(AUGUST 9, 2010) This morning we had to rush our walk because someone was coming to our house to put in some blinds "between 8 and 9." I decided to go to Angler's Park so I could be within sight of my car and could end the walk quickly if I saw that I was running behind.
As we went into the park, two deer ran across the road about 50 yards ahead of us
and disappeared into the marsh. I had driven only a few yards more when a much larger deer ran in front of me, following the other two into the marsh. I pulled over into a rocky parking lot and got out with my camera. As can be seen by the photo to the left, I was too late.CATTAILS
I decided to leave the car in the rocky parking lot, so I went back to get Sadie out of the back. We crossed the wooden bridge, and I noticed that the marsh was full of cattails. These "hot dogs on long sticks" were everywhere I looked.
It was 6:20 in the morning, and there wasn't much else to see in the marsh. Unlike deer, that disappear into the marsh, the cattails just stood there and let me snap away. When I returned home, I discovered that cattails go by some other names in American English. They are also called "punks" and "corndog grass." In England they are called "bulrush," "bullrush," and "reedmace." The red-winged blackbird calls them "home." This is where they sit in the spring and summer and build their nests
INCHWORMS
As we came to the part of the path that leads up river toward Dan Daniel Park, I noticed a shimmering thread hanging about eye level. Attached to the end of the thread was an inchworm. This is not actually a worm but a caterpillar that will eventually turn into a small moth. I often see these small creatures hanging on their threads along the Riverwalk. This morning, in the quietness of Angler's Park, the little guy seemed to be hanging there waiting for me to photograph him.
WTH* (What the Heck?)
As we walked by the marsh, I notice some very pretty flowers - purple, blue, yellow, and I also
noticed that one purple flower seemed to explode out of the a thistle and had some white cottony fluff coming out from where it exploded. While walking near the marsh, on the other side nearer to the river, I had passed some flowers and saw cottony fluff clinging to the leaves of some of the marsh plants. I ignored these little fluff balls thinking that they had come from these purple flowers or were just goose down hanging there.
As we were returning to the car, I saw a yellow flower and stopped to take a picture. It was near one of the white cottony fluff balls. All of a sudden the fluff ball started to move. My reaction was WTH*? (*What the Heck?). As I looked closer, the white fluff didn't move again immediately, but as I stood there, I could see a little head coming out of the white "cotton."
I realized that this was a small woolly worm. Checking it out at home, I discovered it was a woolly bear, a small caterpillar that will eventually become a moth. This little fluff ball seems to want to confuse a potential predator into believing that it is either a part of the flower or a piece of goose down. Or, perhaps, I am the only one fooled by this, though nature is wonderful in protecting its littlest creatures.
On the way back to the car, we were still fairly alone in the park. As we crossed the road to the rocky parking lot, Sadie started prancing and looking like she had seen a deer or other wildlife. As I got within 30 yards of the car, I pushed the unlock button to open the back window. When it went up, Sadie jumped like a frightened dog. She hadn't recognized the car because it was parked at a different place, and when we got there, she started sniffing it. She finally accepted it as ours and jumped into the back.
It was another good morning on the Riverwalk at Angler's Park.
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