A day at camp

Walking down Roundtop to Beaver Creek

I haven’t posted much about my Thursday adventure camp sessions this year, and now that I only have a few more weeks of camp, I guess I’d better not wait. 

Yesterday the weather was outstanding—perfect temperature, not a cloud to be found and low humidity. I think it’s the only day this summer when I could say that.  So the walk down Roundtop Mtn. to Beaver Creek was especially nice.

The kids caught a huge number of crayfish yesterday. This photo was taken sometime during the first group of kids and doesn’t begin to show the magnitude of the day's catch.  They also caught about a dozen minnows and assorted water skippers, which for some reason are always a favorite of a subset of young campers.  Personally, I don’t see the attraction, but I don’t complain about anything outdoorsy that interests them.  

I also found this beetle, which was a bit over 1” long. I think it may be a broad-necked root borer but I’m not a bug person, so if anyone knows for sure, please correct me.  If it is that bug, the forest habitat is certainly right, and I believe it is a female, which is substantially larger than the male.

Farmer lilies on parade!

Long time readers of Roundtop Ruminations know that I love farmer lilies, and this year is an especially good year for them. They line the two-lane rural roads, often in groups of several hundred blooms. Travel another 100 feet and there’s another group of them that’s just as large, perhaps this time on the opposite side of the road. I easily pass thousands of them every day. I enjoy them no less because they are so common. Those huge, intense blooms are simply show-stoppers.

Yesterday was another day at adventure camp for me. We managed to get all the sessions in, though the last one was shortened a bit by an impending storm. The kids caught two green frogs, a minnow nearly large enough to qualify as a fish, a long-tailed salamander, water striders, assorted bugs - mostly helgramites - and the usual couple dozen crayfish that ranged in size from nearly microscopic to big enough to eat (we didn’t). The kids enjoy themselves and the activity and that’s what’s important.

That said, I was surprised by the low level of water in the little creek. True, it’s been a bit dry, but Roundtop has had its share of thunderstorms over the past few weeks that drop a quick inch or even two onto the ground. Right now the creek is as low as I would expect to be in August. I had another 1.5 inches of rain yesterday. I hope that helped. If not, the stream is going to be looking really bad when August actually does get here.

Summer insects

The dreaded three H’s—hazy, hot and humid—have taken up residence on Roundtop. By my reckoning, they have already worn out their welcome. I’m the kind of person who would be willing to put up with 90 degree temperatures if they lasted just one day out of the year. As we have already passed that milestone this summer, I am now officially ready for winter to begin again.

I understand that I am probably in the minority with that desire, at least in this area. Although Pennsylvania usually boasts a full four seasons, most residents seem to prefer the hotter ones. Of course, I live at a ski resort, so I know I’m not the only person who likes cold weather. We may be in the minority, but at least I’m not a minority of one.

Hot weather comes with more insects, the good kind and the not-good kind. Specifically, I’m thinking of lightning bugs and mosquitoes. Who doesn’t love lightning bugs? When I was a kid one of the joys of a summer evening at grandma’s were our nightly expeditions out in the yard, armed with a jelly jar with holes poked into the lid. While the grownups chatted inside or on the front porch, all the kids and cousins roamed the yard catching lightning bugs, seeing who could capture the most. This year, I have plenty of lightning bugs around the cabin, though most of them seem to be in the upper reaches of the forest canopy. I’d have a tough time catching many of them. Is this because I live in the woods or have lightning bugs decided they prefer a higher altitude these days?

Mosquitoes are not a well-loved insect, with good reason. I have about 8 good reasons why I don’t like them scattered on my legs right now. I know that bats love them, and I like bats, so I try to be tolerant, but it’s a tolerance accompanied by gritted teeth.

Apparently not at all what it seems to be(e)

If people watched me doing what I do, they’d probably think I was crazy. This morning I spent some time watching what I first thought was bumblebee digging around in a purple thistle. How many people do that? I was initially interested for at least a couple of reasons.

This particular insect was working very hard to get as deep into the thistle as it could. Sometimes it was so deep into the flower that it was essentially invisible. And the bee, or perhaps “bee,” looked a bit odd to me. It was smaller than the average bumblebee. The markings on the back looked different. So I started to investigate bee species, trying to find out what kind it might be.

As a result of that investigation, I think this might not be a bee at all but a bee mimic. The fly species Eristalis anthophorina and Eristalis flavipes are both bee mimics and the photos I found of them are the closest matches I’ve found to this creature. There are many species of these bee mimics, also called flower flies. Here’s a link to some information about these flies, which are seen at least as far south as western West Virginia but apparently are more common in Canada and the more northern states. However, information about them is spotty at best, at least online.

Nature does this to me a lot. I started out this morning just looking for something to photograph. With the mornings growing darker each day, the areas I can explore before I head to work are shrinking with each lessening minute of daylight. Those areas are now so familiar to me that it’s hard for me to see them with a new eye or to photograph something there that you readers haven’t see before. But then a purple thistle caught my eye and what seemed like an ordinary bumblebee gathering pollen suddenly turned into something entirely new. How can anyone grow tired or bored when something so simple as a bee on a thistle turns into something entirely different and new?

Got stinkbugs?

Here’s a question for everyone. Do you have stinkbugs? And I just don’t mean one here or one there. Do hundreds of them swam around screen doors this time of year? Do local TV stations run stories on the unusual numbers of stinkbugs? That’s what happens in this area, and I have no idea if the same thing happens in other places or not. I’d just like to know.

Now, I’m lucky when it comes to stinkbugs. I might see 2-3 on the side of the cabin. Sometimes one will find its way inside, though not often. Fortunately. Because stinkbugs do (wait for it) stink. The one in today’s photos is the brown marmorated stinkbug.

The brown ones are native to China and are believed to have arrived as stowaways in packing crates or some such. The first documented stinkbug of this type was in Allentown Penna. in October 2001. However, anecdotal reports go back to 2000 in New Jersey. They are considered an agricultural pest that can damage virtually any stage of vegetables and fruit. There’s also a green stink bug, which I believe is native to the southern U.S. Both the green and brown ones are called "shield bugs" because of their shape.

Anyway, I'd just like to know if other areas have their own stinkbug problem or not. I wait answers with bated breath.

September 4, 2005

I was typing at my computer this morning, felt a slight tickle on my arm and brushed it away without a thought. A moment or so later, I felt the same thing. This time I paid attention and discovered a walking stick on my arm. It was a small one, thus probably a male. I don't know how it got into the cabin, though my computer is near a window. I'll guess that it probably found a small space at the edge of one of the window screens and decided to explore the great indoors.

Anyway, I moved to take it outside and discovered how fast these little buggers move. It was all over the place, even in my hair for a moment. Now I like walking sticks. I think they’re neat-looking, but having one in my hair is a bit much. I don't care if they are vegetarians, I don't like bugs of any kind in my hair. So it was a struggle to get the thing out of my hair without hurting it. I finally managed to get it back onto my hand and took it outside, placing it on the fig tree that summers on the front porch.

Well, you wouldn’t find a walking stick in your house in suburbia too often. Although I can't honestly say that having one in the cabin and in my hair ranks up there as one of the great pleasures of living in the woods. But still....