observation – Wellfleet Conservation Trust

Finding lichen on the Fox Island trail

Many of us grew up playing the Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? game. You had to guess an object, knowing only which of those three categories it fell into. Animal and vegetable (plant) were supposed to cover all living things.

Beard lichen (*Usnea*), a genus of fruiticose lichen

You can play that game on one of the WCT trails, for example, the photos shown here are from the Fox Island Marsh and Pilgrim Spring Woodlands Conservation Area, which is the site scheduled for the WCT Annual Walk on September 16, 2023.

But what if you came across some living thing that was neither animal nor vegetable? What if the thing you found looked like a plant, but wasn’t; looked like a single organism, but wasn’t; could appear as a mineral of some sort, but was full of life?

Powdered ruffle lichen (*Parmotrema hypoleucinum*); a foliose type

You could be looking at one of the most interesting phenomena on Cape Cod, but one that is often overlooked, even by those otherwise expert about birds, trees, wildflowers, turtles, mammals, mollusks, insects, and other fascinating flora and fauna.

That strange thing you observe might be a lichen, a composite organism made up of algae or cyanobacteria living among multiple fungi species. The fungi are in a kingdom separate from either plants or animals. That kingdom includes yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. Like animals, they cannot photosynthesize, but acquire food directly or indirectly from plants.

Greenshield lichen (*Flavoparmelia caperata*); foliose

Within a lichen, the fungi provide structure and attachment to a tree, rock, or split rail fence. The algae contain the green pigment, chlorophyll, which gives the green color to the lichen and captures energy from the sun to support. photosynthesis.

One common type you may find is foliose, or leaf-like lichen. Another is fruiticose, reminiscent of tiny fruit trees. There are also crustose, which attach to rocks so tightly that they can’t be removed without destroying them or the rock. They seem like the Mineral in the old guessing game. Some common crustose lichen are bright orange.

Reindeer lichen **(Cladonia portentosa)**; fruiticose

Lichens are gray when the algae components are dead or dormant, but they may turn bright green after a rain. The fungus (which surrounds the algae) soaks up water, causing its to become more transparent, and revealing the green pigment of the algae.

See what you can find the next time you venture onto a WCT trail.

Field trips for elementary school

The month of June has become a time to welcome students from Wellfleet Elementary School to trails sponsored by the Wellfleet Open Space Committee and the Wellfleet Conservation Trust.

The two organizations have collaborated for many years on programs for schoolchildren. One of their most important functions is to help young people appreciate the value of nature and open space.

This year Peggy Sagan from the Open Space Committee led a program for grades 3, 4, and 5, involving activities in class related to nature, conservation, and map reading, plus field trips.

Fox Island Marsh and Pilgrim Springs Woodlands Conservation Area

The classes included Melanie Griswold’s grade 3, Kristin Connolly and Tessa Wood’s grade 4, and Brendan Pursel’s grade 5. For grade 4 there was a field trip to the Fox Island / Pilgrim Springs area and for grade 5 a trip to the Herring River Overlook. Others helping Ms. Sagan at various times included John Grieb from the Open Space Committee, and Bill Iacuessa, Denny O’Connell, and Chip Bruce from the WCT.

Grade 4 explores the Fox Island Marsh and Pilgrim Spring Woodlands

At the start of our hike, we asked two students to read the text on the Robert Hankey plaque. They were stars, prompting a discussion about what a trust is and why we need to conserve open space and habitats.

Memorial for Robert Gordon Hankey at Fox Island

At the end of the hike, students recalled their best experience. Two said that they liked the fiddler crabs the most. But one said she liked the dead ones, because you could hold them more easily and look closely. Another said she liked the live ones.

One student liked sea shells along the salt marsh; another liked seeing the berries. Yet another liked hearing about how we construct trails.

In notes after the field trip, students wrote things like this:

My favorite was seeing all the crabs and sea pickles. Thank you for the amazing field trip. I had the best time ever.

Thank you for teaching us a lot of nature facts that I didn’t know.

Thanks for letting us go on that really inspiring field trip!

Grade 5 explores the Herring River Overlook

Grade 5 students at the Herring River Overlook trail were asked to observe. Within 10 seconds of starting out they had found a box turtle.

They observed many things after that in an all too short adventure. They learned about lichen and moss, bayberry and bearberry, and the glacial history of Cape Cod. They talked about the estuary with its brackish water.

When we came to the last bench on a counter-clockwise circuit, the first one said, “Wow! What a view!”

Another student, already contemplating graduation, asked whether the middle school students would get to do this.

We talked about staying on the trails, both as a safety measure and to protect the fragile ecosystem.

Judging by the smiles, the many questions, and thank you notes, the students in all three grades had a great time and learned a lot.

Swamp or sheep laurel in the HRO wetlands area

Herring on the run

Blueback herring on the Herring River, Wellfleet

The Herring River in Wellfleet runs through, adjacent to, or very close by many WCT properties. Most notably it forms the small valley beneath the new Herring River Overlook . It’s appropriate to honor the river together with this World Fish Migration Day.

The lilacs are blooming and the buttercups brighten the river banks, so the blueback herring are swimming upstream to spawn. We counted 89 in one ten-minute stretch this week.

The herring do surprisingly well, despite the constricted tidal flow in the river. Their biggest problem comes at the culverts. Fortunately for them, the one near our count site did not have a snapping turtle, raccoon, or crow waiting on the upstream side.

Culvert on the Herring River, to be enlarged as part of the project to restore the Herring River estuary. — Culvert on the Herring River, to be enlarged as part of the project to restore the Herring River estuary

We love seeing the herring. They tell us that the river, although damaged, is not dead.

A friend and neighbor says that she loves the herring, too, especially when they’re pickled with peppercorns and bay leaves, then served with onions. That was possible in the days when the river flowed freely. Our hope is that fishing, shellfishing, birdwatching, boating, and more can return when the river is restored.

Note: Portions of this article are cross-posted on chipbruce.net.