Eastern Box Turtles

Although fairly common, populations of the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrepene carolina) are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Many are crushed by vehicles on roads or by agricultural equipment or lawn mowers. This terrestrial turtle prefers the moist deciduous forest of the eastern United States, and can be found throughout the eastern US.

Now that the weather has turned warmer, and there's been some rain, turtles have emerged from their winter torpor and are commonly seen on roads around here. The turtles have a strong preference for their home territory, which is quite small -- about an acre. If a turtle is relocated, it will go to extreme lengths to return home. So if you see a turtle on the road, please just move it to the side and do not move it very far!

The hinged underside ("plastron") allows the head, tail, and limbs to completely withdraw into the shell for protection.

Males have a slightly concave plastron, while females have flatter ones. Males also usually have bright red eyes, while females tend to have brown or yellow eyes.

I've been documenting turtles on our property for a number of years. Each turtle has unique markings on their shell ("carapace"), so it's possible to document individual turtles. So far I've documented 33 turtles. There are certainly many more I haven't seen.

Young turtles are rarely seen. They spend their first few years under leaf litter on the forest floor. Two years ago I was lucky to see this tiny turtle. It's still too young to have distinctive marks, so I'll never know if I see this same turtle again.

Great Signs for Foodies

I'm starting a collection of interesting signs in eateries. I'll add more as I collect them.

Buzz & Ned's, Richmond, Virginia (April 2016)

Rangiri Dambulla Resort, Dambulla, Sri Lanka (February 2016)
Much of their food comes from their extensive on-site gardens.

Green House Restaurant at the House of MG Hotel, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India (August 2015)

Thumbs Up diner in Decatur, Georgia (Atlanta, December 2016).

Gaudineer Knob and Gaudineer Scenic Area

Another special place in this part of West Virginia is Gaudineer Knob. The spruce and moss (and frequent fog) make the knob a magical place. It seems like fairies and leprechauns are just around each bend in the trail.

The mossy, hummocky ground seems other-worldly. It's also so sound-absorbant that the quiet is overwhelming.

Moi!

The hillside trees have been removed in this spot to give a great panorama of the valley and mountains.

Not far (1.25 miles) from the Knob is the Gaudineer Scenic Area. Due to a surveying error, this small patch of forest was never logged and is one of the few remaining patches of virgin timber in the Alleghenies. It is now part of the Old Growth Forest Network.

Many of the trees in this area have reached the end of their lifespan and have fallen to the forest floor, allowing younger trees to take their place.

Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana)

Cranberry Glades

The Cranberry Glades are a remnant of the Ice Age. The glades are acidic bogs and the flora of this area more resembles Canada than the mid-Atlantic US. Many of the plants here are at the southern-most end of their range.

For many years I've come here in the summer with the Field Ecology Governor's School, but this is the first spring trip I've had. It's a different set of plants to see.

Round Glade

A boardwalk provides a half-mile trail through the bogs without getting your feet wet. I particularly liked the pattern of the knots in the wooden planks here.

While not native to this area, pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) have flourished. These plants attract insects, then drown them in the water collected inside the "pitchers". The plants derive much of their nitrogen needs from digesting the insects.

Violets (Viola spp.) were abundant.

Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) were everywhere.

A closer view of the Marsh Marigold flower.

Chokeberry (Pyrus spp., although the most recent Virginia Tech database has this as Photinia pyrifolia)

Another unidentified shrub (possibly Viburnum cassinoides, Witherod) leafing out.

West Virginia

Tuesday we left our bikes behind and took an motorized tour through eastern West Virginia. Our original intent was to camp for a couple of days and check out the northern sections of the Greenbrier River Trail, but weather and a funeral nixed those plans.

The small town of Marlinton was the center of our tour. Since we weren't on bikes, our dog, Dakota, could come along with us on our walks.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is in nearby Greenbank. It's somewhat surprising to come around a curve and find a large radio-telescope in view. The area around Greenbank is a "radio quiet zone" so as not to interfere with the observatory (and also NSA listening posts), so cell phones do not work for this entire area. Better bring paper maps for this trip -- Google maps aren't available!

