Spring Flowers

So everyone on the bird listservs has been dedicated to pointing out the Turkey Vultures and blackbirds as signs of spring. However, these don't really signal spring for me. Rather, I really first feel spring as soon as I see my first Skunk Cabbage in bloom. I'll be sure to snap some photos of these delicious smelling coughliecough plants this spring as I don't seem to have any.

Yet, in honor of the recent rainstorm in south-eastern New Hampshire (when we were supposed to get snow) and in honor of my first migratory Red-winged Blackbirds, Rusty Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Turkey Vultures of the year... I'll grace my blog with some photos of spring flowers... Yes, PLANTS!!! WOOHOOO! Who knows, maybe you'll spot one of these this spring and actually know what it is...

While they say "April showers bring May flowers", some of these are plants that can be found blooming before May depending on where you live.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Bloodroot was historically used as a dye and herbal remedy for native americans. The dye comes from the red-ish sap that is particularly evident within the roots.

Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)

This is a common garden plant. While I like native wild plants best, I can't help but share this photo of this beautiful flower from Longwood Gardens.

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginica)

The bark of the roots of choke cherry were used by native Americans to treat sore throats, colds, fever, and stomach problems. The fruits from the plant can be used to make jam, syrup, and/or jelly. However, the fruit is quite bitter so be sure to add lots of sugar!

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

This plant is also known as "Virginia cowslip", "Roanoke bells", and "lungwort oysterleaf". They are found wild in forests, wetlands, and bluffs. Additionally, they have been cultivated and are a common backyard plants. They are usually pollinated by butterflies and bloom early in the year from March to May and are usually dormant by early June!

Rare, threatened, and endangered....PLANTS!

Things are more exciting when they're rare threatened and endangered aren't they?  A lot of people seem to think so.  I'm pretty sure that this is the only reason why my research, centered around rare plants in tidal systems draws as much attention as it does.  (Well, OK, only other reason than my "rock star" personality.) 

Some of you may be saying "Huh? What are you talking about - I don't even know what you're doing.  Last thing I knew you said birds and now you're mentioning things that photosynthesize."   Others of you may be saying "Photosynthesize? What's that?! Now I'm confused."  Anyway, before more confusion occurs let me give some background (but don't worry - I won't use the big p word again):

Fieldwork in class - rocking the waders and nerdy vest

I just finished my second semester as a Master's student in Plant Biology at the University of New Hampshire.  While I am a passionate birder, I am also a passionate botanist.  I was interested in plants long before birds, mostly because they did not move and were therefore easier to identify (Since then I no longer believe that this makes them easier to identify because for many species of sedge things such as length of seed tail or length of achene beak are the determining factor and it may take weeks to allow species to develop fully.  Even then you still may be left in an ambiguous range of overlap.).

Necessary fieldwork equipment: hip-boots and a kayak.  Can't beat kayaking for work!

I work in the salt marsh ecology lab and my project centers on understanding rare, threatened, and endangered species in the state of NH.  Most of the species I work with are threatened or endangered in other states as well.  Currently, I am focusing on five species of plant; four threatened, one endangered.  My goal is to quantify the conditions that they grow in to answer questions such as: What salinity's do you find them in?  What is the soil like? Is there development around? Is there a certain pH? Do you find them with certain other plants? Do you find them in only certain places..... etc.

Forb panne in salt marsh - common area for rare plants - the out of focus flower is one of my study species: Seaside Gerardia (Agalinis maritima)

One of the beautiful things about science is that there are still so many unanswered basic questions! Answering these questions means that I spend most of my days in a marsh accessed by walking or boating.  It means I fall flat in the mud often (which is good because that's pretty much the only way to find one of the species which never grows more than an inch or two high).  It means I go through a lot of sunblock, iced coffee, and laundry detergent.

