joene's garden » winter in Connecticut

80 inches, Enough Already!

joenesgarden — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 14:17:18 +0000

This may be slightly premature considering the unpredictable nature of New England weather, but I hope our final snowfall total rests at the 80 inches we've had so far this snow season. We track such things and, over coffee this morning, we added all the snow that's fallen on our south-central Connecticut land this winter season.

Though not technically winter, the first snow fell November 7-8, 2012. It totaled 5». Between this and the 12» that fell on December 29, we measured a few small snowfalls … all expected and absolutely part of a normal Connecticut winter.

A few more small storms dropped miniscule amounts before the blizzard of 2013, which dropped 36» of snow on us … what one son called a 'crapload' … and even more on other sections of Connecticut.

Most of the blizzard snow had melted. Even the plowed and shoveled piles were almost gone. Then yesterday morning we awoke to 10» of heavy, wet snow that continued most of the day.

When it finally stopped snowing late yesterday afternoon our total was 17». We are still cleaning up.

I'm ready for spring, but can still appreciate the beauty of the sun-drenched, fresh snow and a clear, blue winter sky that greeted us this morning.

I know, under all this snow, that perennials are ready to greet another growing season.

Spring may not pop as early this year as it did in 2012, when crocus were in bloom on March 24,

but spring is not far away.

Categories: Seasons.
Tags: snowfall totals, winter in Connecticut.

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Tale of an overwintering butterfly

joenesgarden — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Tale of an overwintering butterfly

This falls under my learn something new category. I never knew adult butterflies can overwinter in the cold winter climate of Connecticut. Neither did my neighbor Gail, until she found an adult butterfly resting in her firewood pile on a very cold January day.

Imagine her surprise when the butterfly moved, which urged her to scoop it up to bring inside where temperatures were much more hospitable. She was concerned that she had destroyed Mr. Butterfly's home, and felt obliged to find him a new one. (For the sake of this tale we will assume it is a him.)

Mr. Butterfly found shelter in a spare bedroom where he could warm his wings in the glow of the sun and the resident cats could not reach him. His menu included sugar water and fruit.

He seemed happy to be out of the cold and took full advantage of his sunny window, often sitting in the sun with wings spread, as if to say «Ahhhhhh.»

Gail did a bit of sleuthing and found the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in Massachusetts, which informed her that Mr. Butterfly is a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa). It is quite normal for mourning cloaks to overwinter in the adult stage; they are quite hardy. According to this article, their dark wings serve as solar collectors, warming their butterfly blood enough to allow them to fly in early spring.

As it turns out, Gail's instincts on what to feed Mr. Butterfly were spot on. They prefer sap and fermenting fruit.

We've tried to capture Mr. Butterfly on camera, but he's kind of shy. When ever anyone comes too close he finds a place to hide, so the photo below, which I suspect is also a morning cloak, will have to suffice.

Mr. Butterfly continues to thrive under Gail's attentive care. She plans to release him back outside when the weather gets a bit warmer. Then he will likely seek out a mate.

Mourning cloaks lay eggs on host plants, often willows, elms, cottonwood or birch and oak tree sap is their preferred food.

They are not unusual. If one catches your eye this spring, take the time to check out their wing patterns – they are quite striking and very photogenic if you can catch one sitting still.

Gail is quite happy that Mr. Butterfly came into her life … so am I. He taught us both a little bit more about the world right under our noses, or, in this case, lurking in a common old wood pile.

Read more about mourning cloaks at Butterflies and Moths of North America, a great identification resource with tons of photos.

Categories: Creatures.
Tags: Butterflies and Moths of North America, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, mourning cloak butterfly, winter in Connecticut.

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Nature’s landscape designer at work

joenesgarden — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:17:28 +0000

Nature’s landscape designer at work

There's a landscape designer at work in and around ponds located near my home. Castor canadensis, better known as the common beaver, moved in last autumn. Since then he's built a home, cleared out non-native, invasive trees and brush, and set out to insure he has a nice deep pond in which to spend the winter.

Sir Beaver's lodge is nicely situated at the edge of a spring-fed pond.

As shown in my very rudimentary diagram below, this pond sits slightly downhill and off to the side of another pond that primarily feeds into a stream.

Sir Beaver has done a wonderful job of clearing all the Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) and/or Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) trees – non-natives listed on the Connecticut Invasive Plant List - that once grew around the lower pond.

He pulled these and other small trees and shrubs toward his lodge to use either as additional building materials or to store as winter food for when ice covers the pond. You can see Sir Beaver's stash in the water just to the upper left of his lodge in the photo below.

Other brush and logs he cut went into his dams. Here's his upper pond dam as it looked in December 2012.

Here's Sir Beaver's smaller dam in the lower pond.

This one helps to keep the water level high enough to protect the entrance to his lodge.

He started a third dam (not shown) in the stream, but perhaps he got distracted … he has not done much work on it lately.

Once the pond froze, Sir Beaver must have begun to use the stores of brush he had stacked outside his lodge. They were not as evident at the start of January after the pond froze.

But Sir Beaver is still active. This is the path he follows from the lower pond to the stream.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, male beavers build lodges and dams to attract a mate. Beavers mate for life and breed during mid-winter.

I cannot tell yet if Sir Beaver has attracted Lady Beaver. If he has, their kits will be born in spring. They will live with Mom and Dad until they are two.

Beavers are frequently looked at with disdain because they can drastically alter the environment to suit their needs … landscaping does not always match humans' ideas of beauty. But by creating wetlands, beavers provide habitat for turtles, salamanders, frogs, fish, and wetland birds. Wetlands also help trap sediments and filter water.

Should beavers decide a piece of your landscape is attractive, there are steps you can take to protect mature trees and insure beaver dams don't totally flood an area. These are outlined in the CT DEEP beaver fact sheet.

Winters with little snow, such as this one in Connecticut, provide great opportunities for exploring outdoors; for observing the travels and habits of creatures, such as Sir Beaver, living nearby.

Have you observed beaver, or other creatures in your landscape?

Categories: Creatures, Seasons.
Tags: beavers, winter in Connecticut.

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