radbackedsalamander's Favorites

Complete absence of dark 'tear-drop" marking under eye. Side with irregular black speckles, row of black spots midway through caudal fin. Inhabiting cold, spring-fed water (not typically inhabited by G. affinis).

Abundant in spring-fed old hatchery pond on campus. Had heard talks about this and other Gambusia species in the region at the SWAN meetings earlier in the day.

This species isn’t typically recognized from New England where it is subsumed under Carya glabra, but given the strange habitat (sandy outwash with perched water table over silt-clay glaciolacustrine sediment) and the fact that I’ve never seen a pignut like this, I’m going to throw out the C. ovalis ID, which is recognized in Weakley’s flora of the Southeast (and lists MA as the northern extent).

A life species for me! This little squirrel was digging seeds out of the snow under the bird feeder. I've thought we might have flying squirrels here because sometimes late at night, we hear the typical sounds of red or gray squirrels racing along the outside of our log cabin walls, but likely not either of those diurnal species.

Photos taken through window glass and screen (left on to prevent window hits).