The Highland Scenic Highway has some great views.

Up next: Cranberry Glades and Gaudineer Knob and Scenic Area.

Smith Bridge - Jackson River Scenic Trail

On Monday we returned to the Jackson River Scenic Trail for our afternoon bike ride. Smith Bridge is currently the northern end of the trail.

Smith Bridge is an old road bridge that at one time had asphalt over a wooden deck. It's now closed to motor vehicles, but is open to foot and bicycle traffic.

Lon biking over the bridge.

There are a number of largish holes in the deck. It's a bit unnerving, but overall the bridge feels solid!

Wildflowers

Each week brings new wildflowers to the trail.

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are just about done blooming.

But Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) is just beginning to bloom.

As is Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) -- one of my favorite wildflowers. The umbrella-like leaves do a good job of hiding the flowers in late April and early May, and then the green "apple" fruit, which mostly appears in June and ripens over the summer, is also well hidden.

Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) looks as if it has 10 petals, but it's really 5 deeply-cut petals.

Our Latest Project

In an attempt to keep our firewood both drier and more organized, we spent three afternoons (four if you count the trip to get the wood and other supplies) putting together a real wood shed.

The shed is 8' x 4' x 6' so it will hold about a cord of wood. Here Lon and Dakota are resting after day 2's work.

Finished! My turn to sit with Dakota.

Our very first roofing job. It doesn't hold up well under close inspection, but it will do for an open-air wood shed. The shingles were left over from our house construction. We really don't know where they came from because our house's roof is green, not white. Anyway, the fact that they've been sitting outside for 10 years (or more?) explains the discoloration on some of them.

We'll need to make at least one more to hold a year's worth of wood. We'll probably end up with a total of three if they work well.

Jackson River Scenic Trail

Yesterday we biked the Jackson River Scenic Trail that runs along an old railed north of Covington. It's short (about 7 miles long), but (as the name implies) quite scenic. It's also in excellent shape and an easy ride. Work is underway to extend another 4 miles-or-so up to Natural Well. Ultimately it's supposed to reach the Alleghany-Bath county line. (The train once went all the way up to Warm Springs.)

Typical scenery along the trail. This photo is looking south near the Petticoat Junction access point.

Bleeding hearts were found along the trail. This photo shows them as pink, but they were really a deep red. I'm not good enough at Photoshop to correct the flower color without making the rest of the photo look strange!

It's Eastern Tent Caterpillar season. These caterpillars make nasty-looking nests in trees -- they particularly prefer black cherry trees. In peak years they can completely defoliate the cherries, but the cherries usually survive without much harm done.

What's that plane doing?

This C-130 Hercules (military cargo plane) has been flying low overhead all week. No idea why it's up there, but I've been able to get some great photos. I've been told that the torpedo-shaped pods under the wings are extra fuel tanks for extended distance flight.

Flying in front of a small thunderstorm.

Later in the week it was joined by four AH-64 "Apache" helicopters.

One of four Apache helicopters that flew overhead in formation.

Mid-Spring

We're now in the height of spring -- my favorite season. Pollen (mostly oak right now) coats everything with light yellow dust.

Most of the pollen is coming from oak trees that have just started "blooming" in the last two days. The flowers are inconspicuous, but have that delicate spring green color.

The tulip poplars have lots of leaves by now; one lone red maple still has the red blush; the oaks are just starting to put on their green.

This male cardinal spends all morning, every morning, trying to fly through a window into our house. Same window every morning. His mate spends a lot of time trying to get in another window.

Lots of spiderwebs, too.

The small vernal iris is blooming now.

And so are several species of violets.

Heron Update

The herons are now very busy tending to the eggs in their nests.

A close look reveals a heron sitting on each nest.

A closer look at two of the nests.

Crazy Weather

It's spring -- and that means the weather can yo-yo from clouds to sun, warm to cold, storms to calm in a matter of hours. Last week has been particularly volatile.

After a week of warm weather, including temperatures in the 70s (F, 22°C), we went back into the deep freeze with snow and lows down to 22 (F, -5°C).

The clouds can be very dramatic.

And one day we were treated to rainbow after rainbow.