Month: April 2020

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April: Transformation from CT

Notes on the day:

  • 60°F
  • sunny
  • windy
  • little to no mud
  • had been cold and cloudy before this (40°F )

More Spring Discoveries!

Scott, J. (2020). Growth. On the left you can see how much greener the grass in my yard is. If you look closely the wild violet scattered through the grass. On the right is the growing buds of a tree in my front yard (I have yet to identify it).

White Memorial Trail in Morris, CT

This past Sunday, after a couple of cold 40°F cloudy days, it was 60°F and sunny! Granted there was a significant wind chill, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to go on a hike and get out of the house. I went to White Memorial, a set of trails a couple towns over from me. The trails in my town were shut down because there were too many people, believe it or not. These sure are interesting times…

Scott, J. (2020). Painting. The more I look at this picture, the more it transforms into a painting.

How to Tell if it’s Spring

The Vernal equinox occurs around March 20 in the northern hemisphere. This signifies the beginning of Spring! Have you noticed the days are much longer, not to mention warmer? The precipitation we expect has transitioned from snow to rain. We can see new plants popping up. Animal activity has increased as well. These are the telltale signs of yet another transition to Summer (Di Silvestro, 2011).

Scott, J. (2020). Butterfly. This butterfly is called a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa).

I had to search online for what type of butterfly it was. After scrolling a while I figured out it was Nymphalis antiopa, or mourning cloak (Chandler, 2018). This is a really cool name by the way. It flew out of nowhere and really caught me by surprise. I was worried it would fly off before I got the chance to take a picture.

Notice where the butterfly landed. Look closely at what the ground is composed of:

  • decomposing pine needles
  • dead leaves
  • dead grass
  • sprouting grass!
Scott, J. (2020). Water. This is a picture of Ongley Pond at White Memorial.

Some…weird…discoveries

Unfortunately, our public parks often times are disrespected by trail goers. I found a soda can right next to the water on the trail. Littering can have implications for wildlife through water pollution and choking hazards. Litter may also carry germs that the animals aren’t used to being exposed to.

Another rather interesting discovery I saw when I was right next to the water. I had crouched to look at a plant when I noticed something floating in the water. A dead fish had washed up at the Pond’s edge. After a quick examination, I noticed the fish was missing a fin and likely couldn’t swim. It probably washed up from a storm we had a little bit ago. Nonetheless, I was a little bit startled and of course questioned the quality of the water for a minute.

Scott, J. (2020). Discoveries. On the left is the plant I’ve been trying to identify. I remember seeing it in lab, but the name is written in my lab notebook at school 🙁 . On the right is the dead fish I found by the water’s edge. It is believed to have died from a fin injury.

Thoughts

I threw a lot at you during this post…did you catch it all? I can confidently say Spring is here; I’m sure we will all eagerly watch as it advances. I love the warm weather and I cannot wait for the sun to come out more and the temperature to rise.

Citations:

Chandler, R. (2018, June 7). Butterfly Identification 101. Retrieved from https://www.saveourmonarchs.org/blog/butterfly-identification-101

Di Silvestro, R. (2011, March 17). 5 Ways to Tell Spring Has Arrived • The National Wildlife Federation Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.nwf.org/2011/03/5-ways-to-tell-spring-has-arrived/