Blueberries, both high and low, are in bloom everywhere now. As are Strawberries.
I found an odd bush and looked it up. I has the nastiest, longest thorns I have ever seen. There are yellow-orange flowers running along the underside of the branch.
It turns out to be an introduced species that overtakes areas, pushing out native species.
Too much blooming at the same time! Too many flowers to list! I haven’t mentioned the Wild sasparilla that is up in abundance now. Here and there, Indian Cucumber Root lives with it. The flowers aren’t quite blooming for either of these plants. Soon though.
I found quite a few pockets of Painted Trillium today on the path I walked. I also found a clump of Wood Anemone, Anemone quinquefolia on the same trail.
In a previous post, I mention some sort of carrot I spied by a pond. I am only now getting around to naming it. I believe that it is Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea which is a member of the carrot family. The plants I saw weren’t quite blooming yet if I can go by the images I found around on the net.
Too much sweet song in the air! Too many sounds to track! Tons of Bird song today. Too much to filter in some places. I don’t have very keen ears and can only pick out the most frequent singers. I think I heard a Rose Breasted Grosbeak or two this morning. they are the strongest sing songers. I heard a chink sound that is typical of the Red Breasted Grosbeak. Other songsters have arrived in the area. I hear either a Mockingbird or a catbird in one area. They sure are fun. Tomorro I will try to ID the bird for sure.
Too much hunger! Too many maddening black flies! I didn’t put on the fly dope this morning. Guess what? Black Fly Picnic on my face. OH! man! was the swarm thick. Couldn’t open my mouth. Swallowed a few flies anyway. Tomorro I will use the dope. And the next day and the next. I only need to do that once.
The little white flowers with the yellows pistils and clover-leaf leaves are called Golden Thread,
The other Plant, the one that reminds me of some kind of carrot turns out to be in the carrot family.
Well, the wild cherry is either a Chokecherry or a Black Cherry I think. I am leaning towards Black Cherry. I Tried to remember to look for it while I was walking this morning but I didn’t see it.
I will try again tomorro. Yes, tomorro I will have better luck relocating this plant.
I missed writing a post yesterday.
I found a plant I had never seen before. I found it in a wet spot in the path. It was situated in an open area that had some shade. The flowers where arranged in an umbel and the plant was shorter rather than taller–maybe 12″ or so. The flowers didn’t have open petals. Rather, they were like buds but I think that was how the flower was suppose to be. The umbels reminded me a little of carrots or carrot family. Queen Annes Lace came to mind but the umbels weren’t quite as flat.
Another flower I spied today looking a little like Meadowsweet but it is way too eartly for that and besides, It wasn’t quite the same anyway. Meadowsweet is pinkish and this was white. It was on one stick for a shrub and I didn’t see any others in the area. I am wondering if it is Black Cherry.
Today, I found some flowers that I should know but I can’t recall what they are. They are small single white flowers. Well, the petals are white (Six petals, maybe 8 but I think 6.) and the pistils, of which there are six, are yellow. The leaves remind me of a clover leaf but the tips have an irregular scalloped edge.
The Birding is great right now. I am too lazy to seek out the birds for a visual ID but I have been trying to ID them by their songs or calls. Lots of birds. Such a pleasant walk this morning. Cool. No Black Flies. Warming sun. Off to look up Plants.
The mystery flower is Trailing Arbutus Epigaea repens.
The Indian ??? is Indian Cucumber Root.
False Solomon’s Seal is also called Solomon’s Plume.
The White Trillums are called Painted Trilliums.
I forgot to mention that Canada Mayflowers are budding.
Ah! Haven’t walked all week. Well, three days. Alot happens in the spring for a three day stretch of time.
I walked on the Chesterfield side again. I love that area. Nice open hardwood canopy.
The Black flies were a touch thick on Monday so I prepared myself with fly dope this time around. They weren’t bad at all today. Nice warm, sunny day with a breeze.
The East side of the road has an extensive community of spring flowering plants. The Red Trilliums are still blooming as well as the Solomon’s Seal. There is another individual that is unfurling now. My first guess is False Solomon’s Seal. It looks like the Solomon’s Seal only it is more robust, larger plant. Unlike the real McCoy, which have flowers sprouting from the second leaf nodule, this plant has none. No individuals are totally unfurled yet though. Time will tell.
In the same area, I am finding Jack-in-the-Pulpit now. These plants aren’t out fully yet but I think it will only take a few days before they are.
Down where I took the pups swimming, there are a couple of White Trilliums. These are smaller, shorter than the red. It was a pleasant discovery.
I found a couple of white flowers with yellow centers. It seems as though I should know what they are but I just can’t recall. Need to hit the books.
