Winterberries

I covered a lot of ground today, a beautifully warm one that, since we've already had a killing frost. would have to qualify as bona fide Indian Summer weather. I got up early and headed to the Miner Preserve to conduct an overdue amphibian, butterfly, and dragonfly survey. It went pretty fast. There's still not enough rain to fill the vernal pools and the connecting stream, so no amphibs. I tallied one sulphur butterfly, but it was not interested in sitting still; ditto for the lone odonate, a large-ish darner... probably a Shadow. Then it was back home to watch the celebratory Red Sox Duck Boat Parade and, well, qvell. After that bit of sheer delight, I went up to Babcock Ridge to explore, but found little in the way of animal life. The best I could come up with was an Autumn Meadowhawk. I found a few others on the boardwalk at the Henne Preserve, and while I was looking deeper into the wetlands at gnawed trees, signs that the local beavers have been active, I noticed some particularly vibrant red berries. These are the fruit of a deciduous holly known as Ilex verticillata, or, more commonly, Winterberry. The berries are beautiful to photograph, and the plant is a joy to grow, if you have the right wet conditions. But you need to capture images of the holly in its glory fast. Birds love the berries, too, and a flock of hungry Robins or Cedar Waxwings, both of which are still prowling the area, will leave the photographer with nothing but empty stems to shoot.