - chipmunks
Amphibians -
red-spotted newts, and a night walk yields a long-tailed, dusty, seal and spring
salamander. Also a southern leopard frog.
Reptiles - none
Birds
- red-eyed vireo, cerulean and worm-eating warbler, ovenbird, scarlet
tanager, noisy ravens, maybe a least flycatcher and a pileated woodpecker. Birds
are getting quiet!
DATE:May 23-26, 1997 GEOLOGY: Silurian sandstone
BOTANY: ZOOLOGY: NOTES: Excellent loop hike with great views from MaCaffee's Knob and
Tinker Cliffs. 22 miles with short shuttle on Rt 311, or 28 miles with no
shuttle. About four hours from Beltway. Met many thru hikers, including Otter
and Ladybug, among others.
LOCATION: Appalachian
Trail; Tinker Mtn and North Mtn. Loop trail
WEATHER: Good first three
days, wet last day
Canopy - Chestnut oak, with black, white, red, post
and scrub oak. Black oak bark has a clearly darker appearance, with larger
fissures, and even the flat ridges having smaller fissures (not a "shiney"
smooth appearance of the red oak ridges). Of course, the acorn caps are an easy
tip-off. Also hickories (shagbark and pignut), ash, with linden and sugar maple
on wetter (north-facing) slopes and pitch and table mountain pine on drier
(south) slopes.
Subcanopy - Mainly amelanchier (shadbush) and striped
maple. Some sourwood, witch hazel, black cherry, blackgum, sassafras, a few
chionanthus virginicus (fringe tree), cucumber tree, hackberry, hawthorn, hop
hornbeam, and paw-paw, and a couple flowering and alternate-leaved dogwood
(going out and coming in to bloom respectively).
Shrub layer - typical
sandstone, well-drained acidic soil species-i.e. ericaceous plants. Deerberry
everywhere - in bloom; Peiris floribunda, some Catawba rhodo , both roseum and
pinxter azaleas, menzesia and mtn laurel, all in bloom. Also black chokeberry
(Aronia), choke cherry (Prunus), mapleleaf viburnum (in bloom) and a goundcover
of some kind of spirea. Also, one stand of fragrant sumac and several of silky
dogwood on North Mtn. Lots of blackberries and dewberries in
bloom.
Herbaceous flowers - Galax and lilies of the valley, just
beginning and just ending bloom respectively! Pink lady slippers, just past
peak. Common plants include; yellow star grass, small-flowered phacelia, wood
sorrel, wild pink (Silene caroliniana), gray beardtongue, tall meadowrue,
hairy-jointed meadow parsnip, lots of dwarf and common cinquefoil, four-leaved
milkweed, wild stonecrop (Sedum ternatum), spiderwort, hare figwort, cleavers,
bedstraw and geranium. The biggest bed ever seen of twinleaf (in seed). Also,
first find of Goldenstar (Chrysogonum virginianum). Also found; celandine poppy,
wild sarsasparilla, blue-eyed grass, large coralroot (an orchid), (early, three
lobed, birds' foot, smooth and downy, common blue, marsh, pale and Canada
violets), pale corydalis, wild comphrey (in several large beds), cow vetch,
dwarf or vernal iris (a few still in bloom on Macafee's Knob), dutchman's
pipevine (in bloom), wild peppergrass, narrow-leaved houstonia, one-flowered
cancerroot, alum root, violet wood sorrel, aniseroot, yellow pimpernel, Virginia
waterleaf, bowman's root, fire pink, moss pink, several Wild Sweet William
(meadow phlox), perfoliate bellwort, yellow mandarin, false and common Solomon's
Seal, carrion flower, (smooth, mouse-eared and rattlesnake hawkweeds), dwarf
dandelion, (tansy, golden and balsam ragwort), common fleabane, and (finally)
whorled coreopsis (in bud).
Ferns - Not a lot. Marginal was by far the
most common. Also some bracken and rock polypody, with some Christmas,
hay-scented, maidenhair, lady's, New York and one bed of cinnamon and sensitive
ferns. Ebony spleenwort and Virginia grape fern were common in places. Also one
stand of common cliff fern (Woodsia obtusa).
