Delimited Site Visit #7 - The Junk Pond
May 30, 2018, Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME
After spending the weekend on Monhegan Island it felt like I hadn't been to my site in a while. It had only been about a week but it felt much longer. Of course, when I got there at about 5:00p, not much had changed since the last time I had been there. The weather today was a bit breezy, sunny, and probably in the mid60s.
I came in from the "backside" along the UNE fields through the knotweed. The first thing that struck me was all of the SENSITIVE FERNS and that the MORROW'S HONEYSUCKLE was all blooming. And the mosquitoes. So many mosquitoes. The CANADIAN MAYFLOWER and EUROPEAN LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY was still in bloom. Overall the general impression of the area was that of a jungle. Everything is green and leafy and it seems thick with plants.
I walked from the back to the front and then back to the bench to sit. I have come to realize that the bench isn't the best place to sit right now because of all of the plants. I am really limited in what I can see from this vantage point. Of course, I'll continue to use it as it is convenient but I'll have to move around a bit more as well.
The WILD GERANIUM was also blooming. I have recently learned that WILD GERANIUM has been used and currently is used as an astringent and hemostatic. Additionally, the NORTHERN BLUE FLAG (Iris versicolor) that I had been watching for a while finally bloomed. The FALSE SOLOMON's SEAL was also blooming, another plant which has many medicinal uses.
There were a couple GRAY SQUIRRELS doing their work, but not a lot of birds. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, AMERICAN ROBIN, and AMERICAN REDSTART being the most numerous birds I found while at the site. I startled one GREEN FROG and watched a bumblebee doing its work, as I sat on the bench.
The female MALLARD and her babies were around. When I first found the babies there were five.
But now there were only two. The other three have gone missing. Presumably, taken by predators.
In those 8 days they have gone from small little balls of fluffy to smaller versions of their mother.
The entire time I was there one of the two MUSKRATs was moving between its den and a grassy area. It would head over to the grassy area and collect as much grass as it could put it its mouth. It would then swim over and disappear in its den. Just a few moments later, it would return to the grass and continue collecting more to take to the den. Later as I was leaving I found another MUSKRAT on the closer side of the pond eating quietly by itself. It was definitely not the first one as I could see both at the same time, the "lazy" one and the "hard-working" one.
As is always the case when I visit the noise pollution was very noticeable. There is a constant drone from the highway which is intermixed with local street noise and UNE noise. It is a remarkable thing to have such a wild seeming location which has a near constant reminder that it is in a city.
After 20 full minutes of observations I headed out towards the "front" or to the UNE road. It was at this point that I noticed the second MUSKRAT.
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