Real summer

I was briefly back out doing more plant surveys. They were cut short thanks to the heat and other boring reasons. I can't say I was sad to be indoors during our short wave. I could usually handle the morning but by lunch I'd start get loopy. I'd stop caring and I'd be ready for a nap. Here's some more cool fungi about.

This is a ravaged tussock sedge, which is a clumped sedge. Some small critter must have made a nest in it and I can only assume a bear was determined to get at it.

Tomorrow I head into extreme mosquito zone from what my co-workers have said. Hopefully it won't be that bad but I'm already preparing for the worst.

Mystery plants, berries, mosquitoes, and more

Today I was out again doing a rare plant survey. Almost immediately out of the truck we were assaulted by swarms of mosquitoes. They didn't care how much bug spray or how strong it was. I did bring my fashionable head net, which helped a bit. I'm sad to say my arms and neck took the brunt of the assault. Thankfully later in the heat of the afternoon, they tapered off for a bit and I could take off my head net. But I will remember this site not for the mosquitoes, but rather for the extremely large and juicy blueberries. There were also black huckleberries (also yum), blackberries, dewberries (which I think I ate but I'm not sure what happens during a berry feeding frenzy), and black blueberries. Yup. There's something called a black highbush blueberry. I didn't totally key out the shrub, but I know it exists so I'm pretty sure I ate some of them. Here's a pic of some of those large and juicy blueberries...not the black blueberries though.

Above is a mystery non-plant. It was growing all over the boulders and I'm not sure if it's a lichen or fungus. It sure was cool looking though.

We stumbled upon this lady box turtle chowing down on some fungus. It was a bit awkward and I felt like we were intruding on her private gorging so we quickly moved on.

Last there were a ton of cool fungus out. These are one of the few pics that came out mostly focused.

Unauthorized blood donation

I was out today in Warren-tucky aka Warren County, NJ. It was a small site so I thought we would be done real quick with relatively little effort. Not the case. First off it's a white trash autobody place and there are dozens of abandoned vehicles everywhere. Half of which are mostly full of garbage. I even spotted a dead rat in a puddle next to a car. They have been filling wetlands to create a place to park these gems, which is a violation of the wetland rules. And they are using chunks of asphalt, concrete bits, broken up gravestones, and just plain junk to build up the land. Add a dense cover of prickers and weeds taller than me. Now add some light rain so everything is real slick. So walking around is real challenging because the ground is so uneven and slippery, and you can't see where you are going. The wetlands are no better and just a jungle of prickers and other dense shrubs. If that isn't enough fun, now throw in swarms of mosquitoes that are dying for blood. When they get fierce they try to go in your eyes, ears, nose, etc. I wish I had my headnet with me. Alas I left it in the truck.

This van is not from this place but I saw it someplace else. I can't even imagine the glare all that paper throws on the windshield but I guess they can't live without all that crap.