Thursday, October 29, 2015

A Variety of Wildlife Visit the Beaver Pond

There's been a great variety of wildlife species visiting the beaver ponds these days. Everything from Coyotes to Ruffed Grouse have been showing up at irregular intervals.
White-tailed Deer are among the most common visitors to the ponds
A Coyote comes down the path and checks out the beavers' latest engineering effort 
A Fisher showed up a few times this week
A large buck came by at night
Catbirds were common at the beaver ponds until they migrated south
A young buck comes up right alongside the camera
Beavers enjoying a late afternoon siesta 
A Green Heron skulks by the camera
A Red Squirrel scampers up the lodge-like construction on the bank
A rare visit from a Rusty Blackbird

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Recent Comings and Goings at the Nature Preserve

A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak samples an apple blossom
Lots of things have happened since my last posting. For the songbirds, migration wrapped up and nesting has begun. Flowers are still blooming, though not so many in the woods. Here are a few of the pictures that I managed to get:
A male Scarlet Tanager sings at the border of the old woods
A male Baltimore Oriole - the species is not as common as it used to be
Swainson's Thrush was singing in the old woods for about a week
Swainson's Thrush hunting insects by the creek on a cold morning
Seldom seen during migration - Gray Cheeked Thrush - having a wing stretch 
The Great crested Flycatcher - looking for a tree cavity to nest in
A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - another north bound migrant
Rose-breasted Grosbeak stops at the post for some sunflower seeds
A female Hooded Merganser has been seen frequently on the beaver ponds
A male Common Merganser stretches his wings
Male and female Wood Ducks
A Coyote stops to see who entered the field - it's just me
A Male Bobolink sings in our high brushy meadow
An adult Tree Swallow takes a look out the door
Young Tamarack pine cones start out purple
Bitternut Hickory Tree in bloom
Golden Ragwort grows in wet shady places
Ohio Buckeye in  bloom along the trail side

Pitch pine with new growth and the beginnings of new cones
White Baneberry in the old woods
Native Red Columbine
Dwarf Delphinium - only one plant bloomed this year
The Red Eft or Red-spotted Salamander

Sunday, May 17, 2015

A Dazzling Display of Forest Wildflowers

Red Trillium had a good showing in the old woods
It was impossible to keep on top of everything as it happened this spring. The wildflowers in the old woods had gotten off to a slow start, but then unseasonably warm temperatures at the onset of May caused everything to explode out of the ground. Leaves also came out almost overnight and transformed naked winter-like tree tops into a shady canopy.  The earliest wildflowers like Spring Beauty, Hepatica and Bloodroot enjoyed an extended bloom time, while virtually all of the second wave blooms were much shorter lived.  
Large-flowered Bellwort with its unusual drooping and leaf-like flower
Trout Lily also known as Dog-tooth Lily
Toad Shade - some years it's the first to bloom - this year it's way down on the list
Toad Shade Trillium flowers sometimes have green petals 
One of our rarest flowers - Rue Anemone
False Rue Anemone
Jack-in-the-Pulpit is enjoying a long blooming period despite the warm weather
Red Trillium at the height of its power
Close to the ground and often missed - Wild Ginger flowers
Wild Ginger 
One of the last Bloodroot flowers to keep its petals 
Spring Beauties 
Dutchman's Breeches were rare this spring
Twinleaf bloomed for a very short time
Round-leaved Yellow Violet
White Sweet Violet
Long-spurred Violet
Goldenseal
White Trillium in all its glory
Foam Flower
Miterwort or False Bishop's Cap
Moosewood or Northern Striped Maple
Scarlet Elf Cup - a Fungus
Fiddleheads of the Christmas Fern
Fiddleheads of the Long-leaf Beech Fern
The forest's official greeter