A Tangled Web of Black Threads

Every now and again one stumbles across something baffling that defies an easy explanation. To be sure, this might not be as exciting as sighting a Sasquatch, photographing the Loch Ness Monster or being kidnapped by extraterrestrial aliens, but it's certainly a mystery what these black thread-like growths entangled in the pine needles littering the woodland floor might be. Whatever they are they do seem to use the pine needles and twigs as a substrate.

Could they be the stems of Horsehair Mushrooms, various tiny Marasmius spp? If so, where are the remnants of the caps? Also, the threads are between 75 mm to 100 mm long – too long to be the stems of the tiny 'shrooms in question. Another possibility is that we're looking at last year's dessicated remnants of Fairy Threads (Macrotyphula spp.). And a local naturalist suggested the darkened remains of Dwarf Scouring Rush (Equisetum scirpoides). A good idea, but why isn't there so much as a single living specimen to be found in the area?

Until some specimens both dead and alive are encountered the black threads will remain an enigma ...

The Walking Ferns of Warsaw Caves

The story of the Warsaw Caves in Peterborough County begins about 350 million years ago when the limestone comprising the terrain was laid down in ancient Paleozoic era seabeds. More recently (in geological terms) tens of thousands of years ago glaciers sculpted the landscape, and their meltwaters flowing from Lake Algonquin to Lake Iroquois (the remnants of which form today's Great Lakes) further shaped the terrain, creating the geological features we see today.

It's not unfair to say that a tiny bit of the glaciers remains with us in the present – even in mid-May there is ice in the caves, and one of them has ice year around.

Playing it safe and inspecting a cave to see if there might be an Ursus spelaeus lurking inside ...

The cedars hang on to every available ledge and crevice for dear life. And do not enter if you are subject to vertigo! Photographs simply can't do justice to the steep gullies and ravines around the caves.

A relic of bygone days – I believe this is a fossil gastropod with the shell seen in lengthwise cross-section. There were also what appeared to be coral fossils embedded in some of the ancient limestone.

Hard stones caught in place and swirling around in the current of the ancient riverbed eventually ate their way through the much softer limestone, forming numerous kettles a.k.a. rockmills.

"Ate their way through" – meaning literally, not just as a figure of speech.

The high point of the day, so to speak – a view of the nearby Indian River.

Or perhaps this was the high point, in any event a real treat to find! According to the Peterson Field Guide to Ferns the Walking Fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum) is rare and local and I never thought I would ever see one. There were large patches growing on the thin soil covering the limestone boulders along the Kettle Trail.

The underside of the frond. Yes, this plant is indeed a fern, a flowering plant would not have sori on the underside of its leaves.

When the tips of the fronds encounter suitable growing conditions they sprout plantlets, hence the name "Walking Fern". Incidentally, I found that frond tip already exposed and it was not uprooted just to take a photo. Flora and fauna that are rare are uncommon for a good reason and it's best to let them be and not to disturb them. – "A walking fern may have taken up to five centuries to adapt to that particular rock. Its roots extend into all the little pockets in the rock, modifying the soil beneath the moss. No other fern creates a symbiotic relationship like this.".

Although I didn't know it until the following day I did inadvertently bring home a souvenier from the Warsaw Caves, a Wood Tick (Dermacentor variabilis) hitched a ride in the rolled up sleeve of my shirt. I'm not writing this to scare people away from the great outdoors – I wasn't bitten and this species doesn't carry Lyme Disease, unlike the Black-legged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) that I picked up much closer to home. But be tick-smart: always check yourself and your pets over carefully, and shower and wash clothing after visiting places that might be frequented by ticks. Happy hiking!

Bluish Spring Moth (Lomographa semiclarata)

As its name implies the color and patterning of the Bluish Spring Moth's wings do impart a bluish tint to them, making it resemble an undersized Spring Azure when in flight. Its day flying habit reinforces its butterfly-like aspect but at 20 mm in length it's much smaller than any of the early spring blues. The caterpillars eat Prunus spp, poplar and alders.

Nature photography is fun, challenging and educational but sometimes the pictures don't come for free. No ticks or mosquitoes this time but after stalking this wary moth through a marsh for half an hour the inevitable happened ...

Elfcups and Elfins

According to Michael Kuo at MushroomExpert.Com, the cup fungus Sarcoscypha coccinea is indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. The striking red woodland floor fungus found in the east in early spring, commonly known as Scarlet Elfcup, Scarlet Elfcap, or Scarlet Cup, is apt to be Sarcoscypha dudleyi or Sarcoscypha austriaca.

The differences aren't visible to the naked eye and a microscopic examination is needed to separate the species. And despite its brilliant color the Scarlet Elfcup is sometimes not visible to the naked eye on a macro scale, as it often grows under drifts of last autumn's dead leaves and easy to miss.

The usual first butterflies of spring have been flying for the past couple of weeks – Mourning Cloaks, Eastern Commas and Spring Azures. May 5th marked my first sighting of a Henry's Elfin (Callophrys henrici) for 2014, and the Eastern Pine Elfins and Juniper Hairstreaks should be out and about any day soon (maybe they already are and I've overlooked them).

