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The Bug Geek
Insects. Doing Science. Other awesome, geeky stuff.
Small Green Things
Posted by on March 27, 2010
I returned home with three EXTRAORDINARILY DIRTY dogs.
We are most definitely in the thick of spring thaw. The ground is hard and crunchy in the shady nooks and sopping wet and muddy in the sunnier ones. We’ve swung from +16 to -16C in the past week. The “frozen” patches over bodies of water are deceptively thin…as the small mugsly dog found out (Me: “Um, small dog? You may wish to reconsider your choice of places to stan…” SPLASH! FRANTIC PADDLING IN VERY COLD WATER! Uproarious laughter of cruel human!)
It was far too cold for active bugs yesterday; we barely broke the freezing mark. There is, however, a distinct and lovely new shade of GREEN in my woods. Moss is growing like gangbusters now that the snow is gone, as are a few teeny-weeny plants.
In the absence of bugs, today I present Small Things That Are Growing
in the forest:
Raspberry
Looks rather like Bisphorella citrina
New shoots on moss
and in an open field, on bare, exposed rock:
Fern-like moss...is this a moss?
Brilliant green moss
Reddish star-shaped moss
And now I shall scan the link of over 200 moss photos that Susannah provided not long ago, and try to figure some of these out.
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Raspberries!
Hope you’ve logged that position on the GPS. I only get to eat frozen ones these days.
No need to log it…they grow freely and abundantly along my normal walkabout trail…as well as just behind one side of the fence surrounding my back yard. I get lovely berries every summer just off my back deck that way (providing the dratted birds don’t get them first!)
Thanks for the link!
I like that “is this a moss” moss. I think it’s moss, anyhow.
🙂
It’s pretty mossy-looking…and it was growing with a bunch of other mosses…but it is a mystery. *shrug*
Congratulations on your three years of funding. It’s a great feeling to know the money’s there and you can concentrate on your research.
Your “is this a moss” looks suspiciously like the basal leaves of a Yarrow plant. I’m always certain about my plant identification. Unfortunately, that certainty may transition through a dozen different suspected species before I arrive at the correct solution.
I got some nice shots of a beetle larva this morning. I’ll probably post them early next week.
Thanks, Steve. The funding DOES make a big difference, and it’s a pretty little feather in my cap as well. Such feathers are always very welcome.
Your authoritative/confident plant ID technique sounds a lot like my equally authoritative/confident insect ID technique 😛
I’m looking forward to your larva pics, and enjoying touring the Barrens with you on your blog!
Mosses as well as Mushrooms have always been my favorites to photograph. Your pictures are simply stunning. Love them!
Aren’t they fun? I have to admit, I’ve had an underwhelming level of appreciation for them in the past, but I have a bit of a crush on them right now!
I’ve recently found myself equally smitten with lichens – I never appreciated their diversity (and difficult taxonomy) until I started photographing them. I’ve got some beauties in previous posts if you care to take a look (just click on “lichens” in my sidebar Tag Cloud).
Congrats on the funding! Soon I’ll be calling you “Dr. Bug” and you’ll still be calling me “Mister” 🙂
regards–ted