  

Another one of my study plants - not as striking as the former plant, but beautiful in it's own special way.  It's actually related to carrots!  (Lilaeopsis chinensis)

Why would anyone want to do research like this, you may ask.  Well, I have an answer for you.  Knowing the conditions necessary for the growth and development of these species is key to understanding how to protect and conserve the few remaining populations.  Additionally, with an understanding of such requirements, it may be possible to use plants that have been salvaged from impacted/developed/altered marshes as a source for restoration and mitigation work.  In other words, in a coastal wetland restoration we can use rare plants with a local genotype in plantings.  Restoration in areas of historic occurrence is of increasing concern as most of the species I am studying are probably in decline within the state.  There are many areas that they historically occurred which are now over-run with non-natives; prime target areas for a restoration project with a rare plant component!.  

Who funds these sorts of projects? Well that's a good question!  I spend a lot of my winter looking for funding.  I was lucky enough to secure 3 total grants and fellowships to support my summer work (woohoo food and housing!) and am waiting to hear back on one more application.  Fortunately, my supplies are relatively cheap (unlike molecular studies) as most of my purchases go to things that can be re-used (such as a salinity meter).  My shameless $ plug here must follow: if you know anyone or any organization who's interested in funding research like this, please pass the information on to me!  There's a lot of small bits of funding out there but it's scattered all over the place.

Salicornia bigelovii or Glasswort - this NH-endangered species could be a great source of fat for birds during migration in the fall

Having restoration opportunities that go beyond creating "typical salt marsh" provides habitat heterogeneity and diversity which supports a broader array of species... including BIRDS.  (Now you birders have one more reason to care!) A lot of restorations these days focus on creating simple salt marsh which may look good but may not support the species that historically occurred in a given area which may have been a tidal mudflat or a brackish riverbank marsh.  Learning how to re-create these habitats is critical for more effective restoration plans.  

We aren't trying to expand these species into areas they didn't historically occur.  We're just trying to make sure that some of the lesser known salt marsh species, which happen to be a bit sexy (in our twisted botanical minds), are preserved in the long term.  We're not restoring an area to100% rare plant cover - rather, we're trying to add another conservation component to projects.  

So, there's the basics - fire away with any questions.  And if you're in the area - keep your ears/eyes peeled next spring for my local presentations and thesis defense!

Asters

Ok so again I've failed at continually updating but not entirely I guess. Things are winding down here. Nine (9) days left to go. Seems crazy! But hey thats how it goes. I will miss some of the people here for sure. Last night 5 of us went out together for some laughs and thats what we had. I've never seen some of them so happy as last night and it reminded me that life isn't always so bad and that things can be lots of fun with the right people, the right time, and the right attitude.

Work is winding down significantly - need to identify the later summer things but few of them are flowering yet. However, things are definitely showing that it's late summer. Spirea alba is in flower as is Swamp Rose and life around is showing that change is coming. Glimpses of the late summer are here pointing to the impending glory of asters, goldenrods, and the fall.

Plants that are still figuring themselves out - evolving before our eyes... changing... genetically we have no idea what separates one from another and really only time can tell. Sort of like college graduates emerging from their little shells like butterflies from a crysalis. We are starting on a path but the exact path is as blurry as the asters genetics. We are all flowers that are going to bloom, you might not have a name for what we are - we might not even know that yet actually - but with luck we'll be successful, fruitful, and fit to continue.

However, unlike flowers, if we fail - we'll have something, someone to fall back on; friends, family, and oppertunities to try again.

Expedition to the Bog

Yesterday we went to one of my favorite places to visit - a bog. While June is really lack of excitement in a bog it was still fun (May and July are the best times to visit).

Just call me "sedge girl" or "bog girl" (woman once I get my phd)

Of course we found lots of orchids: white fringed (not in flower), grass pink, rose pogonia... sedges, including a new rhynchospora for the collection, and of course: leatherleaf!

Grass pink: common bog orchid

Bogs are really exciting places. Perhaps the most excitement for the day though came as a surprise. Unfortunately Ken had an allergic reaction so in the morning I took care of the class and even gave a lecture. It was kind of nuts but it went OK. Usually when lecturing I've had weeks to prepare - however, this was more of a "real" last minute experience. Literally we went over it in 3 minutes and then the class came in and he left for the ER.

Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperacea, and Poaceae were the 4 families I covered - talk about a challenge!

Carex sp.

These four families have some real crazy stuff going on, neat pollenation mechanisms, evolutionary twists, etc. They are huge, diverse, difficult to key out families. None-the-less they are fun, entertaining, and interesting. Difficult to teach about - I don't think I'll ever forget the looks on the faces in the class when I tried to explain glumes, lemmas, paleas, spikelets, florets, etc. Perhaps the only thing more memorable than the looks on their faces was Ken's "I know exactly what you mean" chuckle and grin when I questioned him later if he always gets that look.

JRV X2

So this week I had the opportunity to visit the Jordan River Valley twice - once with Meghan and Jason, and once with Field Botany.

45th Parallel with Botany

It was Meg and Jason's first time there and I think they liked it. We also saw a Scarlet Tanager, an Indigo Bunting, and a Ruffed Grouse.

The male Indigo Bunting we saw - female was also present.

The Jordan River Valley was the first the first designated “Wild and Scenic River” in the State of Michigan. It is a gorgous, short, spring-fed (aka - COLD) river full of Cedar "nurse logs" which hold islands of plants along them. The logs provide interesting terrain to walk across but also interesting terrain to study.

Meg and Jason crossing the river

For the second year now I've been along on the Field Botany trip to use the river to study island biogeography on the little mini cedar islands. On these islands include a variety of plants from Indian Paintbrush to Marsh Marigold to Forget-me-nots to sedges.

Carex sp.

It was frustrating at times seeing the plants I learned and not remembering all of them - but fun none the less... some of them came right back to me. I also really appreciated walking around with Ken instead of doing the survey - I gained a lot from botanizing with him as I always do.

"Forgetting" what the plant is (Forget-me-not)

We saw a number of cool things ranging from Yellow Lady's Slippers, to Showy Lady's Slippers, to Black Birch to... who remembers what! We even saw Cedar Waxwings in... CEDAR!

Cedar waxwing in...Cedar

All in all it was a great few days filled with tons of Volleyball, Frisbee, Hiking, Basketball, and Pillow-talking with my roomate who might even actually read this.

Catching Up

OK so a lot has happened since my last post due to some computer breakage (more on that in a later post I'm sure). For now I'll just try to relive a lot of the excitement and play catch up on everything that's happened - well not EVERYTHING - more of just the highlights.

Highlight 1: The UP

On Saturday the 14th Micah, Will, Dave M. and I got up at 4am (not the best part of the day!) to take off to look for Yellow Rails. I am dissapointed to say that we did not find any - though it was a crapshoot to begin with, it is still sad that we failed. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try again and get up earlier! The day did start out with a spotting of a roadside Sandhill Crane... While it was no "sandhill crane crossing" as in FL, it was a fun spot none-the-less

We did however find Mourning Warblers nearby the "Rusty Zipper Camp".

The birdlist for our day was rather shorter than expected and we did not see any of the 4 or 5 species we were hoping for, we did hear some and still had some great looks at birds and even better stories shared.

We did make it to Whitefish Point - though no birds were migrating really, we did get some nice looks at the Evening Grosbeaks on the feeders. These guys seem to just love feeders - thats where I always seem to spot them!

The final spotting of the UP was a Ruffed Grouse which was a first sighting for members on the trip despite the numerous times heard.

Highlight #2: Pyatt Lake

Last Thursday we checked out Pyatt Lake preserve and found some interesting things including this Squaw Root:

Highlight #3: The Wedding

This past weekend I did the craziest thing ever - I took a total of 4 flights to go see my old roomate get married. The plane broke, I ended up going to cities I wasn't supposed to en route to VA but eventually made it, and after a morning of birding (where I spotted tons of Red Eyed Vireos, a Great Crested Flycatcher, Pee-wees, Pheobes, Robins, Titmice, a Cardinal, and an American Goldfinch) I prepared for the wedding.