Mammals- Few deer, chipmunks, squirrel and one
woodchuck.
Amphibians- Several red efts on trail on last rainy day.
Several American toads.
Reptiles- Red-bellied (four inches short),
garter and (probably) a black rat snake. Also two fence lizards and a
broad-headed skink. Two box turtles (male and female).
Birds- Wood
thrush, scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeak, worm eating and black and
white warblers, American redstart, red-eyed vireo, ovenbird, bobwhite (quail),
barred owl, northern towhee, kingbird, acadian and great crested flycatcher,
eastern pewee, ruffed grouse, pileated woodpecker, and yellow-billed cuckoo.
LOCATION: Great North Mtn., Va/WVa border
GEOLOGY: Silurian sandstone
BOTANY: ZOOLOGY: NOTES: Went to the Pinnacles, along Great North Mtn., between Rte 50
and Rte 55. This is a suspected hibernaculum that Marty wanted to check out.
Unfortunately, windy conditions with a high temperature of 60 degrees was enough
to keep the rattlers underground.
We did find three black racers who had apparently just emerged and were
basking alongside their den. Marty said they normally emerge by mid April (to
give an idea of how behind the spring was). Black racers are solid black (no
white edges on the scales), with no scale keels, and a flat (or satin) "finish".
These were very lethargic, not living up to their namesake.
May 1 and 2 were the first good emergence days. 29 rattlers were found above
Blackburn and 21 found at White Rocks. Cooler weather since then has halted
rattler emergence. Many smaller rattlers are still in their dens due to their
small size enabling them to reach deeper depths in the hibernaculum; thus
requiring longer time to reach the surface. Warmer weather predicted for Monday
will cause a second emergence.
Dispersal range normally doesn't exceed 1 and ½ miles from the hibernaculum,
although 3 to 4 miles has been recorded.
The furthest east site, at Sugarloaf Mtn, has been seriously jeopardized by
construction of a private driveway between the rookery (birthing site) and the
hibernaculum, and the placement of a building literally using the rookery rocks
as a foundation for a structure. It was a small site of 8 to 12 adults. The DNR
had an interest to purchase the site, but over a year of inaction, enabling this
new construction, eliminated this possibility.
Rattlesnake venom varies in it's potency. The canebrake of the deep south is
known for it's highly potent venom (compared to the less lethal venom of the
North Carolina/Virginia population). Copperheads are less potent as a rule than
rattlesnakes. The venom is a mixture of hemotoxins (destroys muscle - causing
pre-digestion of prey preventing spoiling before complete digestion by the
rattler) and neurotoxins (which destroy the nervous system).
There is a ribbon snake population in the Fork Mtn area of the Park-despite
the apparent lack of wet area-also Pass Mtn and Big Run.
The pits are believed to be first developed as a defense mechanism, to
determine the size and location of the predator. Only secondarily has it been
used offensively to find prey. This is analogous to the feathers of a bird
initially developed for insulation, secondarily for flight.
A third of the females are gravid (pregnant) each spring from mating the
previous July (delayed fertilization until ovulation which occurs 4 to 6 weeks
after emergence-Junish) enabling an August live birthing at the rookery within
five hundred yards from the den). At higher elevations (colder environments),
early winters preclude the gravid females from giving birth until after
re-entering the hibernaculum. These births normally will not survive-thus
limiting the range of the rattlers. Marty believes the neonates die because they
cannot successfully shed the embryonic tissues that envelop them at birth.
There area probably ten times more copperheads than rattlesnakes in the SNP.
They are less often seen since they tend to hide under the leaf litter.
Copperheads often hibernate with rattlers (as do occasional black rat snakes),
but can also be found in their own dens. Some dens are made of not one hole, but
dipersed holes and cracks within a general area. Marty will count the various
dens as one if they all share the same rookery. Snakes don't truly hibernate
like ground hogs and jumping mice, since you can keep them alive (and somewhat
active-certainly alert enough to strike-as Marty has found out) throughout the
winter. They normally go off feeding by October. Temperatures around 50 to 60
will keep them going all winter, while kept at temperatures greater than 60
causes their metabolism to run too high, stressing them to the point of death.
