Mudpuppy

Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) 21-JUL-13
A juvenile, found swimming between rocks in a shallow section of the Allegheny.

Back in the area for a while...

 

 

I'll be posting again for a few weeks, as the Allegheny Valley Project is back in town for the summer. Here's our first summer visitor:

 

Red spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) in the terrestrial juvenile "eft" phase.

Some summer pics

Here are a few snapshots from summer 2012.

An American toad (Bufo americanus)

Some daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) by the side of the road. Native to China, Japan and Korea, these have been introduced all over the world.

The view from Big Level, aka Rock City Hill.

Some roadside rocks.

Introduced from Europe, chicory (Cichorium intybus) brightens up the roadsides on summer mornings.

Eagles

During the 2012 AVP season, we were graced by the presence of a pair of bald eagles flying up and down the river. Attempts to photograph the birds from the site failed miserably, but I did manage to snap a distant image of one in a tree across the river.

A juvenile mantis

This tiny praying mantis was scrambling across the Karl Site during preparations for field season 2012 for the Allegheny Valley Project.

Spring 2011

Got a few opportunities to check out the local flora and fauna during a recent fieldwork trip to WNY. A very wet spring translates to a very green landscape.

Oxbow lake south of the river near Allegany, NY.

Snapple (Chelydra serpentina) in his new home.

Azure bluets (Houstonia caerulea) cluster about the clearings...

...along with speedwell (Veronica sp.)...

...and woodland strawberries (Fragaria vesca).

A few naturalized intruders that join the native plants include forget-me-nots (Myosotis scorpiodes)...

...and the tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris).

Also introduced, the common apple (Malus sylvestris) brightens up the springtime hills with its dazzling blooms.

The native choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) can also produce some eye-catching blooms.

Silver maples (Acer saccharinum) arch over a rain-swollen Allegheny.

The soggy Allegheny Valley had more than enough rain in Spring '11.

The ponds at Breezy Point near Bolivar, NY were full as well.

The benefit is the foliage, lush and green...

Painting the hillsides emerald, with hints of white, yellow and pink.

...and of course, the toads (Bufo americanus) love it.

Random 2008-10

Haven't been able to make a concerted effort to focus on nature while working on my dissertation, but now and again I had managed to slip in a few nature photos.

Here is a common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) with a beautiful orange stripe in its pattern.

The Fivemile Creek is often clogged with wood debris near its confluence with the Allegheny.

Wild cucumber (Echinosystis lobata) can be found in the scrub forests along the river.

Frost aster (Symphyotricum pilosum), also called hairy white oldfield aster, is plentiful late in the year, one of the last to succumb to frost.

Many low farm fields along the river are subject to annual flooding in the early spring.

The intriguing but very toxic false hellebore (Viratrum viride) is conspicuous on the forest floor in the spring.

Beginning in 2011, I will be making an annual trip to the Allegheny Valley to conduct archaeological research. I will be setting aside a few days each trip solely for nature pictures, so there won't be such a long hiatus between posts.