Category Archives: Turtles

A Jaunt to Chickering Bog

After a hospital lab visit and some errands yesterday morning, I decided to visit a local area where I have never birded: Chickering Bog Natural Area located on the border of Calais and East Montpelier. It’s not too hard to find: see the directions at the end of this article.

The scenery along Lightning Ridge Road is lovely.

The scenery along Lightning Ridge Road is lovely.

You have to look carefully for the entrance trail – I have missed it in the past.

You have to look carefully for the entrance trail – I have missed it in the past.

The trail is on private land at the start and also follows a snowmobile track. It's easy walking with some debris from falling trees.

The trail is on private land at the start and also follows a snowmobile track. It’s easy walking with some debris from falling trees.

A friend reading this post wrote me to let me know that pets are not permitted on Conservancy sites — she had read the guidelines (which I had not) so Penny was a scofflaw. I must say that I don’t buy the policy at all – a least they could require leashes. In any case,so that you don’t make the same mistake, here are the guidelines:

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Penny loved the woods and cavorted, as best as an eleven-year-old Vizsla can, as we moved up the trail. Bird activity was light with an inquisitive Downy Woodpecker following us chirping away. We flushed two Ruffed Grouse which always gets the bird dog excited.

The trail's wet spots are well-covered with planking. Here Penny is crossing a tiny brook.

The trail’s wet spots are well-covered with planking. Here Penny is crossing a tiny brook.

After fifteen or twenty minutes, we entered the Natural Area which is managed by The Nature Conservancy.

Sign

The foliage is starting to turn and there were some pretty spots along the route.

TrailfoliageW

This tree alongside the trail has a problem. I always wonder what caused the blemish to form.

This tree alongside the trail has a problem. I always wonder what caused the blemish to form.

After a little over a half hour (it’s about a mile), we arrived at the bog and went out on the boardwalk looking for wildlife.

The bog was beautiful with fall colors starting, no bugs, no noise, no people - just a guy and a dog.

The bog was beautiful with fall colors starting, no bugs, no noise, no people – just a guy and a dog.

The only wildlife that I saw at the bog was this big turtle on the far edge of the open water.

The only wildlife that I saw at the bog was this big turtle on the far edge of the open water.

From The Nature Conservancy page:

Chickering Bog began to form when glaciers receded from Vermont over 10,000 years ago and left behind a bedrock basin that filled with water. The pond that was formed slowly filled in with vegetation. As these plants died, they accumulated and only partially decomposed, forming a layer of peat that has continued to thicken over the years, reaching an impressive 30 feet deep in the northern part of Chickering Bog. It is the peat that gives the area its semi-solid, “quaking” quality. A small patch of open water is all that remains of the original pond.

Chickering Bog is actually misnamed; this so-called bog is really a fen. The difference between the two wetland types has to do with the water source and the acidity of the site. Bogs tend to be acidic and poor in dissolved minerals; fens are more alkaline and rich in dissolved minerals. Water enters bogs solely through rainwater, while fens like Chickering Bog are also fed by calcium-rich groundwater and springs.

Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 8.24.47 PMTo get there from Montpelier, take Route 2 east 6.5 miles to East Montpelier. Then take Route 14 north about 3.2 miles to North Montpelier where you will see North Montpelier Pond on your right. Continue on Route 14 for 1.1 miles until you see Lightening Ridge Road on the left, which is marked by a sign for the Calais Elementary School. Turn left and go 1.6 miles to George Road on the right. Park on Lightening Ridge Road on the right a little past George Road. The Conservancy trail begins to the left of the private driveway. You have to look hard, but there is a green post with the initials “TNC.” A snowmobile trail starts here and goes up the hill to the entrance of the natural area and the trail to Chickering Bog. Look carefully for the sign that marks the Conservancy’s Chickering Bog trail after crossing a wetland on the snowmobile trail.

A Morning Surprise

This is the time of year when I spend several mornings a week in the woods cutting up firewood from trees I have down the year before. Yesterday, I got going early while it was cool (46 degrees) and was just starting on the branches of a soft maple when I noticed what looked to be a cow patty in the ferns just under my chain saw. We have no cows on our land so I shut down and took a closer look. I was surprised to see a big turtle, just lying there dormant in the morning chill. Here’s a look:

We have lived here 15 years and this is the first turtle I have ever seen in our woods.

We have lived here 15 years and this is the first turtle I have ever seen in our woods.

I took a stick and moved the ferns aside for a photo. The guy/gal was not very interested in me.

That's a quarter on its back for scale. This was a pretty good sized terrapin.

That’s a quarter on its back for scale. This was a pretty good sized terrapin.

I moved the ferns back in place and went on with my work, cutting up a couple of loads of maple chunks, bringing them up to the wood lot, splitting them with a maul, and stacking them. It was a good workout and I decided to cool off and do some turtle research.

At first, I thought it was a Wood Turtle since we were in the woods and pretty far from any water. But they only grow from 6 to 9 inches and the pattern on the shell seemed wrong.

After lunch, I decided to go back out and measure the turtle if it was still there. Sure enough, it had not moved and I got about 11 inches in length for the shell – just using the rule in the air over the guy. The lighting was better so I took another iPhone shot.

From the size and the shell pattern, I'm calling this a Snapping Turtle.

From the size and the shell pattern, I’m calling this a Snapping Turtle.

Just before I left him, I took a close-up of him/her eyeballing me.

"Hey, don't you have work to do?"

“Hey, don’t you have work to do?”

It was a neat encounter and pretty low stress for both of us. I suspect he wandered off in the night but in any case, I always wear steel-toed boots when wood cutting and should feel more comfortable tromping through knee-high ferns. I suspect I’ll not see him again but it is cool to know that he, or she, is out there on our land.