SPECIES RECORD
This page belongs to the LEDGER record because it gathers species observations that may be too small, frequent, provisional, or repeated for standalone pages, but still belong in the accumulated record of The Place.
Not every bird, plant, track, scat, nest, bloom, call, or return needs its own page. Some records arrive by phone upload, field walk, quick photograph, later identification, correction, or from a larger standalone Field Scrawl page.
This page gives those records a clean landing place. Full observations remain in their field entries or standalone pages; this page gathers the species names and points back to the original record.
Merlin Sound ID records may enter the Species Record, but a Merlin-only record should be marked as app-detected unless it is confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
The rule is simple: record the presence without forcing a story too soon.
BIRDS
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Confirmed / reflective sound record
Robin song carried through the childhood-to-present listening record.
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Possible / heard only
Possible eagle call heard overhead; not visually confirmed.
Barred Owl
Strix varia
Probable current presence; prior nest-box use confirmed
Seen moving through the maple stand after returning from the floating bog mat; owl house history recorded.
Black-and-white Warbler
Mniotilta varia
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Blackburnian Warbler
Setophaga fusca
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Common Loon
Gavia immer
Present
Loons quiet on eggs during evening watch; occasional feeding movement observed.
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
Confirmed
Ground nest and nest-tending behavior in leaf litter and spring grass.
Confirmed
Referenced as a present bird record: junco working low near the ground.
Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis phoebe
Confirmed
Mud nest built on barn rafters under the roofline.
Confirmed
Referenced as a present bird record: phoebe in the barn rafters.
Northern Flicker
Colaptes auratus
Confirmed
Repeated calls heard and bird seen; fresh cavity excavation with wood chips below shoreline tree
Ovenbird
Seiurus aurocapilla
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta canadensis
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Red-eyed Vireo
Vireo olivaceus
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Confirmed
Close visual observation at the Upper Watch; bird came in quickly, stopped, turned through the watch rails, and approached a beverage on the table before leaving
Tennessee Warbler
Leiothlypis peregrina
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Tufted Titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
Provisional / app-detected
Recorded by Merlin Sound ID in the 13-bird May 24 sound list; app-detected unless later confirmed by sight or by the observer's own ear.
MAMMALS
Moose
Alces alces
Probable sign
Large scat found along logging road near the cedar search route; no direct sighting.
River otter
Lontra canadensis
Probable sign
Dark shoreline scat on pine needles near pond edge; size and placement fit otter better than beaver or mink
PLANTS
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Confirmed / planted
Newly planted south shore elderberries showing early leaf break after cold rain and sleet.
Confirmed / planted
Planted south shore restoration elderberry, separate from the wild red elderberry record.
American Hornbeam / Musclewood type
Carpinus caroliniana
Probable
Present. ID based on pleated simple leaves, double-toothed margins, and smooth gray-green young stem; confirm later by fruiting bracts, winter buds, or stronger muscle-like stem form.
American Wood-sorrel
Oxalis montana
Confirmed
Low patch in moss, leaf litter, and fallen birch wood.
Balsam Fir
Abies balsamea
Present
Recorded in the ice-out shoreline observation.
Confirmed / planted
Part of the planted evergreen mix across the slope and landing.
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina
Probable
Mature healthy trunk in the lean-to conifer stand; dark plated bark suggests black cherry, with canopy appearing alive and sound.
Black Spruce
Picea mariana
Present
Recorded in the ice-out shoreline observation.
Bracken fern
Pteridium aquilinum
Confirmed
Tall long-stalked fern with spreading divided frond emerging from woodland ground layer
Bunchberry
Cornus canadensis
Confirmed
White-bracted woodland ground-layer plant flowering in moss near teaberry
Canada Mayflower
Maianthemum canadense
Probable
Narrow emerging leaf consistent with Canada mayflower near the south shore.
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis
Confirmed / planted and managed
Part of the planted evergreen mix; also recorded in winter desiccation and standing-timber work.
Confirmed / winter stress record
Eastern Hemlock cohort recorded with visible desiccation line near the snowpack boundary.
Eastern white pine / Pinus strobus — the Sentinel; mature exposed pine observed taking gust load from the Watch.
False Hellebore
Veratrum viride
Confirmed
Rising from saturated spring ground.
False Solomon’s seal
Maianthemum racemosum
Confirmed
Woodland plant with broad parallel-veined leaves and fragile white terminal flower plume
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida
Confirmed / planted
Baker’s dozen of bare-root flowering dogwoods planted, ten in future maple grove and three behind future garage site.
