Stuff I've found.

[sandcast69]

These are a few things I've found while out in the woods or paddling the batsto area.
Can anyone tell me what the purple flower is and what the jelly balls in the water might be.


Thanks
sandcast69

 

[sandcast69]

A couple more.

 

[manumuskin]

ok I'll rattle of what I know now and I'm going to find what the caterpillar is.tha lizard is a femal fence lizard,some around here call em pine swifts.the small tree/shrub with the red buds appears to be sweetbay,a tree of swamps and near it's northern boundary in the pines,a southern tree mostly that gets larger down south.I would say the jelly looking stuff is some type of slime mold.I believe it's a type of fungi but not sure.I do know slime bolds are beautiful and dry up quickly in low humidity.i don't know about the flower.I'll try and find that too but Bob or Tom would probably know it at a glance.
Al

 

[dogg57]

Eacles imperialis- Imperial moth for the green caterpillar

 

[manumuskin]

thanks Dogg
i just went throiugh too ID sites and could not find it.one site had so many pics i just gave up. ever made it to the moths.did you find that on a site or are you a caterpillar expert? last summer at the seneca rocks visitor center i saw two great field guides.one on butterlies and moths and one on caterpillars.I wanted to get them and didn't.Next time I'm there I am picking them up.
Al

 

[dogg57]

No expert here Just seen one before.As for the purple flower I am guessing Some type of Meadow rue?

 

[Teegate]

That is an interesting caterpillar!

Guy

 

[oji]

I'll say it's Spotted knapweed, cool looking but an invasive species.

 

[turtle]

A couple years ago a friend of mine found the jelly like substance in the water near Batsto also. I can't recall what her findings were. When I look it up in my notes, I'll let you know unless someone else tags it first.

 

[sandcast69]

Thanks everyone for the info, I appreciate it. The purple flower reminded my of a sea anemone so I had to take a picture of it, but couldn't find pics online that looked like it.

I almost walked into Frank the caterpillar as he was face level just hanging out. He was kind enough to let me take a few pictures though. I think that fence lizard truly believed it was invisible. I got my camera about a foot away from it before she scurried farther up the tree.
As for the jelly balls in the Batsto river... your guess is as good as mine. That is probably the strangest thing I've seen so far.

The Sweetbay tree was found on Big Timber Creek at N 39.859091 W -75.112541 ,The only one of it's kind I could find in about 5 miles of paddling the river. Beautiful tree.
Thanks again everyone!

sandcast69

 

[pinelandpaddler]

The jelly balls are a form of algae, I do believe. Nice shots, btw.

 

[manumuskin]

didn't realize they were (jelly balls) in the water,no slime mold then.I once ran into some glow in the dark mushrooms in the mountains of nort central Pa while hiking in the dark.never have seen such a thing since.has anyone seen glow in the dark shrooms here in jersey?
Al

 

[Stamos]

has anyone seen glow in the dark shrooms here in jersey?

Were they glowing before or AFTER you ate them?

 

[turtle]

Jelly Balls!

Sandcast,

As I previously mentioned, a friend of mine looked into these jelly ball things in Batsto Lake and obtained this information from Stockton:

Fresh water Bryozoans - specifically Pectinatella magnifica.
Often referred to as Moss Animals they are an ancient member of the animal kingdom, dating back to the upper Cambrian age. They have the ability to form colonies of gelatinous masses that exceed 2 feet in diameter, but most often are found in sizes of less than 1 foot. They attach to underwater logs, branches, grasses and are found in slow moving bodies of fresh water.

Armed with that information, I found this to be rather informative via an internet search.

http://www.pineypaddlers.com/pineypaddlers/Paddling-Information/A-HTML/bryozoan/bryozoan.htm

Thanks for sharing,
turtle

 

[manumuskin]

Were they glowing before or AFTER you ate them?

Before.Afterwards we sat around and let forth luminous zephyrs whose brilliance lit the nightime forest.They were quite phartflourescent.
Al

 

[bobpbx]

Before.Afterwards we sat around and let forth luminous zephyrs whose brilliance lit the nightime forest.They were quite phartflourescent.
Al

Good one Al!