HodgePodge Images: Big Bang


It seems like big events are winding down for the year. I have a couple of smaller things coming up but the Seacoast Science Center BioBlitz is certainly my largest event, my big bang (as in out-with-a...). Last Sunday I hiked 6 miles around Odiorne State Park and took over 1600 photos. I was able to send the SSC some photos and will send more when I am able. There are many organizations recently that are waiting. I promised the National Parks images of Katahdin Woods and Waters and the Fiddlehead Festival in May and hope to get to them soon. This was part of my vacation and I rarely process vacation photos the way I would like.


On Saturday I volunteered for the Greater Rochester Camera Club manning the club table at the Granite State Fair, mostly without a camera. I am currently taking a Darkroom Photography course at UNH and shot a roll of colored film, mostly at the fair. We are not able to develop colored film at school so was pleased to use a Gift Certificate for PhotoSmith that I won for a Judges Favorite award (I would rather win a Judges Favorite than a first) in Dover for my developing. Thursday we will be learning scanning though I have been doing this for a while now and will do it at home rather than tie up the few school units.


The SSC BioBlitz is also one of my favorite events. They do such a great job of education while recording species. I usually skip the first item on the schedule, usually birding, as they do it for 2 hours and I don't like to make the day any longer. 8 hours on site plus processing, and 6 miles of walking is enough for me. 

There was a huge turnout this year and they were there earlier than the past. The Tidepooling group was broken into two locations with one going to the drowned forest and one to the Magic Tidepool. I choose the second because the next session was Seine netting and the tidepool was half-way there. I suppose I could have broken out my bike...

There seemed to be less people in my group but they were determined to find good stuff. There were a lot of hermit crabs this year and a couple of lobsters. One young lady was well prepared with hip waders though they don't help if you sink your arms into the water too far.

We don't often find live sea urchins. They are so amazing. This one was crawling across the hand by his spines!


Sculpin in a tide pool

Each year the seine netters seem to forget the ropes to allow the group to help pull in the bottom of the net. The divers try to pull the net through the eel grass to pickup the creatures that live there. I don't know if the net was too high in the water table but the first attempt only pulled in a little grass, no critters. The second time the net was full of small silver fish. I was not close enough when the teachers told the identification of these fish.


The Salt Marsh is always a favorite session of mine. I think I kind of consider it an Underdog, not receiving the attention of the seashore, but super-important. And as we walked out this day two different groups saw coyotes, as far as I know a first with the BioBlitz! I was not fast enough to catch a photo - maybe I need autofocus... the first teacher to walk out on the marsh headed to the river's edge to look for signs of fiddler crabs. I don't think they've been seen here but with more eyes to look...


I didn't explore with the mycologist. She didn't have a whole lot of specimens in this drought year but was pleased that she found at least one of all the different families? genus? I was amazed when she showed us this scarf that was created from yarn dyed with different mushrooms for different colors.


Although the (freshwater) pond has been impacted by the drought, it was easier to maneuver around it this year than past. There also seemed to be more frogs than I've seen before. The teachers for this session said their specialty was herpetology which explains the high frog interest. They may have looked more at insects later in the exploration but I must admit, I didn't stay to the end. By 3:30 I was a little worn out. .



I love this bullfrog pic, especially that her shirt is pink


Juvenille Pumpkinseed Sunfish

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