Rattlers will give "dry bites" when they don't feel endangered by an
identified predator, since replacing the venom stresses the snake. An example is
a cow. (Silver Springs in Florida used to milk snakes as part of their snake
show until they found out the snakes were dying prematurely.)
Rattlers replace their fangs three or four times a year. New ones grow side
by side of the old ones so the snake always has the use of it's fangs.
The most common snakes in SNP are, in decreasing order, ring-necked snakes,
garter snakes, black rat snakes, copperheads, then rattlesnakes.
Females don't have their first litter until about 7 to 8 years of age in this
area, while Bill Brown (New York) has found the age to be more like 9 to 10
years of age. This is a function of the shorter growing season up north.
Physiologically, they are the same age and, in fact, generally have molted the
same number of times.
WEATHER: Cool, cloudy, high 60 degrees
Canopy -chestnut and red oak, black birch, pitch and table
mtn pine
Shrub layer -spice bush, witch hazel, chestnut, mtn laurel,
blueberries/huckleberries
Herbaceous flowers -typically sparse sandstone
habitat, more in lower alluvial soils
Ferns-bracken, hay-scented
Mammals- bobcat scat
Amphibians- wood frog tadpoles in
vernal pond
Reptiles- see notes below
Birds- chestnut-sided, prairie,
parula, black and white, black-throated green warblers, red- eyed vireo
DATE: May 10, 1997 GEOLOGY: Catoctin Greenstone
BOTANY: ZOOLOGY: Herps include a northern two-lined and unknown stream
salamander and call of spring peeper. Birds include scarlet tananger (two within
ten feet of ground for extended periods), northern towhee, baltimore oriole,
indigo bunting, great crested flycatcher, black-throated blue warbler, ovenbird,
barn swallows, field sparrow, ovenbird, american redstart, wood thrush, and the
common lot.
NOTES: This site is perhaps the largest trillium (T. grandiflorum)
population in North America. It is estimated that there are 26 million
individual plants growing in this area. The color variation of pink flowers in
Trillium grandiflorum seems to be a genetic variation rather than being due to
an aging process since flower buds may be white or pink. Many sources also
mention that white petals have a tendancy to turn pink with maturity.
LOCATION:
G. Richard
Thompson WMA near Linden, VA
WEATHER: Cloudy, light rain, 55
degrees
Moist deciduous woods- Canopy of white ash, sassafras, red
maple, tuliptree, with hickory, walnut and locust on drier sites. Subcanopy and
shrub of flowering dogwood, paw paw, alternate dogwood, hawthorn, redbud,
blackhaw viburnum and russian olive---all in bloom. Spice bush is dominant shrub
throughout area, also some slippery elm. Ferns include grape fern, ebony and
silvery spleenwort, cinnamon, lady, marginal wood, christmas, hay-scented, New
York, sensitive and maidenhair.
Wildflowers included large flowered trillium
(duh, maybe a couple hundred thousand), nodding trillium, yellow lady slipper
and showy orchis. Also, squawroot, (common blue, marsh, three- lobed, smooth
yellow, and pale) violets, jack in the pulpit, yellow corydalis, ground ivy,
purple dead nettle, corn speedwell, ginger, garlic mustard, (dame's rocket along
roads), celandine, winter cress, early meadow rue, Pennysylvania bitter cress,
bedstraw, slender and cut-leaved toothwort, one-flowered cancerroot, early and
swamp saxifrage, wild sarsaparilla, dwarf cinquefoil, wild strawberry, hooked
crowfoot, caraway, sweet cicely, aniseroot, golden alexander, yellow pimpernel,
columbine, bulbous and swamp buttercup, small-flowered crowfoot, white campion,
star chickweed, wild geranium, star of bethlehem, bellwort, solomon's seal and
false solomon's seal, mayapple, dandelion, golden ragwort, common fleabane, and
rue anemone. Total 54
The
bloom is now at peak; about a week later than normal. Despite an earlier than
normal early spring, the cool April (and May, so far), have caused things to
really slow down.
