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My Local Swamp/Marsh (in Durham, NC)
There is a place in my neighborhood that started out as a swamp, turned into a marsh, and is now going back to being a swamp. This story covers almost 16 years.
A low-lying area in my
neighborhood that once was a duckweed-covered swamp bordered by a marsh during
times of abundant rainfall. The marsh contained cattails, false nutsedge
and floating primrose-willows (Ludwigia peploides), which grew closest to the
swamp and took it over during a 2007 drought. Green Herons and Great
Blue Herons visited the swamp when it was deepest and covered with duckweed.
The number of floating primrose-willows dwindled and the cattails at the edge of the marsh
took over as the trees died and the swamp became a marsh. Later, as rainfall decreased over the years, trees came back and grew very tall. A border of Pennsylvania Smartweeds appeared; these and the cattails are now dwarfed by the trees.
Ladybug beetles,
grasshoppers, green leafhoppers, Least Skippers (very numerous in September of
2005), Two-lined Froghoppers, Rice Stink Bugs and tiny mirid bugs have visited
the marsh. Toad Bugs and Shore
Bugs showed up on the edges and probably farther into the marsh. Eastern
Narrowmouth Toads
inside the wetter areas made bleating sounds during wetter periods.
2005
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Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), 5/2/05. This bird only appeared once, was apparently migrating through. |
Toad Bug, found near my neighborhood
swamp in a marshy area on 5/27/05. How is this for camouflage? This small bug was found in the general vicinity of numerous
small Fowler's Toads. |
This adult male Citrine Forktail is an especially anomalous damselfly,
seen in a Durham swamp on 6/18/05. |
Ladybug Beetle pupa,
Durham, 6/18/05. I found this sitting on a leaf of a tree near the
edge of the swamp. This was
about a third of an inch long. |
Spotted Ladybug Beetle (Coleomegilla
maculata) larva, Durham, 6/23/05, seen on a cattail leaf at the same
marsh as the adult Coleomegilla maculata beetles above. |
On 6/24/05, during a time of
plentiful rain, the swamp was filled with water covered with duckweed
and a Green Heron visited for a couple of weeks. | .
This illustrates some
interesting similarities. A Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata, subfamily Galerucinae), at right, shared
water primrose nectar with a (mainly carnivorous) ladybug beetle (Coleomagilla
maculata) on 7/2/05. |
Margined Leather-wing (Chauliognathus marginatus).
Wing maintenance, Durham swamp, 7/2/05. Notice the leg over the
wing. |
Sometime later. |
Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula
pulchella), Durham,
8/21/05. |
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Male Black-tailed Red Sheetweaver (Florinda coccinea),
9/3/05. |
Dion Skipper. This relatively large skipper showed up
on the edge of the edge of the marsh early on 9/5/05. It looked more orange than brown in
direct light. The light ray on the hind wing is characteristic. |
Least Skippers mating, with a would-be interloper, 9/14/05. The marsh was full of
Least Skippers at this time. |
Durham, 9/14/05. Depending on your source, either an Eastern Narrowmouth Frog or Eastern Narrowmouth Toad, and its Latin name is Gastrophryne
carolinensis (subfamily Microhylinae). This frog/toad was about half an inch long and had
strayed from the swamp in my Durham neighborhood, where others of its
species normally remain hidden. I brought it back to
the marsh edge. |
Marsh Fly, Durham,
9/14/05. Found in same swamp. |
Two-lined
Froghopper (Prosapia bicincta), Durham, 9/23/05. Found
in my local marsh on a cattail leaf. |
Blue form female
Citrine Forktail, Durham, 9/26/05. Has possibly experienced some wear and tear on
the end of the abdomen; I've seen many looking like that. |
Green Treefrog, 10/3/05 |
Eastern Narrow-mouth Toad, 10/15/08. It was about 12 mm long,
taking leaps much longer than its own length. |
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2006
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Northern Cricket Frog, Durham, NC, 4/7/06. |
Shore Bug (Saldula
pallipes [Van Duzee, 1914], cf. Insects of Cedar Creek Saldula page),
Durham, 4/9/06. Seen in a large marsh bordering on a swamp.
This bug was about ⅛ inch long.
These are scavengers. |
Toad Bug, also
seen in the neighborhood swamp periphery, on 4/18/06. Note the
difference in shape and coloring. |
Male
Spangled Skimmer (Libellula
cyanea)
on a cattail , 6/13/06 |
Picture-winged Fly (Delphinia picta), Durham, 6/13/06,
on a cattail leaf. As is the case with the Stilt-legged Flies,
these are mainly marsh dwellers. |
Mating
Stilt-legged Flies (Micropezidae
family), Durham, NC,
6/13/06. Many mating animals are easy to photograph, but these
were really on the move! |
Spotted Ladybug Beetles (Coleomegilla maculata) mating pair, Durham,
NC, 6/17/06. |
Water Scavenger Beetle (Hydrophilus triangularis),
Durham, 6/19/06. This beetle was underwater at the time. |
Same Water Scavenger Beetle. |
Mosquito larvae, Durham, 7/27/06. Note how
bubbles come from the tail ends of the larvae. |
Stink bug, Durham, NC, 8/21/06. Probably a Spined Soldier Bug, perhaps somewhat emaciated. The marsh habitat seems to change the appearance of stink bugs. |
Brown Stink Bug (Euschistus servus [Say, 1832]),
Durham, 10/18/06, found near the swamp in an area with a lot of Oriental
River Grass. This is a notorious soybean pest. But
since soybeans aren't grown anywhere around here, seeing one around here
(in my neighborhood, in this case) is a rare treat. |
Stilt Bug, Durham, NC, 8/30/06,
a short distance from the swamp in a wooded section. |
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Adult mosquito emerging from pupa. Durham, NC, 9/8/06.
