It was a beautiful morning for walking and I took a quick walk over at the Skunknet Conservation area between errands and got to try out my new camera! Ovenbirds were calling like crazy and I got this dark picture of one singing above by zooming way in and hoping for the best. I am really just trying to figure this new camera out but am very excited about the possibilities it seems to have for photographing all sorts of things on my nature walks.
I found my first lady slippers in bloom.
Also, sarsparilla is coming up all over. It looks very much like poison ivy at this stage but note the bracket of 3 branches. It also has a little flower ball coming up just underneath it in many cases.
Starflowers are among my favorite spring flowers and they are just starting to bloom almost everywhere there’s a sunny woodland floor.
Also, sarsparilla is coming up all over. It looks very much like poison ivy at this stage but note the bracket of 3 branches. It also has a little flower ball coming up just underneath it in many cases.Starflowers are among my favorite spring flowers and they are just starting to bloom almost everywhere there’s a sunny woodland floor.This big old white pine seems to be standing guard over this huge area of Canada mayflower and starflowers. In another few days they should all be in bloom. Once the leaves all fill out overhead the spring flowers of the sun dappled forest floor will fade away until it is time once again to announce that spring has arrived at last.
It’s got everything kids love. It is goopy, slimy, mucky, muddy, dirty, wet, creepy, crawly and even a little scary because you just never know what might jump, pop, slither, or crawl your way without warning.
It is a place to look under rocks and logs, to jump and splash, to find frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles and snakes. Yep, perfect kid place.
This swamp is in Wellfleet on Cape Cod.
You might spy a painted turtle on a rock.
You could stop at a bird blind along the way to see what you could see.
You might see a red-winged blackbird singing and showing off his red epaulets.
You could find a caterpillar like this wooly bear crossing the path. Notice how it curls up to protect itself.
Or a box turtle. This lady was the first to be found on the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary this season. She was brought in to the center to be weighed and measured and checked to see if she was a sanctuary regular. The sanctuary has been keeping records of the box turtle population there for many years and kids love to be part of gathering the data.
Or some Fowler’s toads. These gentlemen had taken a wrong turn and were found in a damp stairwell when we went outside to play some games after lunch. Their black chins and release noise told us they were males. Toads often can’t seem to tell the difference between males and females if they are excited about mating and the males have a special noise they make to let other males know they are not females. The kids were very excited to touch and hold these little toads before we released them far from the stairwell.