Greater bladder sedge
Carex intumescens
Probable
Woodland sedge in leaf litter with pale green inflated star-like spikelets; PlantNet match plausible
Ground Cedar Clubmoss
Diphasiastrum digitatum
Likely
Bright green clubmoss recorded beside red trillium; ID likely from field view.
Confirmed
Surface runner visible above the duff, connecting upright clubmoss shoots through pine needles and leaf litter
Lupine
Lupinus sp.
Confirmed / seeded
Lupine sown from seed two years ago between the barn and maple stand; plant now established enough to form a flower spike
Northern White Cedar
Thuja occidentalis
Contextual / historical-research record
Cedar carried as mark, witness material, and wetland-workshop question; not a closed boundary claim.
Norway Spruce
Picea abies
Confirmed / planted
Fifty Norway spruce planted along the landing and mid-slope during the Spring Push.
Painted Trillium
Trillium undulatum
Confirmed
Painted trillium recorded in the acidic forest understory.
Pink Lady’s-slipper
Cypripedium acaule
Confirmed
Returning in the same spot as last year; observed only.
Confirmed
Four flowering plants known around the lean-to area; one previously known from last year and three newly noticed, spaced at least ten yards apart; observed only.
Pitch Pine
Pinus rigida
Confirmed / planted
A few Pitch Pine were gambled into the planting line.
Red Elderberry
Sambucus racemosa
Probable
Pre-bloom elderberry buds recorded along the woodland edge.
Probable
Established shrub flowering at woodland edge; confirmation pending red fruit.
Red Trillium
Trillium erectum
Confirmed
Flowering beside a decaying log after cold rain and overnight frost.
Red-osier dogwood
Cornus sericea
Confirmed / planted
Planted within the last month; alive, leafed out, and beginning to flower
Rhododendron
Rhododendron spp.
Confirmed / managed
Rhododendron root-zone care and Holly-tone deployment recorded as spring intervention.
River birch
Betula nigra
Confirmed / planted
Bare-root river birch planted last year; alive and leafed out in the understory planting area
Sessile-leaved Bellwort
Uvularia sessilifolia
Confirmed
Colony recorded before full canopy closure.
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
Confirmed
Nine gallons of sugar maple sap collected during the 2026 maple prototype.
Teaberry
Gaultheria procumbens
Confirmed
Red berries and low evergreen leaves in mossy woodland ground layer near bunchberry
Twistedstalk
Streptopus lanceolatus
Confirmed
Flowering along shoreline walk from the lean-to.
White Ash
Fraxinus americana
Probable
Present. ID based on compound leaves and opposite placement on the woody stem, which rules out hickory; green ash remains a lesser alternate.
White Pine
Pinus strobus
Confirmed
Leaning sentinel tree recorded with root-plate movement in saturated glacial till.
Confirmed / planted
Part of the planted evergreen mix across the slope and landing.
White Spruce
Picea glauca
Confirmed / planted
Part of the planted evergreen mix across the slope and landing.
Wild sarsaparilla
Aralia nudicaulis
Confirmed
Woodland ground-layer plant with divided leaves and early round flower umbels beneath the leaf canopy
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis
Probable / high confidence
Mature healthy tree in the lean-to conifer stand; yellow-bronze peeling bark with horizontal lenticels and older broken bark surface.
REPTILES / AMPHIBIANS
American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus
Confirmed
Large adult bullfrog jumped from shore into shallow pond edge and surfaced a few feet out among submerged grass, sticks, and littoral debris
FISH
Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
Confirmed
Personal-best brook trout caught from the dock and released.
Present
Surface feeding observed after canoe wake settled.
Confirmed
Native Brook Trout from the backwaters, recorded as evidence of cold, oxygenated refuge.
AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES
Freshwater sponge
Spongilla lacustris
Likely
Green freshwater sponge encrusting submerged timber in clear water.
Likely
Submerged hard structure on drowned stumps recorded as habitat for sponge and fish refuge.
INSECTS
Bald-faced hornet
Dolichovespula maculata
Confirmed
Early paper nest removed from beneath barn eaves; adult flew away
Firefly / lightning bug
Lampyridae
Confirmed
Night flashes seen around 1:00 a.m.; several appeared higher in the trees than expected, with two flashes captured in photographs