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November 5th, 2020 Framingham, MA
Today I removed all eight newts from the winter simulation setup in the garage, to release them into the aquarium. The newts have been displaying many interesting courtship behaviors that are very difficult to photograph and document in a container with only 2 gallons of water and terrible lighting. My aquarium on the other hand, is great for photography as it contains about 28 gallons of water, and resembles a much more natural setting. Literally, though if you could not see the black glue on the corners of the tank, you might thing it was taken underwater at a lake.
My smallest male newt perched on the stem of a dead oak leaf
A female newt landing in between two rocks after taking a breath at the water's surface
Two newts instantly began amplexis as they entered the tank. After they split up, I watched as the male dropped a packet of sperm while doing a dance. Unfortunately, I am not sure how to upload videos to google sites so i can not show you the dance, but it was very funny and cute.
Below are some more photos of the newts re-exploring the Aquarium.
My largest male newt, named "Alpha" displaying his beutiful tail.
one of my smaller males curiously looking at me through the glass
A gang of 3 males chilling on rocks
Alpha staring at a female newt . . .
Overall, the temporary move into the aquarium was worth the stress and time, as I was able to take some amazing pictures. In total, I took 13 pictures, but i only am posting the 6 above as they are the clearest and most interesting. I will return the newts to the winter simulator on Monday morning.
-Aidan Garrity
November 4th, 2020 Framingham, MA
Yesterday, I was in the woods with my friends. We make fires, build shelters, and have a small camp down there that we built. On some of the trees we had torn down, I began noticing tiny yellow dots and cup shapes growing in the wood.
I knew all along that these were some type of jelly fungi, but i did not know which kind. After doing some research I realized it was Witch's Butter (Tremella mesenterica). Witch's Butter grows on dead deciduous wood such as birch logs (as seen above). The fungus is apparently edible but does not taste good.
-Aidan Garrity
November 3rd, 2020 Framingham, MA
Today I saw a swan at the Sudbury river.
I had to work in the morning. After finishing, I realized that my phone was dead and had to run home all the way from downtown framingham. It was exhausting. After realizing my friends had been trying to contact me, I left for our hang out spot. On the way there, I ran into another friend. They wanted me to test drive their biking trail. At the end I saw a massive, white Mute Swan (Cygnus olor).
Mute swan with head up
Mute swan feeding
Mute swans are invasive in the United States. They are native to Asia and Europe. I was really disappointed when I found this out since colorful animals are a rare thing where i live and Mute swans would be an exception. After being introduced about 40 years ago, they have quickly spread across the US and into Canada. You might say "well, whats the problem?" or "who dosent like swans?" Think about it this way: the more swans there are, the less mallard ducks, Canada geese, and Muskrats there will be. They are animals that have more competition for the food source that is rooted aquatic plants. They have evolved in the Sudbury river for a long time.
The muskrat that I have been observing's great, great great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents probably lived in the Sudbury river.
I think we should do to the Mute swan's population what we are doing to the Burmese python population which is removing or hunting them because I do not think we should allow invasive species here just because they look nice.
-Aidan Garrity
November 2nd, 2020 Framingham, MA
Something fascinating is underway right now. My A. emertoni spider is spinning a web.
About a week ago, I caught the spider to keep as a pet. I used the web that i found it on in it's inclosure hoping to spare it the energy, time and stress of spinning a new web. It abandoned the old web instantly. I tried coaxing it into it, and luring it into it using wax worms. It refused. It was as if it's web was on fire and It did not want to get burnt. Several days later, i noticed it was creating some strings in a new location. Now, there is an entirely new web in it's place.
Above is the spider's new web.
It is still a work in progress. you can see small chunks of wood that the spider incorporated into It's web.
I have a few theories as to why it adds wood chips to its web. One being that they act in the same way that bones act in us, like a frame to maintain the shape.
In the image above, you see my spider eating a cricket that i dropped onto it's web. My spider's venom killed it in under 20 minutes which is impressive considering the size of the cricket compared to the size of the spider. Spiders can make great pets as they are very opportunistic eaters and can go a very long time without food.
-Aidan Garrity
November 1st, 2020 Framingham, MA
I am going to take a break today of talking about weather. Today, all of the snow is gone, it is as if the storm never happened. Wind speeds are still high. The two oaks across the street are being pushed hard by the wind. Every few seconds, a leaf becomes dislodged, and zips a few hundred feet down the road, landing in people's yard. The. Weather. Is. Boring. The trees across the street are Black oak trees. how do i know this? The ends of the leave's prongs are pointed like daggers. On an White Oak, the end of the leaves prongs are rounded.
Top: Black oak Bottom: White oak
Top: White Oak Bottom: Black oak
-Aidan Garrity
October 31st, 2020 Framingham, MA
Today is Halloween. There is not a cloud in the sky. Storm Zeta is either gone or over Hudson bay. Its difficult to tell because i see rain there on the radar, but it could be a completely different storm. Literally, though, the sky is solid blue. ZERO WHITE. Most of the snow has already melted.
Our street YESTERDAY
Our street TODAY
I was walking around our yard, when something strange caught my eye.
WTF is this? Snake tracks? A one legged cross country skier?
I then noticed footprints within the trail. Maybe the trail is the animal's tail-mark!
So it has to be a small animal, judging by the track's size, and it needs to have a tail. Chipmunk maybe? Squirrel? Mouse? I can rule out chipmunks because they hold up there tails while they run, and I know it was running based on the distance between each track. I think it probably was not a mouse based on the fact that the tail mark is so thick. In the end i figured out it was most likely a Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). This makes sense because i see Red Squirrels in my yard very often, feeding on the spruce cones, acorns, and chestnuts in our neighborhood.
-Aidan Garrity
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