[caption id="attachment_4900" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dave standing next to a patch of sphagnum moss[/caption] Dave Anderson and I spent some time this afternoon locating a previously undocumented Magnolia seepage bog that was recently discovered by…
Today, I forayed on the South Tract and spotted a bunch of Bald Cypress trees thriving in a swampy area next to Reddington Lake. Bald Cypress is not native this far north, but can do…
Today when foraying around the Chestnut Oak Bog AKA Welchs Bog I checked out the Chestnut Oak - Mountain Laurel Forest (CEGL006299) plant community that surrounds a good part of the bog. This plant community…
(Photo above: new planking on the bridge) [caption id="attachment_3916" align="alignleft" width="200"] Plaque on the bridge[/caption] A bridge has existed at this location since the early 1800's. The current structure was built in 1907…
This meadow on the Central Tract is located along Beech Forest Drive near where the powerlines cross MD 197 and as far as I can determine is the largest field of Common Milkweed (Asclepias…
(Above photo: Two whooping Cranes at Patuxent Research Refuge.) The Patuxent Research Refuge is home to the USGS's (United States Geological Survey's) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. One of the on-going projects conducted by the USGS…
This afternoon, I took a quick jaunt out to Lake Allen to take some pictures of the Eastern Prickly Pear, a type of cactus that is found on the Refuge. Its scientific name is Opuntia…
Although this seepage swamp, which is located in the northwest part of the North Tract along Sweet Gum Lane, is only a short distance from the road, it is not clearly visible unless you are…
[caption id="attachment_3306" align="alignleft" width="300"] Spider on top of water waiting for prey[/caption] Today while visiting the Pitch Pine Wetlands, I spotted my first ever Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Scientific name: Dolomedes triton Walckenaer). She did not…
[caption id="attachment_3083" align="alignleft" width="300"] Close up of flowers[/caption] This afternoon, I went looking for bogs that I had not found yet. On the edge of one of the bogs were some Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum) bushes. …
(Photo above: a picture of a plant with the rhizomes clearly visible.) [caption id="attachment_2927" align="alignleft" width="300"] A look at the inner part of the flower. You can see the beard hairs on the lateral petals…
Today, I drove down Telegraph Road stopped by a swamp about a 1/2 mile south of Wildlife Loop. The swamp is called a Southern New England/Northern Piedmont Red Maple Seepage Swamp (USNVC: CEGL006406). In the…
At the corner of Sweet Gum Lane and the road that leads to the BGE powerline Right of Way, there is a small grove of mature pitch pine. One or two of them are in…
(Above photo: a view of the "bog" from the northeast corner. You can see Japanese barberry in the foreground." In the mid-ground, there is vernal pool. In the background, you can see the "bog".) These…
This is an elevation sketch of the clean fill dump. It is too bad that some of the magnolia bog and the seepeages were covered up.
This is one of the most bizarre sights I have found on the refuge. It is tree growing around a concrete block, almost as if it is trying to swallow it. The tree had no…
Photo above - A seepage near the Magnolia Bog. Note the seemingly omnipresent greenbrier - 11 April 2015 Here is my first take of the hydrology of the Odenton/Clean Fill Dump (CFD) magnolia bog site.…