It was great to catch up with old friends, and even greater to be there for such a happy moment. Very different to see someone THAT close to me in age and in spirit getting married. But great. The wedding was beautiful, the church was nice, the food was great, and the glass clinking thing was sort of odd when it is someone you used to live with and had never witnessed a kiss between the two before... but still fun. I still remember the day she wasn't ever going to get married and the day she found him, and the day they first went out on a date... and the day they got engaged... and then now I can add the day they got married.

Everyone who was there also got a new memory - the day that Lowie wore a skirt and had her hair down:

And now I can say that I own 2 skirts and a dress... Maybe I'll wear one day 1 of grad school so people don't think its such a rarity. That will trick them!

Watch out for spiders

Yesterday was a great day working out in the field for Field Botany (funny how that works). We sampled 2 forests and visited a third. It is humbling to go out and not remember plants and then be reminde of how little I do know. However, simultaneously it is awesome to get out there and see how much I do actually remember.

One of the coolest things I saw (besides the plants) was this white spider hiding in this flower only to grab a bee attempting to pollenate it and then proceed to kill it and suck its insides out:

This is one of many shots I took. I sort of like that you can see the water drops in the flower on this one.

Other highlighs included a look at the male (below) and female Evening Grosbeak at Hartwick Pines. Also spotted was a Purple Finch (male and female), Rose Breasted Grosbeak (males and females, and a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (female).

Today I had a real treat bird-wise that even topped the dimorphism show of yesterday. I saw my 9th ever Kirtland's Warbler. This rare bird requires forest rejuvination via fire within Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) stands. Its range is basically the local area though a few have been found in the UP of Michigan recently. Most of the KW that are seen are found in Grayling, Michigan - home of the Kirtland's Warbler Festival.

Today we (three students, 2 faculty/profs, and myself) popped into the forest while on a quick tour of locations for tomorrow's integrative day. It was raining and the warblers were singing but none were being cooperative and singing high in the trees. Just as we turned to leave one darted infront of us in the first-second row Jack Pines. I quickly found it and pointed it out. To our fortune it climbed up the second back Jack Pine and perched quite nicely for us. If it weren't for the rain I would have had the shot of a lifetime of a Kirtland's. Oh well! It was awesome to see the little bird once again.

Field Botany TA

Today was my first day "on the job" as a TA - all seems fine here. I'm really looking forward to the opportunities that come with the territory. The morning was exciting in that I got to hunt for some plants - but most of it is review - I like knowing that I know something and haven't forgotten it!


The afternoon presented unique challenges in that I ran out to Papoose and collected.... SEDGES! (and a Grass). I used the brand new sedge key that Ken gave me to work it through... I was so-so impressed. The language is a bit...unnecessarially complex and it is confusing as to EXACTLY what some of the terms mean. The glossary in the back is helpful but there are not many diagrams demonstrating what the terms mean (which would be helpful in my humble opinion).


Anyway my exciting finds were C. communis and C. pennsylvanica and an Oryzopsis (hymenoides I believe if I remember correctly). Fun day - and I'm glad I made it through the keys successfully without wanting to rip out my hair. Very encouraging.

The day ended with the beautiful identification of the evil Tartarian Honeysuckle

Botanizing

I remember why I like this time of the year so much! The flowers are amazing!
And as great as bird photos are...
Nothing beats taking pictures of flowers and fiddling around with them and with editing them.

As much as birds have become a passion, botany is still my love. Flowers and trees and sedges and grasses are just too much fun!

I've seen all of these flowers within the last week laying in strategic places photosynthesizing their little leaves as best as they can while they bring us a fantastic sight and reward pollinators with sweets that could only match the delicious wonders of life like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies.

These are attractive droplets of a negatively impressive reward.

Plants never cease to amaze me. They have so many little things unique about them that make me jealous. I mean - I wish I could make my own food just by chilling in the sunlight! I wish I could trap insects with little goo-drops, or with jaws of death contraptions. I wish I could propagate in many formats... ok maybe that's a streatch.

Regardless, plants are amazing. And its times like today roaming around outside that I'm reminded of how amazing they really are.