Category Archives: Wildflowers

I like to make lists, Snapshots, Wanderings, Wildflowers

31

9 Comments

Some favorites from a day spent in the Pine Barrens…

A Fowler’s Toad who was nice enough to let me get right up in his face.
Hold onto your seats! This is a really, really rare plant… Curly Grass Fern… it’s only about an inch tall.
I had company in my wanderings today, and this sweet lady had the patience to puzzle through her wildflower guide with me… we were trying to sort out the difference between Staggerbush and Fetterbush.
Beautiful! Rick Radis found Turkey Beard for us… I’d been looking for this for a couple years… now I know a spot to find it!
A dung ball… sans the accompanying beetles… I scared them off trying to get a better pic of them… very cool, anyway.

31 in my 38 by 39.

Birds, Travels with the flock, Wanderings, Wildflowers

A place for silence

14 Comments

A visit to Cranberry Glades Botanical Area was the field trip I was most looking forward to in West Virginia. Part of the Monongahela National Forest, these wetlands hold plants more typically found much further north; ones I know from the Pine Barrens here in NJ and from my visits to the bogs of the Adirondacks. The landscape is unexpected and especially beautiful for its peculiarity here.

A half-mile boardwalk through the glades and surrounding bog forest protects the fragile environment while allowing close looks at False Hellebore and Marsh Marigold growing among Red Spruce, Hemlock and Yellow Birch trees, all of which can live shallow-rooted in such a wet area. Late summer will have the glades stippled with Orchids and Cotton Grass under a bluer than blue sky. Sundews and Pitcher Plants will be devouring insects under the hot sun.

The views are dramatic: rimmed by mountain ridges and pines, made even more primordial steeped in fog, garnet-colored Cranberries leftover from last fall lie hidden among the tiny vines covering the peat and Bog Rosemary and Serviceberry were in bloom. You can see winter there, still, up on the ridge. Cranberry Glades is nestled in a bowl among the mountains at 3400 feet.

As is my habit, I fell back from the group at every opportunity, preferring instead the tranquility of Hemlocks and Rhododendrons bathed in sunlight. Louisiana Waterthrushes and Blackburnian Warblers sang insistently with the Spring Peepers as I tried to appreciate the lack of human noise in this otherwordly place. Ravens called to one another above me.

Moments of grace and beauty were plentiful on this trip. My camera captured only a few of them, but being out there to experience them fully is what makes the day for me. I struggled for pics of the Canada Warbler that taunted and sang just out of view, but once I gave up on that, this little guy popped up and posed as pretty as could be.

Snapshots, Wanderings, Wildflowers

My gold: marsh marigold

3 Comments

Peter laughed happily. “They are my gold!” cried he. “See how they shine! And they are full of golden meaning, for now I know that truly Mistress Spring is here to stay. I hoped I would find the very first one, and I guess I have.” Once more Peter Rabbit kicked up his heels for pure joy.
–Thornton B. Burgess, The Burgess Flower Book for Children (1923)

Books, Wanderings, Wildflowers

Bowman’s Hill

6 Comments

I finally made it to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in Pennsylvania last Saturday. It’s a short drive and a world away! This time of year is all about spring ephemerals and the wildflowers there were putting on a nice show.

There were a few wildflowers that I haven’t been able to find in my haunts of the local woods, plus the more common ones were there in abundance. It was a real treat to see a path through the woods bursting with Virginia Bluebells, Spring Beauties, Trillium and Trout Lillies. The preserve is smallish and the trails are short, but there was enough diversity, even this early in the season, to keep me occupied for a couple hours. It’s the kind of place I can see myself visiting again and again, just to see what’s in bloom each week.

There’s a bookshop filled with goodies for the nature dork in me and I bought a great book I’d like to recommend – The Secrets of Wildflowers: A Delightful Feast of Little-Known Facts, Folklore, and History by Jack Sanders. I imagine I’ll make use of its bits of folklore and poetry often here in my blog.

