Not far from the University of New Hampshire, tucked away in rural New England countryside is a small spot for hiking, hunting, and boating called Adam's Point Wildlife Management Area. I visited this place on a warm and sunny Saturday in late September 2014. After a surprise encounter with a garter snake that zoomed right through my feet as I was walking, I found a pickerel frog at the edge of a small pond. It's nice when animals stay still for a closeup like this.
From the freshwater pond, I moved onward to the saltier shores of the Great Bay estuary. After climbing down an escarpment, I found myself on a rocky shoreline with a nice view of the bay. Those are double-crested cormorants sitting out on the sandbar in the photo below. Often, you'll see them sitting near the water with their wings stretched out to dry. They have webbed feet and can swim both on top of and below the water. I watched two of them dive below water and reappear after several moments, presumably hunting fish.
 |
| Pickerel frog at Adam's Point Wildlife Management Area, Durham, New Hampshire |
 |
| Frog at Adam's Point Wildlife Management Area, Durham, New Hampshire |
There were a few other frogs as well, but they were more skittish and buried themselves under muck before I could get close. The frog shown here is either a green frog or bullfrog, which are two of the most common frog species in New England. They can be a little difficult to distinguish when seen from a distance.
Staring down at the edge of the pond where a frog had just disappeared, I noticed something small and peculiar moving on the pond floor. It was less than an inch long, brown, and had a beautiful pattern of red spots. The way it moved was mesmerizing, its body would expand, contract, and change shape as it cruised around. This is a leech (phylum Annelida).
Staring down at the edge of the pond where a frog had just disappeared, I noticed something small and peculiar moving on the pond floor. It was less than an inch long, brown, and had a beautiful pattern of red spots. The way it moved was mesmerizing, its body would expand, contract, and change shape as it cruised around. This is a leech (phylum Annelida).
 |
| Leech, Adam's Point WMA, Durham, New Hampshire |
From the freshwater pond, I moved onward to the saltier shores of the Great Bay estuary. After climbing down an escarpment, I found myself on a rocky shoreline with a nice view of the bay. Those are double-crested cormorants sitting out on the sandbar in the photo below. Often, you'll see them sitting near the water with their wings stretched out to dry. They have webbed feet and can swim both on top of and below the water. I watched two of them dive below water and reappear after several moments, presumably hunting fish.
 |
| View of Great Bay and Cormorants at Adam's Point WMA, Durham, New Hampshire |
 |
| Double-crested cormorant at Adam's Point WMA, Durham, New Hampshire |
Walking further along the shore, I encountered other interesting invertebrates. This time it was a mating pair of horseshoe crabs. (Fun fact: horseshoe crabs are not crustaceans or even actual crabs, they are more closely related to spiders!) These animals look practically the same as they did when they first evolved about 500 million years ago, before the first dinosaurs, birds, or mammals ever existed. Incredible.
 |
| Horseshoe crabs mating at Adam's Point WMA, Durham, New Hampshire |
As I was leaving Adam's Point, I passed a marsh along the peninsula and saw another prehistoric-looking animal (photo below). I forget where I was or who said it, but remember someone saying that great blue herons are reminiscent of pterodactyls when they fly, and I agree. I watched this heron hunt for a few minutes from my car.
 |
| Great blue heron at Adam's Point WMA, Durham, New Hampshire. Top: Heron with prey. |
Here's the location of Adam's Point:
No comments:
Post a Comment