After nearly two weeks away, I was feeling some serious woods withdrawal when I made a trip back to Naugatuck State Forest yesterday morning. Ah, spring in the woods!
It was a little chilly when I arrived, and many of the wildflowers that I had been looking forward to seeing were still closed, but there were still plenty of blooms around. These tiny Dwarf Ginseng flowers made puffy umbrellas a couple of inches above the forest floor:
The Wild Strawberries were blossoming on a sunny bank:
And a little Jack-in-the-Pulpit flower was taking shape (before this plant and its neighbors had even unfurled their leaves):
These lovely little violets were growing in clumps in the marshy areas and along the path. I think I identified them as Small White Violets (Viola macloskeyi) when I found them here last year, but I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong! (Violets are tricky.)
The blooms on this small bush look an awful lot like Serviceberry (a.k.a. Juneberry, Shadbush, etc.), but I feel like I would've noticed if there were Serviceberries here (and munched on them) last summer. I love Serviceberries. Is this something else, instead, or could I have just missed the berries last year?
The Trout Lilies weren't quite ready to open their petals yet, but the closed flowers were quite pretty nonetheless:
And the Mayapples were sprouting up, building their own mini forest -- I think I see some buds on that one on the left!
Next to the Mayapples, a couple of Red Trilliums were nodding their green buds, not quite ready to open yet. I think these are some of the prettiest flowers ever (that color!), so I'll be eagerly watching for their arrival.
There was quite a bit of bird activity in the woods as well, especially on the lakes. A pair of Common Mergansers was vying for space with a pair of Mallards on the smaller lake, and I watched the Merganser drake chasing the Mallard drake. (I think it looks like the Mallard is sticking his tongue out at the Merganser in this picture. Boys!)
Once the Mallards had moved on, the Merganser pair sailed around for a bit, enjoying their territory:
But of course they flew off to another lake soon afterwards. (Why were you chasing the other ducks off, if you were just going to leave anyway?)
And I happened across something I haven't seen at these woods before -- a Canada Goose on her nest:
She's trying so hard not to be seen, with her neck all flattened down like that. And it worked pretty well, too -- I was standing there for several minutes before I noticed her at all. I wonder if there will be babies on this lake in a few weeks....
Happy spring!
My current situation with wildflowers is very similar to my situation with birds -- there are a decent number of species that I know really well, but there are a ton more that I don't know at all. So this summer I have decided that I will not only be learning new birds, I will also be learning wildflowers.
The Trout Lily in my post yesterday is one flower that I know very well, having grown up paying attention to it, but when I was back into the woods this morning (I'm insatiable), I found two flowers that were completely new to me. Usually I do most of my identifying (of wildflowers or birds or anything else) online -- the Connecticut Botanical Society has a pretty expansive wildflower guide with lots of pictures, for example. But today the internet failed me, and as it turned out, I was only able to identify these plants at all by turning to my copy of Central Appalachian Wildflowers (2002) by Barbara and Victor Medina.
Yep, this is my grandparents' wildflower book (one of two, actually), and using it today brought back good memories of going on wildflower walks with them when I was little. This book has sat on my shelf for years, and I'm very happy to finally have a chance to find out how extremely useful it is. :P (Mini-trivia: This book was a full family endeavor, and I actually have credit for doing the illustrations, which I believe technically makes me a published artist -- how crazy is that?)
Anyway, where was I? Right, flowers:
This one is Dwarf Ginseng, as best as I can tell -- most of the pictures of this species I've seen show an upright, perky plant, rather than the slouched individuals I found pushing their way up out of the ground today, but the overall shape of the leaves and flowers is right, so Dwarf Ginseng is what I'm calling it. This plant was teeny-tiny, only about an inch or two high, with its little cluster of white flowers just starting to open. I imagine it'll look more impressive in a few days, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of spring in the works.
I've noticed these bushes in the woods before with their floating yellow buds, and today the flowers were open. This is a Spicebush, and besides being bright and pretty, this plant is apparently home (i.e. food) for a couple of very cool butterflies and moths (food for their caterpillars, that is) during the summer. I'll have to keep an eye out for these creatures as the year progresses. :)
There are so many things in the world to learn! But that's good, really -- it just means that I'll always have something new to discover. :)
