'My' cyp sprouts (arietinum and pubescens)

[cnycharles]

well, they're my pictures so i'm calling them mine!

was raining all day at work, and we let out early so I headed home to get my camera and a box of girl scout cookies (samoas) to sustain me on a multi-hour road trip. stopped first at remsen bog to see how the yellow ladyslippers were coming up. all the trees were covered with water, no gaps for my umbrella to sneak through sideways so got showered (while holding my camera underneath my sweatshirt). was in a hurry, so almost all pics were taken with high iso, flash and no tripod

these are cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, growing in moss/muck and in moss over hemlock roots, all over a calcareous rich fen

four nice sprouts about a week from flowering

slightly closer shot, can see swelling of flower buds

different plant, growing underneath stunted hemlock; plant on edge of mucky pit just above waterline

I then headed northwest to an extremely interesting place called chaumont barrens, which is a limestone alvar area with extremely interesting plants and animals. I had been talking with a native orchid friend who had visited the spot a week before but was concerned because he hadn't seen any plants. I needed a road trip (constant working gets very boring), so decided to check out the area and see 'what was up'. I had to call my friend to tell me which road to turn onto, since it had been a few years...

once finding the parking spot (and setting the spot in my new gps) I headed out onto the trail to the main trailhead at a brisk jog in my tall bog-trotting boots (since it had been raining all day, and limestone barrens hold lots of water puddles). it was getting late in the day and since the orchids are found underneath pine and cedars, was concerned about having enough light to see where/what I was walking on. I ended up seeing and hearing much more than just the orchids!

I found this bird's egg as soon as I started out down the trail; does anyone
know what it is?

some of the cracked limestone pavement. some areas are covered with
soil/trees/moss and shrubs, while others are bare rock. it can get quite hot in
summer, and is more like an open plains/prairie habitat at that time of year

saw some of these here and there in the woods, didn't recognize them

saw only a few of these here and there after the white flowers. they look
similar to the white ones, but also like some weeds that i've seen. if anyone
knows what either of them are feel free to identify them here

not too long after entering the first woods, I saw spreads of beautiful blue
phlox just opening! I was in a hurry, so most pictures are a bit blurry. If I
go back anytime soon I will have better pictures with daylight and using my
tripod

there were hundreds of blue phlox all around different parts of the open woods
imagine low trees, an open canopy with rolling terrain dotted with limestone boulders
and drifts of blue flowers touched here and there between it all. nice!

I saw a few red columbine just starting to flower, but didn't get any really
good pictures, and I didn't want to tromp around where they were

not long before I saw the cyps, I saw a spread of white trillium in flower

I finally got to the woods where the ram's head were supposed to be, and it
was quite dark underneath the trees. after a few minutes I found this sprout
with an old one from last year just behind it

* more on next page

 

[cnycharles]

part two

another two sprouts, all were beaten down by the day-long rain, but with a
few hours drying they will be standing upright. these really are tiny; looking at them on the ground, there really is nothing to them

I did also end up finding three ram's head sprouts that had rotted off at the base; seems like even mother nature has problems
growing this species

on the way out, I saw these red flowers behind a cord barrier. since i'm only
an orchid nut, I don't often remember what the names of other wildflowers are
after people tell me, unless I see them quite frequently. these, I don't see very often
but did recognize the shape. again, if anyone knows what they are feel free to identify

after getting back to my car, I called my friend to tell him what I had found. it was starting to get dark, and many songbirds had been calling while I was out in the barrens. my friend told me that he had heard whippoorwills when he had visited there once before (or had been told that they liked to be there), and that they were getting kind of rare in new york state. I started to hear an unusual bird call as it was getting quite dark, and asked my friend what a whippoorwill sounded like; turns out I had maybe a dozen of them within 100 yards or so, calling back and forth. it was very interesting! I stayed for a while, walking down the path and listening to them around me for a while before heading back home. unfortunately I didn't have a sound recording device, but maybe next time there are many amazing wildflowers there, I heard coyotes calling on neighboring property (they are all over upstate ny), lots of birds, some rare some not, and some amazing views. later on there will be even more amazing wild flowers opening

 

[Kevin]

http://www.cnyos.org/exdisp/chaugreenram512d.JPG[/IMG]
on the way out, I saw these red flowers behind a cord barrier. since i'm only
an orchid nut, I don't often remember what the names of other wildflowers are
after people tell me, unless I see them quite frequently. these, I don't see very often
but did recognize the shape. again, if anyone knows what they are feel free to identify

Three flowered avens (Geum triflorum)

 

[quietaustralian]

Great pictures!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Really neat Charles, thank you for posting these. I always wanted to see the rock barrens of upstate NY. What a cool habitat! C. arietinum truly is a frail little thing - I've seen it just one time and the only other Cyp I've seen that is smaller is C. debile.

 

[Clark]

Perhaps that is whippoorwill egg. They lay two.

Woodcock lay more, plus woodcock make a nest.

Nice images Charles.

 

[Dido]

Nice thanks for posting this pics, hope for flowwering pics of ramshead from you

 

[biothanasis]

Very nice findings and thanks for the trip..!

 

[NYEric]

some of the cracked limestone pavement. some areas are covered with
soil/trees/moss and shrubs, while others are bare rock. it can get quite hot in
summer, and is more like an open plains/prairie habitat at that time of year

This is fascinating. I worked on a project that had old slate sections stacked to make a road that was buried under the modern utilities.
Thanks for sharing. At my AOS Student judge interview they told me I have to clerk more at the NE center meetings so we probably wont make it up next weekend.

 

[cnycharles]

oh; just in case there was misunderstanding, the limestone 'pavement' is just an expression for flat, exposed limestone (or rock)... it wasn't actually used as roadway, just an open flat exposed area of rock

about seeing orchids, ken is retired and would be on way up, so either something during the week or the next weekend i'm sure he would be available then

 

[JeanLux]

I like esp. that pic a lot however Charles !!!! Jean