DATE: April 26-27, 1997 WEATHER: Sat sunny, 65 degrees; Sun cloudy, light rain, 55 degrees
GEOLOGY: Coastal plain sands
BOTANY: species: Trees included laurel oak, swamp oak, bald cypress, sweet gum,
tupelo, red maple, muscle wood, loblolly pine, Atlantic white cedar, red bay,
and swamp cottonwood. ZOOLOGY: Reptiles included 5 foot king snake and 3 foot brown water
snake; ground skink and broad headed skink; and yellow-bellied, red-bellied and
painted turtles. NOTES: ANS trip with Mark Garland. Mark has just completed a natural
history book on the mid-Atlantic area published by the Smithsonian Institute. A
definite must for the outdoor enthusiast!
LOCATION:
Dismal
Swamp, Va
habitats: Swamps and bottomland
Shrubs included sweet pepperbush, swamp azalea (R.
arborescens), downy leucothoe (L. racemosa), elderberry, southern wild raisin
(Viburnum nudum), and bayberry.
Vines included poison ivy, trumpet creeper,
cross vine and yellow jessamine (both in bloom), grape and
greenbriars.
Wildflowers included southern twayblade (orchid),
primrose-leaved violet, three-lobed violet, blue toadflax, lyre-leaved sage,
sundrops, dame's rocket, barren strawberry, caraway, common cinquefoil, bulbous
buttercup, corn salad, field hawkweed, balsam ragwort, and a vetch, ground ivy,
and geranium.
Amphibians included seeing Fowler's toad and southern toad,
northern and southern cricket frogs, and hearing bullfrog, southern leopard
frog, southern grey tree frog, and green frog.
Mammals included five river
otters that followed one another slowly into the water after watching me watch
them with binos for five minutes. All appeared to be young adults.
Birds
included red-eyed and white-eyed vireos, and the following warblers:
prothonotary, black and white, black-throated blue, American redstart, prairie,
blue-winged, worm eating, swainson's, hooded, yellowthroat, and northern
waterthrush. Others included blue-gray gnatcatcher, acadian flycatcher, eastern
phoebe, scarlet tanager and summer tanager, great crested flycatcher,
yellow-billed cuckoo, barred owl, wood duck, green heron, among
others.
Butterflies included zebra and palamedes swallowtails and numerous
faded monarchs that had made the return trip from Mexico.
Eastern Rodents | Approx. Length |
---|---|
Eastern chipmunk | 5-6 inches |
White-footed mouse | 3 ½ - 4 inches |
Deer mouse | 2 ½ - 4 inches |
Boreal redback vole | 3 ½ - 4 ½ inches |
Yellownose vole | 4 - 5 inches |
Pine vole | 3 - 4 inches |
Woodland jumping mouse | 3 ½ - 4 inches |
Eastern woodrat | 8 - 9 inches |
Shorttail shrew | 3 - 4 inches |
Least shrew | 2 - 2 ½ inches |
Pygmy shrew | 2 - 2 ½ inches |
Longtail shrew | 2 3/4 inches |
Smoky shrew | 2 ½ - 3 inches |
Masked shrew | 2 - 2 ½ inches |
Back to Bob Pickett's Field Notes Home Page
DATE: April 13, 1997 WILDFLOWER HIKE - We identified 44 flowerering herbaceous species and 6 trees
or shrubs.
Here we go:
Aniseroot TREES:
Bladdernut Most of the common names are those used in Newcombes Field Guide.
