Autumn On The Rutland Trail - Part 1

We had a beautiful autumn day and I needed to get out in nature, so I took the dogs to a section of the Rutland Trail, a former railroad bed which traverses a stretch of wetlands. Need I add that the dogs were ecstatic?

Indeed, they ran so fast and far that I had to do more hollering. I am glad to say that they soon calmed down and became pleasant company:

The Rutland Trail is hard packed gravel, straight and level - just right for an old codger with leg braces and just right for dogs who love to run:

The first body of water lay to our left, a lovely, peaceful scene where I often record Spring Peepers - in season, of course:

The autumn colors were muted but lovely, and the day was comfortably warm for October:

The big pond on our left was bordered by grasses, cattails and dead Queen Anne's Lace plants. On the right was a sort of overgrown canal but the sun was too bright for me to get a photo of anything on the right:

 I kept seeing these distinctive oak leaves, so I looked them up when I got home and decided that they were Bur Oak. I wish I'd have found some acorns to confirm that I.D. but I think I'm right:

And then a gentle, red dragonfly landed on my hand. It held still while I tried to maneuver the camera with my left hand so I could get a photo:

 Here's a closeup. I looked it up when I got home and decided it was a Red Skimmer Dragonfly in the genus Sympetrum, but there were too many species for me to narrow it down any more:

 A Woolly Bear, whose adult stage is the Isabella Tiger Moth

I was stopped in my tracks by these leaves, the most brilliant purple leaves I'd ever seen. They were the common Bittersweet Nightshade, and the plant's red berries added to the color:

Jack, Clover and Daphne may be small in size, but they are bold, determined hikers. We were just getting started on our hike, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 4

We were hiking southward, back the way we'd come, and passed the fish barrier dam between Long Pond and Black Pond:

 This was only my second "real" hike in my new braces and, while they were keeping my ankles from pain, they were making the rest of my feet and legs both tired and sore. I stopped for a rest along the shore of Black Pond:

 My seated position gave me a good opportunity to photograph the happy dogs. Fergus was again looking noble:

 And Daphne, I noticed, had filled out with a full, adult, Papillon hair coat:

Clover was looking regal::

 We got up and started hiking again. Daphne took a detour into the Horsetails:

 The trail took us along the western shore of Black Pond:

 Another species of dragonfly, differently colored than the smiley-face species I'd seen before, but similar enough that I wondered if it was closely related:

 The pooches stopped for a cool drink:

 The trail was extremely scenic, and Wood Duck nest boxes were attached to trees at intervals:

 Even Clover and Daphne were slowing down at this point:

 We rounded a bend and I was thinking ahead to taking more photos at the Black Pond lean-to when my camera's memory card beeped that it was full. So I put my camera away and we finished our hike without any more photos:

Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 2

We continued northward along the western shore of Black Pond:

There were lots of White Admiral butterflies along the trail:

And Daphne was a very happy girl:

We crossed a series of plank bridges which spanned tributaries. Seamus fell into one of them but was able to get back out without much trouble:

There were enough Balsams to perfume the air along much of the trail:

Newly emerging maple leaves were scarlet, shining in the sun:

Black Pond narrowed at its northern end:

And there were multitudes of Dragonflies and Damselflies of various species. This black and white dragonfly really did have a "smiley face" (click to enlarge for a better look) and was by far the most common species:

Fergus looked entirely noble as he rested along the trail:

Almost to the northern end of Black Pond:

The trail pulled away from the shoreline a bit:

And then we arrived at a fish barrier dam, designed to prevent the spread of invasive species, between Black Pond and Long Pond. Our next stop was Long Pond, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Chapter One - The Wild Center!

The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York is an Adirondack natural history museum which I'd long planned to visit - but never had. So one wintry Friday I drove down to pay a visit to The Wild Center:

The central building was large, modern and beautiful:

I paid for admission and began my tour. The first exhibit was a geological demonstration of the origins of the Adirondack region:

There was a traditional Adirondack lean-to, complete with socks drying on a clothesline. But what was in that aquarium?:

Inside that aquarium was an Eastern Garter Snake, a common Adirondack resident:

There were many large displays of local fish:

And local turtles. This was an Eastern Painted Turtle, but they also had Red-Eared Sliders, an introduced species which now makes itself a home in the Adirondacks. This turtle was close enough to touch and I was impressed by the clever sign which warned turtles that human touch might be dangerous. I thought that a far more effective way to handle the problem than a "Do Not Touch" sign:

A naturalist came out for an owl demonstration. She brought out Luna, a Screech Owl who had been so badly injured by a car that she would never again be able to live in the wild. The naturalist talked about all the local owls and, of course, Screech Owls. Luna was very calm and used to people, and she'd found a comfy, happy life at the Wild Center:

There were clusters of typical Adirondack scenes:

And more turtles in a pond which also had Wood Ducks:

Dragonflies:

And mushrooms, lots and lots of mushrooms. I encounter them frequently while hiking and have been fascinated by their colors and variety. You may recognize the one on the left as the subject of many photos in former blog posts. But there was still a lot more to see at the Wild Center and post Chapter Two tomorrow:

Part 2 - High Falls On The Big Salmon River

The dogs and I were hiking along the Big Salmon River on our way to High Falls. The formerly placid river became a churning rapids and then began to plunge downhill. The trail followed along closely and I began to get nervous when little Daphne walked right to the edge of the cliff to look down. In fact, I put the dogs on leashes at that point:

We dropped down alongside the falls and then walked around to view the front of it. And it was quite a beautiful waterfall even in the middle of a hot, dry summer:

There were two other couples there enjoying the falls and the river, but they were friendly and liked my dogs so I left them off leash:

One couple seemed to prefer the falls, the other seemed to prefer the quieter waters below the falls:

The couple above asked me to take their photo. I then asked them take mine - just as a dragonfly landed on my shoulder:

I'd read that dragonflies don't bite, so I left him there for quite a while. But he eventually became irritating to my skin and I had to give him a push to get him to fly off:

Little Clover explored the rocks but wouldn't go into the water:

But soon it was time to go. I called the dogs and we began the return trip back through the forest to the trail head:

Clover looked tiny beneath the trees but she was right at home there:

When we again got access to the river, Fergus and Seamus went in and got cooled off. Daphne took a drink but didn't seem interested in another swim:

We passed again through the Joe-Pye Weed:

Several more families passed by as they made their way down to the falls and I put the dogs back on their leashes until we neared the trail head. At that point they got one more chance at the river and then we jumped back into the car and continued on our way: