This afternoon I took Kermit and my 60mm macro-lens for a
walk at the Boulder Knoll conservation area in Cheshire CT, which is less than
five miles my parents’ house. While I am staying in CT, I am making an effort
to appreciate and explore the local natural areas, primarily by visiting conservation
easements and state parks.
For being a relatively small town, Cheshire has a
surprisingly large amount of land set aside in various types of conservation
easements, state parks, or other open-space arrangements (
click here for a map).
Boulder Knoll has one main path that cuts through the property.
It follows along a power transmission line, through some patches of wetland (mostly
phragmites and cattail), and herbaceous open areas (characterized by plants you
would expect in a disturbed setting such as this- ragweed, golden rod, autumn
olive etc.). I spent about three hours
along the short path, exploring and photographing some of the flora. The conservation area, which actually consists of three farm properties has an interesting history (to read about it and for a map
click here).
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| An up-close shot of a black walnut leaf |
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| There is a lot of golden rod on site (Solidago canadensis). It was fun (and difficult!) trying to photograph the bees floating from flower to flower. |
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| Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) |
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| Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) and an unknown bee species |
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| A shot of some of the open area. In the foreground the golden rod (mixed in with ragweed) is obvious. In the background, a large patch of Phragmites australis is visible |
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| Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) |
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| The invasive shrub, autumn olive |
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| The sedge Carex vulpinoidea |
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| Kermit always enjoys getting out |
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| I found this unknown sedge- can anyone out there in the interwebs tell me what it is? (globe sedge?) |
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| Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) |
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| Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) |
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| A type of joe pye weed |
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| Some sort of lobelia? |
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| Common dog bane (Apocynum cannabinum) |
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| A species of Polygonum |
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| Soft stem bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani) |
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I convinced Kermit to pose on top of the log horse jump (“stay!”),
which is found along the main path through the property.
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