The Marsh Project Week #34

The middle of September, and it's still warm- although some rainy weather caused a temporary dip in the temperatures.  I'm in a bit of a funk;  I'm still getting used to not having the College Student around, and I'm not finding a whole lot out on the trail. Whether it's the change of seasons or the rain, or a combination of both, I don't know for sure, but the painted buntings and indigo buntings and little blue herons and the anhinga seem to have vacated the neighborhood, and not a lot has moved in  yet to take their places.

I play a game called "How many green tree frogs can I find on the marsh?".  Even when nothing else seems to be stirring, I can usually find at least one green tree frog.  Once my eyes locate one, I can often find several all sitting on green leaves or stems.

For several days I walk the trail, not finding anything of real interest except the green tree frogs, which are small and cute and look like little babies when they're curled up on the green vegetation, blending in.  I start to despair- will I ever find anything new or interesting, ever again? I remind myself that even a bad day in the field is better than a good day in the office (even though I've been to the office that day;  I still haven't figured out how to get paid for hiking).  Surely the birds and the snakes and the raccoons and the butterflies and the remaining common green darner dragonflies are still here, lurking around, waiting for the right moment to come back out.  I start to take it personally, even though other hikers assure me they haven't seen much, either.

Then- YES! It happens! As I walk back down the trail towards my car, consoling myself with the thought that I did find several green tree frogs, a hawk flies right above my head and lands on a branch right off the trail.  If I'm stealthy and lucky, I can get a good view of it- and possibly even a good photo.  The hawk is patient, or at least not skittish, and I get several photos.  When I get home I agonize over ID; it could be a juvenile red-tailed hawk, or a red-shouldered hawk, or something else entirely.  The Son of Never Stops Eating wanders over, looks at the photo, and says "Mom! You found the peregrine falcon!".  He's a huge fan of the peregrine falcon.

It turns out to be something else entirely- a first observation for me, a broad-winged hawk.  For the next couple of days, I see it flying from tree to tree in the same area, but I'm only able to get one more photo of it.

In the next few days, my luck changes for the better.  The common buckeye butterflies begin to appear- one at first, and then several.  I see a few Gulf fritillaries, hard to miss with their bright orange coloring.  Finally, on one evening hike, I find not one, but two snakes- a western ribbon snake, which scurries off into the grass two seconds after I get one photo, and a broad-banded water snake, which I spy swimming in a small pond as I stop to get a drink of water.  I observe an osprey with a fish in its claws, perched on a tree.  My nature funk seems to be, thankfully, resolving.

Seen on the trail: Armadillo, great blue heron, snowy egret, kingfisher, common buckeye, Gulf fritillary, variegated fritillary, queen, monarch, viceroy, common green darner, Eastern pondhawk, Northern cardinals, broad-winged hawk, green tree frogs, American bullfrog, one green heron (I think they're on their way out), Osprey, woodpecker (heard, not seen), red admiral butterfly, broad-banded water snake, western ribbon snake.