The dark objects on the right are probably mosquito pupae. These
appeared in a puddle near my neighborhood swamp. |
Adult mosquito with foot on exuviae, Durham, NC, 9/8/06 |
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2007
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A very large tadpole, Durham, NC, 4/22/07 |
Green Frog, Durham, NC, 4/22/07 |
Shining leaf beetle (Neolema sexpunctata), Durham, NC,
7/1/07. This was a tiny beetle, about 4 mm long. |
Marsh fly, Durham, NC, 7/13/07 |
Leafhopper (Macrosteles
quadrilineatus, subfamily Deltocephalinae) nymph and adult, Durham, NC, 8/15/07. These were two of hundreds
of such leafhoppers that were briefly seen there. The leaf they were on in this photo belonged to a water primrose. |
Leafhopper (Macrosteles
quadrilineatus) in flight, Durham, NC, 8/15/07 |
Floating Primrose-willow (Ludwigia peploides) 8/17/07 |
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On 8/18/07, during a long drought
that began in spring, the water dried up and the Floating Primrose-willows (Ludwigia peploides) took over. eventually losing their flowers. |
After a rain, there was a little vegetation where the water and duckweed used to be on 11/9/07. |
Tarnished Plant Bug nymph, Durham, NC, 11/9/07. |
Millipede,
Polydesmida order. At first glance, it looks like a centipede, though. 11/09/07 |
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2008
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This group of buttercups, sprang up on the edge of the marsh fronting the swamp after
spring rains. Here they are on 5/1/08. |
Mealy Plum Aphid, giving birth. Found in
a group on cattails in the marsh, 6/14/08 |
Other Mealy Plum Aphids |
Great
Crested Flycatcher, 6/23/08 |
Ambush bug nymph, about 2 mm long, Durham, NC, 6/30/08 |
Soft-winged
flower beetle (Collops genus, Melyridae family), Durham, NC, 8/23/08 |
Rice
Stink Bug, Durham, NC,
8/23/08. It's using its
beak to drink from a water droplet on a cattail leaf. |
Crab spider
(Xysticus genus), 10/15/08 |
Orange form female Citrine Forktail, 10/15/08 |
Courting Common Buckeyes, 10/16/08 |
Common Buckeye, 10/16/08 |
Crab spider,
and 3 mm long, 10/22/08 |
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Two male Eastern Bluebirds flew out of the trees over
the swamp to flutter near the ground on a neighboring field on 10/16/08. Several site
visitors suggested they had spotted a source of insect prey. |
Flower fly (Eristalis dimidiatus), 10/20/08 |
Virginia Flower Fly (Milesia virginiensis), 10/20/08 |
On the edge of the marsh, showing fall colors on 10/20/08. A
wonderful pseudo-tropical look. |
Picture-winged fly (Chaetopsis genus), 10/22/08 |
Yellow-collared
Scape Moth,
on asters bordering on the marsh, Durham, NC, 11/1/08. |
The (former) swamp in winter, invaded by cattails, 11/20/08: the swamp
has apparently reverted to marsh. |
Killdeers, in a nearby field, 11/20/08. A small rain had created a puddle. |
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2009
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After a
heavy rain, 3/17/09 |
Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle (Coccinella
septempunctata) larva, Durham (edge of marsh
at neighborhood swamp), 4/11/09. This plump but nimble little rascal climbed
rapidly over grass plants and other objects, readily bending in two. |
Rice Stink Bug nymph, with wing pads, dorsal view, Durham, NC, 7/18/09. |
Dew drops on a spider web, 7/25/09 |
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2010
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New growth on 11/8/10.
Trees in the swamp died, but as it dried up, new trees appeared on the
edges. |
Another view of
these new trees (11/8/10) at the other side of the marsh. |
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2012
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Buffalo Treehopper
(Ceresa alta), 7/2/12 |
Female soldier fly
(maybe Microchrysa polita), 8/18/12. Tentative ID thanks to Shannon Donavan. |
Globular springtail
(Ptenothrix unicolor), seen on a log showing evidence of
termite tunnels in my neighborhood swamp on 10/25/12. ID thanks to Frans Janssen. |
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2016
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Killdeer, Durham, NC, 1/12/16 |
Killdeer pair, Durham, NC, 1/12/16 |
Song Sparrow on cattails, 2/27/16 |
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2017
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Green Heron, 7/31/17 |
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2019
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1/15/19. Cattails have almost taken over, although there are a few small trees here and there. |
The cattail marsh is thriving, but some trees behind it are doing well. Pennsylvania Smartweed lines the edge. 6/23/19 |
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2020
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On a sunny day, 7/22/20 |
Trees have gotten tall. 8/24/20 |
Even here, the cattails are dwarfed by the trees and Pennsylvania Smartweed. 8/24/20 |
Arrowleaf Tearthumb (Persicaria sagittata), Durham, NC, 10/5/20 |
Arrowleaf Tearthumb (Persicaria sagittata), Durham, NC, 10/5/20 |
The Arrowleaf Tearthumb was fading on 11/7/20. The cattails were spreading their seeds. |
The cattails, Pennsylvania Smartweed and Arrowleaf Tearthumb have faded, but some trees still have green and yellow leaves, on 11/13/20 |
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2021
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Secluded part of local swamp, with Carolina Mosquitofern most evident, 3/5/21 |
Carolina Mosquitofern and duckweed in the local swamp, 3/5/21 |
Carolina Mosquitofern and duckweed in the local swamp, in the sun, 3/5/21 |
Neighborhood swamp making inroads into marsh, 3/15/21 |
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2022
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View of swamp from the other side of the Woodcroft Stormater Wetland, 1/3/22 |
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Copyright © 2005-2021 Dorothy E. Pugh. All pictures copyrighted.