As I was driving south on route 116, en route to Long Pond, I noticed this young bull moose standing just off the left side of the road on the edge of a very wet and muddy portion of the forest. I grabbed my camera, which had my 60mm lens on it, and I walked gently down the road, across from the moose, stopping and snapping photos every few feet. When I reached a point directly across from it started paying more attention to me. I stepped a few feet into the road and examined the awkward-looking, yet beautiful creature. It seemed young and somewhat small (for a moose!), reaching just over my head (I am 6'2), including its small fuzzy antlers. After a minute or two, it started
walking along the road, then it looked at me and began ambling directly toward me. I was surprised, and backed up slowly, and then faster as it started to take bigger steps, I attempted to snap a few photos as I moved back toward the car, most of which ended up blurry (see photo just above). I figured that it must have simply been curious, and since it was not rutting season I was not too worried. It came to within about five or six feet as it sauntered off into a well-worn animal trail, which I realized I had been blocking as I was backing up.
It looks like the moose may have large tics or piles of tics on it's coat (see side view below).
Today I collected samples from seven ponds/lakes: Forest Lake, Burns Pond, Clark Pond, Martin Meadow Pond, Blood Pond, Mirror Lake (not the HBEF one), and Long Pond. With the exception of Long Pond, all of the ponds were in the Whitefield/Lancaster area of New Hampshire. I used a tool I have for sampling, a very small inflatable raft, which I am able to hike to ponds with. It is especially useful for ponds which I would rather not wade too far into, or at all, such as ones full of leeches.
Clark Pond (below) was especially beautiful and calm in the morning, I could have spent all day exploring the area.
I have been hoping to see a spring salamander at some point this summer, but never had the chance until yesterday. A fellow REU student called me up when I was at Pleasant View when this little fellow was spotted (thanks Kaitlin!) at Norris Brook, in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Luckily I was able to get over there to see this awesome little creature. It was very shaded, so I used the built-in flash on the lowest setting.
Over the weekend, I spent time with my twin brother. We hiked up to Guinea Pond, near the Sandwich Range Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest. It was easily one of the nicest days yet this summer. The pond itself lacked any decent shoreline or access to the main portion of the pond. So we inflated the trail raft and waded through the mucky/bog-like area until it was deep enough to use the raft.
Here are a few spider photos I shot the other day, a bit a dark since it was evening and in the forest, and I was without the tripod. They were both photographed from the same spot I was sitting at (somewhere by mirror lake). It can be a fun and interesting exercise to see how much one can find to photograph while sitting or remaining in one spot. For me at least, it helps to provide a different perspective, and I may end up finding all sorts of interesting little things that I might have overlooked before.
walking along the road, then it looked at me and began ambling directly toward me. I was surprised, and backed up slowly, and then faster as it started to take bigger steps, I attempted to snap a few photos as I moved back toward the car, most of which ended up blurry (see photo just above). I figured that it must have simply been curious, and since it was not rutting season I was not too worried. It came to within about five or six feet as it sauntered off into a well-worn animal trail, which I realized I had been blocking as I was backing up.
Today I collected samples from seven ponds/lakes: Forest Lake, Burns Pond, Clark Pond, Martin Meadow Pond, Blood Pond, Mirror Lake (not the HBEF one), and Long Pond. With the exception of Long Pond, all of the ponds were in the Whitefield/Lancaster area of New Hampshire. I used a tool I have for sampling, a very small inflatable raft, which I am able to hike to ponds with. It is especially useful for ponds which I would rather not wade too far into, or at all, such as ones full of leeches.
Welcome to the world!
