Between rain storms yesterday morning (we've been getting a lot of rain recently), I made a very quick visit to Osbornedale State Park. As I rounded a corner in the meadows, I noticed that someone else was also enjoying a stroll along the park's paths -- three someones, in fact!
Oh my goodness, what a perfect little family you have, Mrs. White-tailed Deer! And you're looking quite healthy and elegant yourself. (Hey, where did child #2 go?)
(Ah, there he/she is.)
Really, could these babies be any cuter? Their dappling is just so wonderful.
I can't believe these creatures stayed around for as long as they did, with me in my bright yellow rain jacket staring and camera-clicking at them from across the meadow. Right after I took this last picture, the two babies bounded into the tall grass, and Mom moved out of sight. Thanks for sharing your family with me, Mrs. Deer!
Other sights from this too-brief walk include this gorgeous dragonfly, a jewel on rain-dotted leaves -- I think it's a female Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta):
And bunches of just-ripening Black Raspberries (yuuuummm; I gladly helped myself to a few):
The actual meadows made curtains of color and smelled amazing, with so many different flowers in bloom:
I hate to think of all the things I'm missing every day while I sit inside doing work. Sure, I'm being productive, but.... Flowers! Baby animals! Strange bugs! For now I'll just grab whatever opportunities come up, and savor even the short trips like this one. :)
On these (not actually very cold) winter days, when I go for walks in the woods, I don't really expect to see much -- many creatures are sleeping or away, and most of the plants are dormant, and those are the things most likely to capture my attention in the warmer months. I enjoy moving through these quiet woods, and I'm always open to seeing things if I happen upon something new and unusual, but I don't set my expectations too high. For whatever reason, though, while I was walking in Naugatuck State Forest this past Wednesday, I seem to have noticed more things than I normally do in winter. Nothing especially earth-shattering happened while I was there, but I think I paid more attention to features along the trail that I often take for granted. And really, the normal winter woods can be exciting, too.
I watched some fun bird acrobatics among the trees. A pair of Brown Creepers (I've never seen two in the same place before) were vacuuming up bugs on the tree trunks near a stream. They're such tiny birds, just little brown-and-white dots working the big trunks, and I think they're awesome (there's just one bird in this picture):
This male Downy Woodpecker was showing some serious skill, too, moving all along (and climbing under) this vine to test every possible spot with his beak -- and yes, this picture is right-side up:
These stark black fertile fronds from a Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) stood out so much in the overall brown landscape that I can't believe I never stopped to look at them before:
These strange beaded structures are actually a special type of frond (i.e. leaf) that stands through the winter and contains the fern's spores, which will be released into the air in the spring. An entire south-facing bank was covered with these fronds, like weird flags stuck into the ground:
(As a side note, I actually really love this particular bank. Last year, it was the first place in these woods where I found flowering Trout Lilies, and as the months progessed, its carpet of lilies was replaced with one of ferns, then milkweed and Joe-Pye weed, among other things; just a succession of beautiful plants and flowers all year, and all densely packed together. I'm looking forward to watching this spot grow and change again this year.)
There were some wonderful spots of color in the woods, like these tiny frills of what I think is Turkey Tail Fungus (Trametes versicolor) on a fallen branch:
And I love the color on these Black Raspberry canes -- it makes me think of the plant's berries, which I won't get to sample again until late July:
Really, these canes have the best colors ever:
I did see one unusual thing on my walk. One spot in the path was littered with tufts of hair -- I think some furry animal ran into some trouble here:
The fur was medium-length and fluffy -- I thought it was clumps of down feathers at first. Perhaps it once belonged to a rabbit?
And walks in the woods continue to be interesting, at any time of year!
Well, it's officially summer! The days are getting consistently hot and humid, and the plants and animals are taking full advantage of the sun.
While I was walking in the Naugatuck State Forest today, I nearly stepped on this little fellow, sunning him/herself in the path (I say that, but this was actually a rather shady spot):
This is the first Eastern Garter Snake I've seen this year, and it sure was a gorgeous creature. It didn't seem inclined to run away from me, even when I got right in its face:
I encouraged this little guy to move off the path, and it finally took the hint (after sticking its red-black tongue out at me a couple of times). With all the people- and dog-feet passing by, I didn't want it to accidentally get hurt.
Here's another sign of summer -- Black Raspberries covering a bank along the path (yum... I might have eaten a berry or two after taking this picture, even though they could've done with another day or so of ripening):
The dragonflies were as active as ever, and I even managed to identify a couple. This Common Whitetail was basking in the sun, and its bright blue/white abdomen was pulsating, like a person's chest when they're breathing heavily (I'm not entirely sure what was going on here, but it's possible it could have had to do with respiration):
I think this is an Eastern Pondhawk, and it's the most beautiful shade of green:
And speaking of beautiful colors, a couple of these fritillary butterflies (possibly Great Spangled Fritillaries, but I'm not certain about that) were taking advantage of the Common Milkweed blooms. I like this picture even more for the random photobombing bumblebee:
Here are the Spotted Jewelweed flowers that I've been waiting to see on these plants, even though some of the jewelweeds in these woods have seed pods already:
And I learned some new flowers today as well. This is Tall Meadow Rue, a flower that's all stamens and no petals -- and yes, the plant is quite tall:
Finally, looking at the leaves of this last plant, I was expecting it to be a kind of milkweed, but it's actually something called Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum):
Hooray for new things. :)
