Ingenuity

Winter buds (also called turions) on aquatic plants are such ingenious adaptations, and yet their obvious simplicity always amazes me. Towards the end of the growing season, the plants begin storing all their energy into a mass of tightly sealed, ready-to-sprout leaf structures, which remain closed and ready, until spring warmth arrives. These protected cells contain the chlorophyll needed for them to begin photosynthesizing when the ice melts, giving them a head start in the short growing season.

Common bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) produces large green, tightly packed balls at its growing tip, which persist through the winter. They certainly stand out when you look down into the water column from a kayak.

Up close, they are an exquisite emerald green of interesting textures.

 

Coils

These exquisite coils remind me of bedsprings or electric cables.

They are the coiled flower stems of the white water lily (Nymphaea odorata). Once fertilized, the stalk coils and pulls the flower down beneath the water's surface, where the fruit matures and will be dispersed. Great mechanism.

Something Obscure

Why do I gravitate towards weirdly obscure scenes like this?

This is what I saw when I looked down at the grass through the cut-out pattern in a wrought iron table - the delicate spider webs criss-crossing the opening really appealed to me. I thought it looked pretty cool.

Cove Diving

We've all heard of cave diving, but what I used to do must be a new sport: cove diving. This is what I was doing 9 years ago - removing fallen branches from the cove that were accumulating and getting in the way of my foot traverses as I searched for milfoil. I think I've 'matured' since then (got too old for it, I mean)!

Note, I'm wearing a wetsuit because it was starting to get cold already  (happy side note: I can still wear that SAME SIZE wetsuit, which is a major feat for me). This year the water level is way down (18 inches) after dam repairs, and most of our cove is aqueous mud, so I couldn't do this even if I had the desire. We've  been waiting for some rain to help restore it to normal levels.

Fall

Exquisite stillness

Pierced by Bald eagles calling -

Loons reciprocate.

Mauve Beauty

 

Mauve flowers at dawn,

Each is a composite of

Many smaller ones.

Sweet Bandit

I had such a super sweet encounter with a raccoon in my carport recently ... and it's stayed with me, so here's my recollection: 

I was re-arranging a few things in our carport when I heard other scrabbling, scratching sounds that weren't generated by me. I looked up to see a pair of eyes gazing at me from under the deck at our front door. I cooed and talked gently, as if calming a cat, and out crept a terrified racoon in slow motion, it's eyes fixed on me and its head tilting at as it listened to my cooing (of course, I had no camera with me to snap a few shots, but my mind was archiving it all). It wasn't aggressive, didn't hiss or bare its teeth, just slowly moved across in front of me to under the huge tool chest, and off into a corner. Can you see the frightened, sweet cutie in this mess?

The poor creature looked both terrified and curious, and I felt so special for having been tolerated, and not perceived as a threat!

Garish Colors

This caterpillar is really small, about 1/2 inch long, but manages to pack in a garish array of colors in this small space -

I believe it's Symmerista leucitys, the orange-humped mapleworm, a North American native. They feed on hardwoods late in the season, when natural defoliation for these trees is not far off.

Autumnal Equinox

 The stillness of fall

Makes me do some reflecting -

Where did summer go?

Powdered Sugar

The amount of pollen produced by clasping pondweed species in August is quite amazing, like a dusting of confectioner's sugar. I recall seeing bits of white floating on the water's surface everywhere we went on one of the survey days up north. The white mass splits apart and floats off in much smaller blobs. 

We had a specimen in a water tray overnight, and were treated to this amazing sight the next day, showing how prolific a pollen producer it is.

Freshwater Sponges

I was delighted to find these bright green sponges on a warm September day recently. They covered segments of fallen branches and some rocks too, giving the appearance of bright green paint splotches.

They are non-moving invertebrates with a coarse texture (not slimy) that range throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. This first one has furry-looking tentacles.

This second one is more cohesive and feels so ... spongey! Their specialized cells filter the water for particles to feed on, providing a cleaning service and keeping our waters clean. Yay, sponges!