This pretty flower was a new one to me: Early Saxifrage. It likes to grow in cool rocky places that are wet in the springtime. I found it growing all along the little creek that meandered along the Marsh Marigold Trail. Its flowers are tiny, tinier even than spring beauties. Very dainty and sweet!

Pastimes, Seasons, Snapshots, Wanderings, Wildflowers

Bloodroot

12 Comments

Books say improbable things about Bloodroot like that it blooms in colonies and that its seeds are spread around the forest by ants.

If the ants were doing their job, Bloodroot would be easier to find. The woods would be carpeted with it, like they are with Spring Beauties and Squill, now.

As it is, I have to get my knees muddy searching for it. If the forest faeries are feeling a need for amusement, they’ll send a couple teenagers along the path to find me butt-up and nose-down in the shady leaf mold.

Pride and decorum be damned, there’s only so many spring days to find Bloodroot. I’m glad to have enjoyed it for another year.

In the neighborhood, Snapshots, Wildflowers

First beauty

8 Comments

“April can be lovely, spangled with bloom and the newest of young leaves. It can be, and usually is, melodied with the voice of song sparrow and robin, redwing and oriole. And the call of the Spring peeper is the very voice of April. But April can also be cold rain, raw wind and, on occasion, snow. The cruelest aspect of April’s tantrums, however, lies in the way it sometimes frosts our hopes and expectations. We want to believe in that myth of gentle April. We want May in April. We are tired of Winter’s cold leftovers. Given a taste of Spring in April, we want a full meal of it.” –Hal Borland

Today was a lovely taste of Spring on an early April day.

Seasons, Snapshots, Wanderings, Wildflowers

Beyond to spring

9 Comments

I met the moveable feast of Spring a bit ahead of schedule; found it spread with sun among the mountains and laughed at my urge to escape the last bitter days of a too long winter.

Where shade lies deep in hilly woodlands, trilliums were hurried to bloom in the unseasonable heat of an early March day.

Patches of bluets frosted the early green of grass at our feet and tempted the eye of passing butterflies.

Among the leaf mold on rocky hillsides we found hepatica blooming and the promise of dogtooth violets in the dampness alongside the river.

Lush ferns and mosses trailside hinted at the beauty that’ll come later when the mountain laurel and rhododendron bloom above them.

With any luck, I’ll find these same beauties closer to home in a couple weeks, with the same wonder and hope in my heart, reaching still for something beyond.

Spring… have you wandered to find it yet?

😉

Birds, I like to make lists, Wanderings, Wildflowers

Adirondack round-up

4 Comments

Our last day in the Adirondacks (three weeks ago already!) was the best weather-wise for a visit to Whiteface Mountain. We’d waited around for a couple hours for the clouds to clear, visited a few favorite bug-infested spots, and then made our way to the toll road entrance at the bottom of the mountain. The weather board didn’t have very promising news: zero visibility and a balmy 52 degrees at the summit.

Many years, the little stone building there has a wonderful collection of moths in attendance, including Luna moths, but there were none this year. I’ll never forget the time we watched a little chickadee carry off a Luna twice its size.

😉
The views of balsam and spruce going up were lovely; we’d stop every couple turns around the mountain, add a layer of clothing, listen for birds and pile back into the vans.
Scott found a nice patch of Clintonia for me, also called Bluebead Lily. A poor picture of a very pretty little wildflower.
The higher we went, the more the clouds encroached on us. At this point, some of the group hiked the rest of the way to the summit; us really bird-oriented people stayed behind and listened for Bicknell’s Thrush.

😉
Our view from the summit: somewhat disappointing considering how far one might see from this spot. I did manage to spot a speck bird that turned itself into a Bald Eagle; that was nice to add to the trip list!
The obligatory group photo at the top of the world.

