Käyttäjän matthew883 päiväkirja

This year, Summer was awesome. I made some friends, photographed a ton of nature and wildlife, and even discovered some new species for myself. In the state of NH, I have found and photographed many different insect and other arthropod species this summer.

I also got to visit Vermont for 2 weeks, and got to see some pretty cool stuff, for example - A Great Blue Heron spearing fish and frogs on Lake Sunrise, Orwell, Vermont. I also unfortunately found Rusty Crayfish in the Ottauquechee River, which was inevitably going to turn up sooner or later.

This Fall's plans are simple - My goal is to find photograph several species, including:

• Northern Spring Salamander
• Giant Black Ichneumon Wasp
• A living Dekay's Brownsnake
• A living Eastern Cicada Killer
• A new species of mammal for myself (like a beaver or moose or even a cat)

And yeah, that's basically it. I have now also began my senior year of high school (first day was last Monday), and I'm really excited for this year to fly by and for me to graduate.

Man, today is awesome - It's my birthday, and I'm now finally 18, a legal adult and part of society! I also now have tons of new responsibilities and permissions!

However, I'm a bit worried - I'm now old enough to be drafted for war, and I've been hearing that the U.S. might be helping Ukraine with the battle against Russia - I could potentially be drafted into that, and I'm really worried. I'm a very sweet and caring guy, and I don't like being violent or abusive - I could never shoot a gun at someone!! The only thing I am willing to kill is parasites, like ticks, fleas, lice, and leeches. I just don't have a bad bone in my body that would allow me to perform such a task as hurting and injuring another person. The other thing is I can now be kicked out of the house, which I'm not worried about.

Yesterday, I went on a walk and found a vernal pool with several frog or salamander egg masses, after school I will go and take some pictures of them. There was also some frogs hanging out by the pool, but they jumped in so quickly as I approached I didn't get to see them. So today after school is going to be great. I'm also going to be looking for more new species to photograph, including some black racers that are rumored to be hanging around the woodpile near my school.

I'm so happy today, and I hope everyone else is as well!

So far, the beginning of this month has been amazing - tons of birds are out, I'm seeing more frogs, insects, and crayfish at the stream near my house. I've caught more crayfish and frogs in the last two weeks than I caught this time last year, which is a great sign. I also caught my second garter snake for this year.

Also, I'm obviously expanding my variety of species of animals I'm photographing. I've found a few new species, including a very interesting species of raptor (bird of prey) hanging around my house - and there's not just one, there's like two or three. I'll include my most recent observation of this raptor with this journal entry.

I've also been trying a new hobby - Recording bird calls and sounds.
Although I'm doing my best with this, but there's just so many birds constantly calling, it's hard to pick out just one to record. Then, when I try to record them, I get multiple calls per recording and it's difficult to pick out the one that needs to be identified. I'm not really sure how to solve this problem.

I've also been exploring a lot recently - I followed the creek at the bottom of the hill my road is on - I went downstream and followed it through a small "canyon", which was essentially a small gorge of rocks that the stream travels through. After it gets past that area, it slows down and spreads into a marsh, filled with tons of reeds, cattails, and evidence of beavers.

On the other end, the upstream way, I followed this up to a large man-made pond, which was fed by another stream. I followed this one up to another even larger marsh, but I wasn't allowed to stay due to signs around the marsh saying it was conservational property. So, I left and went back downstream to the areas I was familiar with. While I passing back through the small gorge, I picked up on a trail of turkey feathers and followed them until they ended, which wasn't too far. I don't know if a turkey got attacked or something, but there was no sign of an attack - no blood, tracks from coyotes or a bear. Just an odd trail of feathers. I also looked around for evidence of man (a hunting ladder, boot-prints, etc), but there was none to be seen.

If someone could respond to this post and tell me what the cause of the trail of feathers could be, I would love that. I also want to add the detail that there wasn't just down feathers - there was large, 6-7 inch long feathers too, and their color was brown with tan striping.

I've had an amazing morning. I was at my bus-stop this morning, around 6:40 AM, and I managed to spot a possible breeding pair of Pileated Woodpeckers - there was a pair of them on a large oak tree next to my neighbor's lawn. One of them was on a large part of a huge branch, possibly guarding a nest. The other was really active and was busily hopping from branch to branch, looking for insects to eat.
I'm really excited about this, as I've never seen a breeding pair or a nest before. I've been watching Pileated Woodpeckers since I first moved to Raymond, NH in 2018.

I also observed a male Northern Cardinal and several White-breasted Nuthatches at my bus-stop this morning.

What experiences have others had with watching Pileated Woodpeckers?
Does anyone have some good stories to share?

Anyway, I hope everyone's having a great day so far.

Matt Knight

So far, there have been quite a variety of species becoming active around my house. I've been out herping a few times this month, and have turned up 0 reptiles, but I've found a few different amphibians, including a few salamanders, and even a frog. Here they are:

• Northern Dusky Salamander
• Eastern Red-backed Salamander
• Northern Two-lined Salamander
• Pickerel Frog

I've also been out birding this month and have spotted the following:

• Red-tailed Hawk
• Cooper's Hawk
• Bald Eagle
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Pileated Woodpecker (My favorite bird species in Raymond)
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• American Goldfinch
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Northern Cardinal
• Blue Jay
• American Robin
• Chipping Sparrow
• House Sparrow

I've also found some kind of droppings or maybe an Owl pellet of some sort. It is grayish in color, about 4 inches long, is about 1 inch thick, and has pieces of bones and fur in it. Could someone tell me if this sounds like a owl pellet?

I've also been out in the woods around my house, monitoring the tick population. So far, I have found:
11 Deer/Black-legged Ticks, adult females and males, along with some juveniles
2 American Dog/Wood Ticks, a male and a female

Last year, I had only seen one Deer Tick. I've found 11 times that just over the course of this month. That's terrifying. Not just because of the numbers - It's also because of how small they are, both the adults and juveniles....

But, I hope everyone here on Inaturalist is having a great week so far. Keep being active and finding wildlife! :D

This morning at 9:47 AM I observed a Northern Flicker feeding on one of the suets at my bird-feeders. The individual was an adult male, and he was one of the coolest tree-clinging birds I've ever seen. I unfortunately didn't get to photograph it, but I have a mental picture of the bird.

I have also spotted a couple black carpenter ants feeding on a dead bush katydid on my back porch, around 10:00 AM this morning. It's the first time I've seen carpenter ants feeding on a dead insect, usually I see carpenter ants attacking crickets or grasshoppers in my garden.

I am so far enjoying the cooling weather, and I look forward to the snow coming soon. I unfortunately was sick on Monday and Tuesday earlier this week, with a common cold. I am thankfully almost completely recovered and am hopefully getting back out into nature to watch some more birds and other wildlife.

I hope everyone here on Inaturalist is having a great week so far! :)