United States

Sandy Hook Flora

2023-07-072023-07-01Sherry Felix7 Comments

As part of the littoral picnic one of the activities was to go on a walk to study plants by the shore. Alex and Zi showed us many plants. Sandy Hook’s ecology is part of the Pine Barrens which where there before the glaciers. Atlantic coastal pine barrens – Wikipedia

Between 170–200 million years ago, the Atlantic coastal plain began to form.
The Barrens formed in the southernmost and newest land area in New Jersey 1.8 to 65 million years ago, during the Tertiary era.
Over millions of years, the rising and falling of the coastline deposited minerals underground, culminating with the end of the last ice age about 12,000 years ago, when plants and trees began growing in what is now New Jersey.
Forest fires have been a common occurrence before habitation by humans. Fire has played a major ecological role in the Pinelands, and the ecotypes “suggest that short fire intervals may have been typical in the Pine Plains for many centuries, or millennia.” New Jersey Pine Barrens – Wikipedia

Lyre-leaved Rock Cress (Arabidopsis lyrata), Sandy Hook 6/24/2023

Sandy Hook Door

2023-07-062023-07-06Sherry Felix2 Comments

A door near the North Beach Observation Deck, Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

For Thursday doors today: Iowa—Beer Club—Doors – No Facilities

Path Two Ways

2023-07-05Sherry Felix12 Comments

An experiment in black and white.

Sandy Hook Landscapes

2023-07-052023-07-01Sherry Felix7 Comments

More landscapes at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The last photograph was taken from the restaurant after the rain while we ate dinner.

Sandy Hook Beaches

2023-07-042023-07-01Sherry Felix6 Comments

The dark clouds added a dramatic atmosphere to my beach photographs at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

Sandy Hook Picnic

2023-07-032023-07-01Sherry Felix7 Comments

We attended the annual American Littoral Society (littoralsociety.org) picnic at Sandy Hook, in New Jersey on June 26. It rained in the morning and late afternoon but not during the picnic. While driving by I spotted an osprey and later at home noticed an egret in the tree.

American Littoral Society Picnic, Sandy Hook 6/24/2023

High Rock Park Fauna

2023-07-022023-06-26Sherry Felix11 Comments

I got help from BugGuide.Net on the first one. I misnamed it as a fly. It is a wasp – Evaniidae – Wikipedia. I also found a few insects while looking at plants. The last two are of an Oak apple – Wikipedia. It is festinating how a wasp lays and egg in a plant then the the larvae makes the plant create a dwelling for it.

Ensign Wasp (Evaniidae), High Rock Park, 6/18/2023

High Rock Park Flora

2023-07-012023-07-12Sherry Felix4 Comments

I signed up for a wild plant trip with the New York Botanical Garden to study plants at High Rock Park – Greenbelt Conservancy. Our leader, Marielle Anzelone, is very knowledgeable. She pointed out many endemic species.

The plant list that she shared with us is impressive: Acer rubrum, Aegopodium podagraria, Alliaria petiolata, Aralia elata (seedling), Aronia sp. (seedling), Boehmeria cylindrica, Cabomba caroliniana, Carex cf. Ovales, Carex stricta, Carpinus caroliniana, Carya ovalis, Carya tomentosa, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Chimaphila maculata, Cirsium sp., Clethra alnifolia, Cornus cf. amomum, Danthonia spicata, Decodon verticillata, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, Desmodium paniculatum, Dichanthelium cf. dichotomum, Elaeagnus angustifolius, Fagus grandifolia, Fraxinus americana, Hibiscus moscheutos, Hypericum mutilum, Juncus spp., Lindera benzoin, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, Luzula multiflora, Lycopus virginicus, Maiantheumum canadense, Microstegium vimineum, Monotropa uniflora, Nabalus cf. albus (Prenanthes alba), Nuphar lutea, Nymphaea odorata, Nyssa sylvatica, Onoclea sensibilis, Osmunda cinnamomea, Peltandra virginica, Pilea pumila, Plantago major, Poa cf. palustris, Prunus serotina, Pyrola americana, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Quercus velutina, Rhododendron periclymenoides, Rhododendron viscosum, Rosa multiflora, Rubus cf. enslenii, Rubus cf.allegheniensis, Sassafras albidum, Smilax rotundifolia, Thelypteris noveboracensis, Trifolium cf. repens, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium pallidum, Viburnum acerifolium, Viburnum dentatum, and Viburnum prunifolium,

Butterflies: Sachem? Fiery? Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper, Spicebush Swallowtail, and Cabbage white.