Lovely woods, and very deciduous! Surprising, especially considering all the tall white pines along nearby Rte. 128. There were a few white pines fairly near the shore, and I saw a (very) few hemlocks and balsam firs, but mostly deciduous overall.
I saw more white oak than I expected, along with our ubiquitous red oak. There was a virtual rain of acorns. Also red maple, moosewood, big tooth aspen, witch hazel (I think), a little sumac. Bracken ferns and sarsaparilla.
The lower field had monarchs on the goldenrod. I was glad to see lots of milkweed. The Virginia creeper and poison ivy were starting to turn: very pretty.
At the overlook on the bay there were lots of splashes. At first I wondered whether I would see a sturgeon jumping, but no. Maybe what was going on was that a big fish was chasing lots of smaller fish who splashed up in many places, as you can see in Middle Bay.
it was nice to run into two classmates.
Could someone identify this plant that I saw at Merrymeeting Fields on Sunday? Thank you, David
David: These are the berries of White Baneberry or "Doll's-Eyes", a common woodland wildflower in New England. BTW, don't sample it! From the web:
"Bane” is defined as deadly poison or a person or thing that causes death, destruction, misery, distress, or ruin. The word seems fitting as a common name to describe this plant with a berry that when ingested is said to have an almost immediate sedative effect on the heart and can ultimately lead to cardiac arrest. Baneberry is a name given to several plants in the genus Actaea, two of which are the main focus of this post – red baneberry (Actaea rubra) and white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)."
Pat
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