Nights in Nonconnah

We were fortunate enough to participate in two night walks along the Nonconnah Creek Greenbelt this year. The first was on Memorial Day, a bright full moon shone, making flashlights unnecessary for much of the night. We walked on a footpath along the creek for perhaps a mile, turning around where a small creek joins from the north. At this juncture access to gravel beds upstream and downstream is unusually easy. We returned on roughly parallel ate tracks. We saw a lot of amphibians - toads, frogs, including a bullfrog and tree frog, and a couple of armadillos. There was a nice chorus of birds, then night creatures the whole time. Mosquitoes were minimal, and the paths were clear. No (obvious) poison ivy. All-in-all, a very nice time, led by Ryan Pudwell

The second was July 19. A larger group, led by Steven and Ryan took essentially the same paths. We found fewer amphibians (though still did spot another tree frog - a thrill for us- see picture 1). Thinking that mating season was largely over, we did spot a non-venomous water snake (picture 2), so who knows? Saw another couple of armadillos, a good-sized millipede, a caterpillar infested with parasites (picture 3), and a gorgeous Spring Spider Lilly (picture 4). Next time we’ll bring UV flashlights, as a couple folks did and pointed out some florescent fungus!