LOCATION: Turkey Run
Park, VA
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, 55 degrees
Golden Alexanders
Rue Anemone
Wood
Anemone
Sessile-leaved Bellwort
Virginia Bluebells
Abortive
Buttercup
Bulbous Buttercup
Swamp Buttercup
Star Chickweed
Blue
Cohosh
Wild Geranium
Smooth Rock Cress
Dandelion
Dutchman's
Breeches
Wild Ginger
Dwarf Ginseng
Henbit
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
May
Apple
Early Meadow Rue
Garlic Mustard
Miterwort
False
Mermaid
Small-flowered phacelia
Wild Blue Phlox
Golden Ragwort
Wild
Stonecrop
Early Saxifrage
Golden Saxifrage
Skunk Cabbage
Ivy-leaved
Speedwell
Spring Beauty
Squirrel CornIndian Strawberry
Sweet
Cicely
Cut-leaved Toothwort
Sessile-leaved Trillium
White Trout
Lily
Trout Lily (yellow)
Common Blue Violet
Smooth Yellow
Violet
Downy Yellow Violet
Star-of-Bethleh
Flowering Dogwood
Paw
paw
Redbud
Sassafras
Spicebush
DATE: March 29-30, 1997 GEOLOGY: Old Rag granite
BOTANY:
habitats: black birch/mtn laurel on talus slopes; sec. success
deciduous ZOOLOGY: Woodfrog eggs seen 3/24 were now 50 percent hatched both on
top of Old Rag and bottom. Saw two tiger swallowtails on wild cherry tree near
Nethers. Caught 8" red-bellied snake on Old Rag ( disturbed from detritus by
hikers). Six deer seen. Four voles(?) seen in front of Rock Spring-also one on
Nicholson Trail. Three grouse-only one identified (northern red-tail).
NOTES:
LOCATION: Old
Rag-Mtn laurel/Nicholson Hollow work trip
WEATHER: Sat-BIG
rainstorm, Sunday, sunny 65 degrees
species: at 2000' and lower, bloodroot, columbine and corydalis
foliage near Rock Spring Cabin (overnight to see Hale-Bopp Comet). Lower
Nicholson had toothwort, hepatica, buds for wood anemone, lots of coltsfoot,
first yellow cress in field. Some good sized chestnut trees on Nicholson
trail-with nutless husks. Spicebush, shadbush and filbert (at Skyland) in bloom.
Back to Bob Pickett's Field Notes Home Page
DATE: March 16,1997 GEOLOGY: Base is Old Rag Granodiorite, then Catoctin Greenstone @first
falls base.
BOTANY:
habitats: tulip tree, hemlock (heavily infested with hemlock wooly adelgid),
chestnut oak. species:Wildflowers-hepatica, bloodroot, spring beauty, swamp
buttercup, star chickweed, plaintain-leaved pussy-toes, bluets, and early
saxifrage. Also found new jersey tea. Learned more about the three types of
lichen; crustose (on tulip tree bark), foliose (rock tripe), and fruiticose
(british soldiers) lichen. Research now indicates not really a symbiotic
relationship---more of a fungi using an algae. Early spring- maybe two weeks
ahead.
ZOOLOGY: red-backed salamander, winter wren ("skulks" around on
ground-more than carolina wren). Dredged up stone fly and mayfly larvae. Stone
fly larvae have only two-pronged tail with or without gills on thorax. Mayfly
larvae have usually three, but occasionally two-pronged tail with gills on
abdomen always.
NOTES: ANS trip with Stephanie Mason. Hurricane Fran, last Sept., has
washed away one foot bridge and much of the lower banks and vegetation. The edge
of the bank at one place actually has eroded into the trail. Much like lower
Hughes River --- the river is no longer hidden behind the foliage --- much more
visible.
LOCATION:
White Oak
Canyon Trail (to middle falls)
WEATHER: Clear & Cold (35
degrees)
Date: March 8, 1997 Geology: Coastal plain
Botany:Watkins RP had bitternut hickory, ash, buttonbush in the
swamp, big sweetgum. Zoology: Watkins RP had one spotted salamander near a swamp. Lots of
raccoon tracks,beaver and deer tracks. Red shouldered hawk, wood ducks, a female
mallard who called out for twenty minutes while I was there, pileated, several
red bellied and downies, and kingfisher. Notes: A pond along Croom Airport Road had 111 basking painted (and
maybe red-bellied) turtles.
Location:
Watkins
Regional Park and Jug Bay, Maryland
Weather: Partly sunny/cloudy,
breezy, 70 degrees
Jug Bay had swamp magnolia, red-stem dogwood,
amelanchier arborea in bloom (along roads)
Jug Bay had 12 painted turtles @
Heron tower just emerging from the mud, 11 commas/question marks and 5 mourning
cloaks, spotted salamander egg masses (seven cloudy and three clear) in trail
pool. And overwintered bull frog tadpoles (?) and woodfrog eggs in another road
pool.