Near Sandogardy Pond

This afternoon saw a very rare occurance: Va joined me on a walk down to Sandogardy Pond. Jonathan came along too, as did Penny, in case there were any sticks along the way that needed fetching.

We walked along the creek that drains the pond (Cross Brook, or as I prefer to call it, Little Kohas Creek), and I plunged into the thicket and picked my way through the wetland to see if the false hellebore had bloomed. It had:

False hellebore (Veratrum viride)

I was also pleased to notice a stand of jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and some buttercup (Ranunculus spp) growing where I had weeded out the garlic mustard this spring. Garlic mustard is an invasive alien that will take over an area if left unchecked.

Buttercup, species unknown

I didn’t stop to take many photos since I had the rare pleasure of Va’s company on the walk. People don’t like to hang around while I take three minutes to set up a shot. So instead, I just enjoyed her company and took note of the flowers and plants.

When we got home we walked around to the back door to give Penny some grass on which to wipe her feet (she took a dip in the pond, and that makes the sand from the beach and road stick to her all the better). At the end of the garage I spotted an area resident:

Garter snake!

I like having these around.

 

Back in Action

Today Beth and I walked to the Union Church. One of my caching friends had hidden a cache there, and it had somehow escaped my notice until now. I had been thinking about placing one there, but thinking about it and doing it are two different things. I thought. She did. And actually, she had hidden it exactly in the spot I had intended to.

On the way there, we saw a garter snake.

Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

I haven’t seen many snakes this summer. I think this is actually the only one I’ve seen.

Once we got to the Union Church and found the cache, we headed over to Beth’s first geocache. Not so we could see the cache (but we did check on it), but so that I could check up on a shrub I had marked there last winter. I marked it by tying a length of yarn to it so that I could identify it when it had leaves. I find it funny that I marked it on the winter solstice and checked it on the autumn equinox. Pure coincidence! Here it is with leaves:

Marked Shrub

I still don’t know what it is, but I’ll dig through my books in a little while. If you look closely, you can see the blue yarn marker right in the center of the frame behind some of the leaves.

While we were out that way, we stopped by Sandogardy Pond for a few minutes. Then we headed home again. After I caught my breath, I put the roof rack on my car and loaded up my newly repaired canoe. David was spending the day with some friends, and I couldn’t talk Beth into coming with me, so I went alone.

Topside

I paddled it around the pond in a counterclockwise direction. For some reason, I always paddle around this pond counterclockwise. Maybe because that gets me to the wilder side of the pond more quickly.

I found a bullhead lily (Nuphar lutea) still in bloom.

Bullhead Lily (Nuphar lutea)

And several fragrant water lilies (Nymphaea odorata).

Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata)

I soon found myself at the north end of the pond where the leaves were beginning to redden. Autumn equinox indeed.

Paddling north

When I took the boat out I realized that I had failed to tie the grab loops onto the ends. In Virginia, that would have been illegal, and it may well be here as well. I should look into that. I’ll need to drill the tie holes out again, as I covered them with fiberglass during the repair. It will be easy to do – I just need to do it!

 

Snake and Bug

The city came and scooped out our catchment pond again. They did a MUCH better job this time than last time around. Thanks to the cob-job they did last year, it has been nearly empty all this year, and that means… no frogs.

Well, I did see two frogs in there today, but that’s most likely because we got some rain last night and the pond had refilled. But they have thus far been unable to hatch a clutch of eggs, so the numbers are way down.

On my way to the pond today, I saw this garter snake perched atop some honeysuckle.

Garter Snake

I usually have a hard time photographing snakes. It’s hard to get close to them, but this one just sat there and let me move the camera to within six inches or so. It tasted my air and decided I wasn’t too alarming. I guess.

Nearby I found another columbine blossom. These had already finished this year, so i was astounded to find another bloom. In fact, that same plant has ripe seed pods on it.

Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

It’s about half the length of the first round of blooms, but I’ll take what I can get!

When I left the house this morning I noticed a half dozen different species of insect perched on my front door. I took pictures of them all, but this one was the most bizarre:

I have not yet tried to identify it. Check out those legs!

In other news… My puzzle geocache went live today. Within one hour, someone had solved it (but did not go out and find it yet). Within two hours another person did the same thing. They both had kind things to say about my puzzle. 🙂 Within four hours two more people solved it and found it. Looks like it might have landed on the easy side of the spectrum, but everyone seems to be having fun solving it anyhow. I can be happy with a fun puzzle.