Order juxtaposed against chaos, and another sign of spring ... the graceful green spirals of fiddleheads poking their way through the monotonous brown of the random forest floor litter. These look like Northern Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina), this makes sense as late last summer this fern was growing along the woodland stream where the fiddleheads were photographed.

Fiddleheads of the Sensitive Fern.

Ostrich Fern rhizome and fiddleheads.

These shapely unfolding fronds may belong to a Cinnamon Fern, but the world of ferns and other non-flowering plants is new to me and I'm still learning, so I'm not sure. I'll keep tabs on them and see what develops over the couple few weeks.

Another Stream full of Spiketails!

It seems like in another month to six weeks I'm going to have to be in two places at once. Just west of the intersection of the Sulphide Road and the trans-Canada Trail is a woodland steam with a sandy bottom.

Ideal Spiketail breeding habitat, it definitely looked like it was worth checking out, and sure enough there was a female Spiketail naiad in my second handful sand. She's about 40 mm in length and should emerge for her final molt to adulthood in a few weeks.

Needless to say these naiads they are impossible to spot when they are in full stealth mode, buried with only their eyes exposed.

The Spiketails are also doing well in the stream where I first encountered them. There's a lot more happening now than back in the middle of January.

It didn't take much effort to dredge up a couple more female naiads, one about 25 mm long and the other 45 mm.

Late last autumn my efforts to ascertain the species proved inconclusive, though I was able to narrow the possibilities down to either the Arrowhead Spiketail (Cordulegaster obliqua) or the Twin-spotted Spiketail (Cordulegaster maculata), with what little data I had weighted in favor the latter. Rather than trying to monitor two streams separated by almost two kilometers, in another couple of weeks or so I'm going to capture a couple or three larvae and try to raise them.

It's been ten months since I first discovering the naiads, with some luck and a little more patience I'm going to find out what they are soon ...

Western Chorus Frog (and other signs Spring is finally here)

Often heard early in the spring – even a small chorus of these tiny frogs can be deafening – but seldom seen, Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris triseriata) can survive being frozen and are out and about seeking potential mates when there is still snow and ice on the marshes and temporary vernal pools that are their breeding sites.

In addition to its song (reminiscent to running your fingernail along the teeth of a comb), the dark stripe through the eye, white upper lip and long spots or blotches distinguish this species from the Spring Peeper.

Calling for a girl friend ... the frog's vocal sac distends to twice the size seen in this photo.

It looks like this male sang loud enough and long enough to capture the attention of a female, and judging by their numbers these pairings no doubt happen many a time.

There's only one way to capture a close-up image of a 3 cm long frog with a point-and-shoot camera. My pants are wet up to the knees and my shoes still aren't completely dry two days later ...

Also seldom seen (and hopefully never heard, if so, see a psychiatrist) – Sarcoscypha coccinea, better known by the fanciful name Scarlet Elf Cup. This eye-catching early spring Ascomycete is not uncommon but it's often overlooked because it's buried under leaf litter.

Never heard, generally not considered to be eye-catching and frequently overlooked, and wish it was much less often encountered – the Black-legged Tick a.k.a. Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis). I think I picked up this unwelcome hitchhiker when I bumped my head against a shrub during the incursion into the marsh – on my own head be it, so to speak.

I was onto the little sucker out not long after she started biting me, and while I'm not certain I got the hypostome out, it alone won't transmit Lyme Disease and the tick needs to be attached for several hours in any event. So it seems I'm off the hook, but just to play it safe I'm going to monitor the bite site for the next couple of weeks ...

There's a good reason a tick's hypostome is difficult to remove once it's firmly inserted. Have a look at the macro of the "business end", as it's so nicely put, of Dermacentor albipictus at Macromite's Blog.

Distant cousins of the Deer Tick – and a lot less bloodthirsty, at least from a mammalian perspective – Habronattus spp. are among the first jumping spiders apt to be encountered in spring. The next two images depict a Habronattus calcaratus maddisoni female and male. The spiders were found only a few centimeters from one another, no doubt there was a mating in the offing.

The male Habronattus viridipes closely resembles its cousin, but note the sinuous white line on the cephalothorax and the irregular borders of the black stripes on the abdomen. The first pair of legs of both species have a bright green inner surface, used by the males to signal to a prospective mate.

As always many thanks to the experts at BugGuide.Net for their help. I was fairly certain as to the genus these small Salticids (5 cm, give or take) but I couldn't have identified them to the species (let alone subspecies) level without some guidance. Another great website for identifying Salticidae is Jumping Spiders of North America.

Both of the Habronattus spp. were encountered on open rock outcrops in high and dry pine/oak/blueberry scrub habitat – the home of the Common Five-lined Skink. The little reptiles are still with us, first sighting for 2014 was Sunday April 27th, and a friend managed to get a photo before it scurried for cover.

The stony blueberry scrub is also a good place to look for the Bumble Flower Beetle (Euphoria inda). About the size of a June Beetle, this hairy scarab not only mimics the appearance of a bumblebee, it even drones like one while in flight. The larvae live in dung and decomposing wood, and there's lots of the latter laying around; they mature and fly in late summer and the beetles seen in the spring have overwintered as adults.

It's been a long cold winter and a late cool spring, I wonder if the "immigrant" species from warmer climes that have been extending their ranges northward made it through?