David Reik, Photo Blog

On 2020-7-26, I hiked a 6.6-mile route in the Simsbury Land Trust Tanager Woods preserve, and Penwood State Park.  Here's a link to an interactive map I made showing my route and where my pictures were taken:  http://arcg.is/0TKW9q    .  I'll put in location numbers to show where the pictures below were taken. Here's a static screen shot of the interactive map. 1.  Work is ongoing in the power cut.  Note the heavy timbers that have been put down to allow heavy equipment to get through without sinking into the soil.  I didn't hear any work going on, so I proceeded on my route, shown in pink on the interactive map. 2.  It looks like wooden poles were replaced with metal poles. 2.  The old wooden poles and assorted stuff to do with power lines. 3.  This mushroom along an obscure white-blazed trail was about three-quarters-of-an-inch high. 4.  A big dead tree (white oak?) where the white trail turns from northerly to easterly....

On 2020-7-19, I visited Swan Preserve and Tilton Pond in Canton, CT.  Swan Preserve is a Canton Land Conservation Trust property,  https://www.cantonlandtrust.org/  .  Tilton Pond is on private property.  My route from the preserve to the pond was off-trail, on private property. The hike was a Hartford Area Hikers hike conceived of by Lori Davison.  Hikers were to focus on fungus. I made an interactive map which shows my GPS track in pink.  The black, three-digit numbers are the GPS Waypoints I recorded where I took the pictures below.  Here's a link to the interactive map:  http://arcg.is/1WHDSG1  .  Below is screenshot of the interactive map. Waypoint 001. 002. 003. 004. 005. 006. 006. 007. 007. 008  Fan Clubmoss, Diphasiastrum digitatum, I think. 008  Fan Clubmoss, Diphasiastrum digitatum, I think. 009. 010.  A hilly section on the new white-blazed Ted Cowles Trail.  Ted Cowles was a long-time active...

I visited the Edwin Way Teale Memorial Sanctuary on 2020-7-10 and 2020-7-12.  Here's a link to an interactive map showing location numbers that I will refer to:  http://arcg.is/1eSG5i0  .  You can find general information about the preserve at this link:  https://www.ctaudubon.org/trail-wood-the-story-of-trail-wood/  . 1.  Hughes' Monument.  According to a nearby kiosk, Edwin Teale said that, before Teale bought the farm that is now the Edwin Way Teale Memorial Sanctuary, a hired man built this monument to honor himself. 2.  Beaked Hazelnut, Corylus cornuta 3.  I think these dead trees are oaks which were killed by gypsy moth caterpillars. 4.  The larger of two swampy ponds on the preserve. 4.  Lots of evidence of the presence of beavers. 5.  Chimaphila maculata, also known as spotted wintergreen.  This is the flower. 6.  Maybe the Audubon people are worried about dogs disturbing nests that some birds build on th...