Algal Clouds

 Voila! The answer to yesterday's puzzling pic:

It's metaphyton (filamentous algae) that got draped over a stick, and was then left high and dry when the lake level was lowered for dam repairs.

Clouds of metaphyton usually float around in lakes but this year's extremely hot summer has resulted in an increase in algal clouds. It feels a lot like cotton candy.

The yellow-brown mass through the middle of the photo below shows a cloud drifting in the water.

Metaphyton clouds look pretty unappealing but are not likely to harbor cyanobacteria as planktonic algae do.

Metaphyton algal clouds usually dissipate and collapse as conditions for their bloom can no longer sustain them. They proliferate in shallow parts of the littoral zone where the presence of many plants gives them a "platform" to aggregate together. They dissipate in open, flowing water as they cannot sustain their cohesion.

Puzzling Pic

 Any idea what these pretty patterns and colors are from?

You'll have to wait till tomorrow ...

Water Skeeters

 

Elongated legs,

Hydrophobic microhairs:

Walking on water.

Fishing Spider

Whilst sitting quietly at the end of a cove, enjoying the tranquility and shade, I slowly became aware of this fishing spider, Dolomedes triton, so easy to miss.

Moving On

 

As summer winds down,

Aquatics start senescing.

Calm water reflects.

Searchlights

Peep, of the searchlight eyes, is super alert to noises that might in any way be associated with food. Though she looks demure, she turns into an ugly horror show when food is served, huffing and guzzling to the point where it seems she might pass out because she can't breathe as she inhales food instead of air.

She's also super tuned in to possibilities of encountering "the darkness," Linus' black cat, with whom she does not want to get on.

She's very vocal and a great, purry cuddler as well!

Gardening with Natives

    N a t i v e s   R u l e !

How happy it makes me to see how varied in color, texture, and form our native flowers are

        

There's always something new and different showing itself throughout the growing season.

Water Marigolds

I've seen a lot of Water marigolds (Bidens beckii) in our lake, but had never seen it flower till this year. Dale got some particularly nice captures of this bloom from our survey on Lake Madawaska in The County (Aroostook to most of us, but to inhabitants, it is the only county) in July.

Photo: D. Schultz

The leaves floating on the surface all around the marigold belong to other plants, the pondweeds. The flower looks a lot like a common old garden marigold. It has special leaves on the emergent stem from which the flower grows and stands above the water.

Photo: D. Schultz

The regular underwater leaves are visible in the top left of the picture below, as a finely divided, shaggy mass that can grow up to 8 feet long. 

Beauty in Small Things

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower"
- Auguries of Innocence, William Blake

Exotic Beauty

I came across this invasive Eurasian vine whilst kayaking near some wetlands on Lake Madawaska - the flowers are quite striking, and stand out from the rest of the vegetation. It's the Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), which has become a noxious weed in many parts of the U.S. and will grow in poor soil conditions where more picky plants won't thrive.

It grows over other plants, using them as supports, and spreads widely in this manner.

Ocean Visit

A wonderful and fun day with friends at their cottage on Wells on a perfect weather day at the end of August - what more could a person ask for? 

Details like the patterns pebbles make on beach sand after waves retreat fascinate me ...

Swimming in the ocean is always energizing and refreshing. I learned to play Bocce and Cornhole, too - one of these days I'll fit in!

New Sundew

So excited to have found the Spatulate-leaved sundew (Drosera intermedia) on our lake recently. I had only noticed the Round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundiflora) around our wetlands till now, and was ecstatic to find this one thriving here as well.

Both types are common in the Northeast, but as you can see, their leaf shapes are a little different. They are very slow growers in nutrient poor habitats.

The sticky glandular hairs keep insects trapped until the plant can envelop them.

Aquatic Bloom

This flower has the common name large purple bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea), but it's hard to capture the color in bold sunlight - it seems to sap the color from the petals.

The messy-looking mass of brown vegetation floating beneath the flower are its leaves, stems and bladders 

The plant puts up a long flower stalk that can rise above the water

or often lies along the surface like a long piece of string.