Sunny and warm, temperatures into the mid 60s.
There was a fire last night that Connor went to help out with. He was up late so did not go hunting early this morning, as he had thought he might.
I had arranged to go to Harbor Mountain with Kitty this morning. We walked to meadow.
The flowers are mostly done, but a few are still going.
I noticed a few song bird migrants, but not many.
This afternoon I did Starrigavan Ridge. Connor had been going to go with me, but something came up, so I went by myself.
I didn’t get started until after 2pm. I was walking and talking (with my parents – as they were driving). I felt like I was making decent time without feeling bad. I had not necessarily intended to go all the way up. On a previous trip I had noticed what looked like it might be a wet rocky/cliffy area in the forest which I wanted to revisit. I didn’t happen to spot it today, so I continued up to the top.
Perhaps around halfway up, I smelled Hydnellum suaveolens and was able to find it. It was out in the open, unlike a previous time when I had to work to find it where it was tucked away under a tree.
I slowed down from the clearing below the ridge line, since I was still talking and cell signal goes away after cresting the ridge and going down towards the lake. I might have been able to make it in an hour and forty five (or perhaps faster), but instead got to the ridge in 2 hours.
I hoped to find a Solitary Sandpiper. I did see shorebirds at the lower lake. There were as many as 8 Least Sandpipers and a couple (probably Greater) yellowlegs.
I had been undecided about making my way to the upper lake, but the shorebirds convinced me to check there as well. I didn’t find any shorebirds there, however.
It was very quiet along the ridge. I stopped at one point just to listen to the quiet. A minute or two later, Savannah Sparrows and American Pipits showed up and started calling.
I made one last check of lower lake on my way down. Saw the 8 Least Sandpipers then, but the yellowlegs weren’t where I noticed them.
When I was stopping along ridge to look at liverworts, I noticed occasional mosquitoes. Later in the evening I noticed they did manage to bite me.
I made some collections, but it was a lighter day than some recent ones. I didn’t have too much time to spend poking around, and didn’t visit the more protected habitats that might have encouraged me to look a little more thoroughly.
I took 45 minutes to get back to my car from the start of trees.
The route is showing a lot of wear in the couple of months since I was last on it. It seems like lots of people have been going up this year. It’s hard for me to say whether it’s more than in past years, but I kind suspect it might be.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
