We crossed this bog to portage to another at Stafford Forge. (The can in the foreground was already there; Chris picked it up on the way back.)
Sticky spatulate-leaved sundews glisten in the sunlight Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007 at Stafford Forge, West Creek. Insectivorous, sundews attract insects with their sticky sweet dewdrops, where insects get stuck and die. The plant then absorbs the insect's nutrients.
Remains of a cedar stand at Stafford Forge, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007.
Common in bogs and swamps, meadow beauty blooms July to mid-September.Still with no water to be found for a downstream trip, Chris suggested we try Stafford Forge, West Creek.
The forge is a wildlife refuge where folks hunt, train dogs, go fishing and yes, even kayak. There aren't any creeks, but rather squarish lakes of old cranberry bogs sectioned off by dirt-road dikes -- but what a cool trip. (The forge lakes drain into the nearby Westecunk River; whose gauge read 10.63' today.)
We paddled through stands of dead Atlantic white cedar through narrow but deep (3-5 feet) channels surrounded by mud-banked grasslands and wild flowers. I paid particular attention to the flora on this trip and ID'd both meadow beauty and arrowhead in late bloom. Also spotted tons of spatulate-leaved sundew, yellow pond- (spatterdock) and white water-lily. Some leaf color change on trident red maple, but nowhere near as good as the upper Oswego. Wildlife sightings included: a great blue heron, great white egrets, turkey vultures and a kingfisher.
We paddled through stands of dead Atlantic white cedar through narrow but deep (3-5 feet) channels surrounded by mud-banked grasslands and wild flowers. I paid particular attention to the flora on this trip and ID'd both meadow beauty and arrowhead in late bloom. Also spotted tons of spatulate-leaved sundew, yellow pond- (spatterdock) and white water-lily. Some leaf color change on trident red maple, but nowhere near as good as the upper Oswego. Wildlife sightings included: a great blue heron, great white egrets, turkey vultures and a kingfisher.
Chris with a handful of now-wild cranberry -- very bitter.Chris paddling through the meadows (you can see an egret poised for takeoff far, back left.)
