Seen in the Bog: Week of September 15, 2024

Winterberry holly on a late summer day. (Emma Flickinger)

Seen in the Bog

Even in the last few days of summer, the vegetation in the bog remains lush. Several visitors remarked on the mysterious patterns emerging on certain leaves of the sensitive fern.

What's causing these patterns? Perhaps it's the loss of chlorophyll (green pigment) as fall approaches. (Emma Flickinger)

It was a good day to spot creatures in the water. The turtle below was swimming lazily around the dock at the eye of the bog.

Look carefully and you'll be rewarded with the sight of a turtle. (Emma Flickinger)

The eye of Volo Bog at the end of summer. (Emma Flickinger)

Most of the vegetation around the eye of the bog was still green. The tamaracks will most likely be golden by the next time I'm here.

Seen in the Marsh

Creatures and their tracks were everywhere in the marsh. Frogs posed for pictures. A shy whinny (and some furtive rustling in the cattails) betrayed the presence of a sora. Mammal prints ran through the mud.

(Emma Flickinger)

(Becky Matsubara/Wikimedia)

(Emma Flickinger)