Trip List (compiled by Scott):

Birds (1st # indicates the # of days recorded/2nd # indicates highest daily total or estimate):

Canada Goose (4/30)
Wood Duck (2/4)
Mallard (4/6)
Ring-necked Duck (1/2)
Hooded Merganser (2/8)
Common Merganser (2/2)
Ring-necked Pheasant (1/1)
Ruffed Grouse (1/3)
Wild Turkey (3/3)
Common Loon (1/1)
American Bittern (1/1)
Great Blue Heron (4/15)
Black Vulture (1/2)
Turkey Vulture (3/x)
Osprey (3/2)
Bald Eagle (1/1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1/1)
Cooper’s Hawk (2/1)
Broad-winged Hawk (2/2)
Red-tailed Hawk (3/2)
Am. Kestrel (1/4)
Killdeer (2/5)
Ring-billed Gull (4/4)
Herring Gull (2/1)
Rock Pigeon (4/x)
Mourning Dove (4/x)
Chimney Swift (4/18)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (3/4)
Belted Kingfisher (2/2)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (2/12)
Hairy Woodpecker (2/3)
Black-backed Woodpecker (3/3)
Northern Flicker (4/5)
Pileated Woodpecker (3/2)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (1/2)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (2/2)
Alder Flycatcher (2/2)
Willow Flycatcher (1/1)
Least Flycatcher (2/5)
Eastern Phoebe (3/2)
Eastern Kingbird (2/2)
Blue-headed Vireo (3/12)
Red-eyed Vireo (4/15)
Gray Jay (1/1)
Blue Jay (4/x)
American Crow (4/x)
Common Raven (4/3)
Tree Swallow (2/4)
Barn Swallow (4/12)
Boreal Chickadee (1/2)
Black-capped Chickadee (3/6)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (3/20)
House Wren (2/2)
Winter Wren (3/12)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (2/10)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2/4)
Eastern Bluebird (4/6)
Veery (2/2)
Bicknell’s Thrush (1/5)
Hermit Thrush (2/10)
American Robin (4/x)
Gray Catbird (2/4)
Northern Mockingbird (1/2)
European Starling (4/x)
Cedar Waxwing (4/14)
Nashville Warbler (3/20)
Northern Parula (3/14)
Yellow Warbler (1/2)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (3/5)
Magnolia Warbler (3/10)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (3/6)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (3/15)
Black-throated Green Warbler (3/8)
Blackburnian Warbler (3/12)
Pine Warbler (3/4)
Palm Warbler (2/3)
Blackpoll Warbler (1/4)
Black-and-white Warbler (1/2)
American Redstart (2/2)
Ovenbird (3/8)
Mourning Warbler (1/3)
Common Yellowthroat (4/10)
Canada Warbler (1/2)
Scarlet Tanager (2/2)
Eastern Towhee (1/2)
Chipping Sparrow (4/x)
Field Sparrow (1/1)
Savannah Sparrow (2/8)
Grasshopper Sparrow (1/2)
Song Sparrow (4/x)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (2/5)
Swamp Sparrow (3/15)
White-throated Sparrow (3/x)
Dark-eyed Junco (3/10)
Northern Cardinal (1/2)
Indigo Bunting (2/3)
Bobolink (1/4)
Red-winged Blackbird (4/x)
Common Grackle (4/x)
Brown-headed Cowbird (2/x)
Baltimore Oriole (1/1)
Purple Finch (3/5)
Red Crossbill (1/1)
American Goldfinch (4/x)
House Sparrow (4/x)
105 species

Butterflies:
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Pink-edged Sulphur
Summer Azure
Great Spangled Fritillary
Atlantis Fritillary
Silvery Checkerspot
Northern Crescent
Question Mark
White Admiral
Viceroy
Northern Pearly-eye
Common Ringlet
Monarch
Arctic Skipper
European Skipper
Indian Skipper
Long Dash
Hobomok Skipper
Common Roadside Skipper

Mammals:
White-tailed Deer
Woodchuck
Snowshoe Hare
Eastern Cottontail
Eastern Chipmunk
Red Squirrel
Gray Squirrel