Speaking of white flowers, another flower I came across today I don’t believe I have ever seen before. It is located in a shady, mossy pocket along an open area. The leaves are quite thick. Simple. Entire or miniscule toothed edge. The flowers are small, bellshaped, and in clusters. (At first, I thought that they might be blueberries. I think I saw some ground cover blueberry blossoms earlier in the day but these somehow look a little different.) The stems are very woody and seem to prefer running along the the ground. The floweres are white but have some kind of “rust” on them. Maybe they are starting to fade. Hence the rust.
Oh! In this open area the Bluets are in full dress now.
On the way to the swimming area, there is lots of Indian ???? Geeze, I can’t remember the rest of the name.
The birds were singing some this morning. The Black Throated Green Warblers have staked out their territories. It is fun to walk along and pick up one warblers song. Then go a little further and pick up another individual’s song.
A Great day with Great finds. And the pups had fun too.
I Took the pups to a secluded corn field area down the road today. It was raining. Good day to take a break.
I was looking forward to seeing the Boodroot again today. At least what I think is Bloodroot.
Tomorro won’t happen either. Have commitments. Will Try for Thursday. Looking forward to it already.
Impossible to walk it all. Wish I could though.
Apparently The Smooth Solomon’s Seal and the Great Solomon’s Seal are clumped together as one species. I will have to look into this further.
The Great Solomon’s Seal name is Polygonatum canaliculatum while the Smooth Solomon’s Seal is Plogonatum biflorum.
The Hairy Solomon’s Seal is Polygonatum pubescens.
Other Common Names for Bloodroot are:
It is considered an herb. Each plant has only one leaf.
I am pretty sure the plants that I thought were May Apples are Bloodroot.
Sanguinaria canadensis
I will check the flowers more closely tomorro.
One thing I couldn’t figure out with this plant was why the skimpy plants have flowers but the more fuller lush plants–looking like they had better circumstances– have no flowers.
It turns out the cycle is to grow one leaf and a bloom and then the rest of the leaves follow. so the fuller plants have already past blooming.
I will watch the developments of the flowering ones and see what happens.
We walked on the Chesterfield side today. Oh! It is such a pleasant walk! Starting off, on the east side of the trail, you will find the largest bed of trilliums blooming.
I find Trilliums here and there frequently but not in beds. It isn’t a dense bed like a ground cover but is sure is large–covering the whole slope. The hardwood canopy is nice an open.
Lots and lots of Solomon’s Seal, pockets of them here and there, mixed with the Trillium. They are just unfurling their leaves at this point. They will be out fully by week’s end I think.
The weather was coolish today. No bright sun. With the trees lacking leaves for shade, it would have been hot.
My mystery flower of the day is a white flower with big leaves. Single flowers sprouting up from rather large (most are) Maple shaped leaves. I alway thought they were what folks call May Apple but I think I am mistaken. I guess that means I have two new mystery flowers to figure. May Apples and this other flower.
I tried to listen to the bird song this morning but this area is dry and hardwood which means loud, leaf rustling foot steps. Couldn’t hear the birds clearly over 14 footstep din.
Here are a couple of Links that help aid in bird song identification:
Adding to the list:
Also found the first Mnemonics site which helped me with the Chestnut Sided Warbler.
I’ll let the list grow as I discover more aids.
Also known as Witch’s Hobble is the common name for the shrubs with the white flowers.
Reminder: look up wren song and yellow warbler song. I need help keying in on some of the bird songs that I have been hearing.
I heard the Red Shouldered hawk again today. I have been hearing him for some time now.
The flowering shrubs along the Snow brook trail are Hobblebush or Witch-hobble.
The scientific name is Viburnum lantanoides (alnifolium.)
I feel better now.
The outer flowers have been blooming all week but the middle flowers have been just buds. Yesterday, I spied I couple of center buds opening. I guess that makes them more a May flower than an April flower.
I forgot to mention in my previous post the birds that I have either heard or seen while walking Pisgah Park and OH! by the way, the trail we are walking is the Snow Brook trail or should I say, the snow Brook / Orchard Trail / Jon Hill Road Loop.
It is a very nice 1 hour walk. Pretty exactly 1 hour.
Back to the birds. I have been hearing a Horned Owl, or perhap a pair of Horned Owls.
And now on the the post title. I will do some checking around and find out more about these bushes along the brook. I think they are a viburnum of some sort (High Bush Cranberries are a Viburnum.) I just need to find out more. Later.
Along the Jon trail in Pisgah Park these days, you’ll find, poking up through the leaves on the forest floor, little yellow violets. Another flower that is showing itself these days is the bellwort.
Along the edge of a bog, Highbush cranberries are blooming. At least the flower head looks like high bush cranberry. Tiny, flowers–they look like buds to me–surrounded by a rim of flowers.
Two days ago I spied a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. Broken spectacles, a strong white or pale wing bar over a black or very much darker wing bar. gray/green in color and of course, a dark red patch on his crown. His red spot was quite bold. It looked like someone had painted a racing stripe on his head. Quite showy. There was a Titmouse in the same bush collecting leaves.