After the "Storm"

Wood Lily
Lilium Philidelphium

Our Brooklyn kids and our four grandchildren left Nantucket yesterday and the house seems oddly quiet. I really enjoyed taking Arthur to the "Bug Bonanza" program at the Maria Mitchell Hinchman House Natural Sciences Museum, and all the grandkids to "Ravenous Reptiles" there. Lots of time was spent digging holes at the beach, burying kids, and jumping waves.

During the whirlwind of activity by Arthur (7), Noa (4), Frankie (4) and Simon (1), I almost missed the changes of the summer season. A more consistent southwest wind came in over the past week, changing what had been a foggy July. The sweet pepper (Clethra alnifolnia) is opening and spreading its spicy scent. I saw a Wood Lily at Squam Farm on a short walk with Frankie, and the Meadow Beauties are now out at Windswept Bog. I discovered them, and two Northern BobWhites, during a "last-day" walk with Sam, Mari , Arthur , Frankie, Josh and Mari's mother Michiyo. Arthur caught and released a copper butterfly and bluet damselfly during our outing. We all ate dewberries.

Virginia Meadow Beauty
Rhexia Virginica

The average temperature for the month was 70.6 degrees, with .8 inches of rain and the dominant wind from the southwest. Other parts of the country are sweltering. We installed a new Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station when the anemometer died on our previous one. So I can't compare July to June in terms of temperature, but in terms of rain, there was 3.22 inches in June.

I am looking forward to the Sturgeon Moon, which will rise from the ocean on August 2.  This is the moonrise on July 29.

Moonrise, July 29

 

Before the kids arrived,  I believe I saw the first Whimbrel to stop in Nantucket on this year's southward migration.  I had hiked from Wauwinet to Coskata Pond via the Head of the Harbor and was rewarded on July 10 with this sighting.

Whimbrel at Coskata, July 10

July 18

Lost in the wilderness

 

Blueberries

Swamp Azalea,
Rhododendron Viscosa

Colicroot at Windswept Bog, Aletra Farinosa

The arrowhead viburnum has run its course.  What was a field of irises at Windswept Bog is now a field of Rosa Carolina, and the colicroot field is blooming.   The false indigo was getting ready to burst near the Pout Ponds on July 1  and Josh and I saw the first sickle grass on our hike from Reyes Pond on July 8. It’s the parade of summer.  There were 6 types of mushrooms in Squam Swamp during my hike on  July 7, and I nibbled on a number of ripe high bush blueberries.

I got lost in the moors on July 9.  #wildnantucket is real!  I set out seeking the white-fringed orchid in the Sconset Dump.  There was lots of new growth and I lost the path, got disoriented.  Bushwhacking left me scratched bloody and tired.  I called Rob Benchley for a rescue.  Phew.  He talked me through my moves …which were there on Google Maps’ satellite, but which I was having trouble reading my location.

I did walk through a field of colicroot, see the remains of sheep laurel, tromp through huge ferns and smell the swamp azalea.  And I got a shot of the white-fringed orchid before bloom. Rob and Carol rescued me and drove me home.

White-fringed Orchid, before bloom

Colicroot at the Sconset Dump

The GreyLady is earning her name this summer.  We’ve been in a southeast wind/east wind weather pattern that keeps the fog coming.  Temperatures have been cool , in the sixties or low seventies, with a mean temperature of 67.85 for the first 7 days of the month.  Every day was foggy for the past several weeks,  until today, July 11.  The winds have shifted to the west and the sky is clear.  The temperature is also up to 77, the highest of the year.

Honey Mushroom, Armillaria mellea

Poison Champagne Amanita, Amanita crenulata

Eastern American Platterful,
Megacollybia rodmanii

Amanita Sect. Validae

Jellied false coral fungus,
Sebacina schweinitzii

Brown American Star-footed Amanita,
Amanita brunnescens

Chicks

 My new kayak  has been launched!  It was so upsetting to have my trusty Walden stolen from Polpis Harbor in late October. I had to replace it.  So now the Eddyline Skylark 12 has been exploring Polpis.

On our first voyage on July 1 ,  Josh and I heard the elusive Clapper Rail in the Pocomo Meadow.  Others had heard (and seen it) at the UMass Field Station. 

The Oystercatchers are nesting in their  usual spot across from Quaise Point, and  it was a treat to see one of the chicks take flight on July 7.  I am learning to  balance the kayak and my  Canon R5 with 400 mm lens which is normally in  my dry bag!

Piping plover chicks abound at Madaket (June 29)  and Eel Point (June 26).  I just haven't been to Great Point to count the numbers there!

Stay away from my chicks!