This morning I decided to go on an adventure in a brand new woods (new to me, that is). Off I went to the Bent of the River Audubon sanctuary!
This place turned out to be basically wonderful. It had deep woods with delightful streams and pools, and wide meadows dotted with huge trees:
And a long trail following the river that gives the sanctuary its name:
The most amazing thing to me, though, was how obviously well cared-for this place is. I saw no trash at all on the whole 2+ miles of trails I walked. None. Every other park I go to around here always has at least the occasional (sometimes more than that) beer can, fishing line, cigarette butt, etc., so this seemed pretty crazy by comparison. I also didn't see any other people on the trails. I'm sure the fact that Bent of the River doesn't allow dogs, bikes, or fishing is related to all this. In any case, I loved it. Except for the well-groomed trails and occasional nesting box, this place really felt like it was more about nature than it was about people. I felt totally comfortable ambling along these trails (and not at all dorky with my binoculars and camera), and I was happy to pay the suggested $5 trail fee to get to hang out here.
And as for my actual woods walk, there was plenty to see! Now that the canopy has entirely leafed out, I heard a lot more birds than I saw, but that just meant I got to work on identifying by ear. (Normally I take pictures of things I don't recognize to figure out IDs later, and today I was doing a lot of sound recording for the same reason.)
Although the birds stayed out of camera range, several other creatures did come close. A few Little Wood Satyr butterflies were chasing each other through the woods and fields, and one let me creep up on it for a picture:
(I love those orange antennae.)
A dark fishfly (genus Nigronia) fluttered around on oversized wings:
And this Ebony Jewelwing damselfly was definitely jewel-like in the light-dappled forest:
At one point, I turned around to face where I had just been walking, and I was surprised to find that an Eastern Garter Snake had suddenly appeared a few feet away from me and directly in my path:
Sneaky snake! Oo, look at your pretty red and black tongue:
I looked away to check my camera's settings, and when I looked back up the snake had completely disappeared again. I think this snake might have some ninja skills.
I had been hoping to see Pink Lady's Slippers in bloom in these woods, but all I managed to find were several large flower-less plants:
Oh well, maybe these plants will have flowers next year.
The Mountain Laurel was just opening its fancy flowers:
These flowers are gorgeous, but I also really like the way these buds look before they open, like little shooting stars lighting up the woods:
Continuing the lighting theme, these (I think) Varnish Shelf Fungi (Ganoderma tsugae) were like weirdly-shaped lanterns:
In the fields, huge Cow Parsnip plants were opening their big flower-umbrellas a few feet above the ground:
It was definitely a good morning, and if I lived closer to this place it would become one of my frequent haunts. And really, any nature walk gets bonus awesome points when it ends with a field of horses:
:)
Today I decided to take a break from the Naugatuck State Forest (I've been running into a disappointing number of annoying/loud/irresponsible people there recently) and explore someplace new. So I headed over to the Southford Falls State Park -- a small park about a 15 minute drive away -- to see what I could find there.
As it turns out, it's a really nice place! There's a small pond, a rushing stream with waterfalls, a cute covered bridge, and about a mile and a half of trails along the stream and through the woods. It was a lot of fun to be in a new location, and I saw some really cool things.
Almost as soon as I got out of my car, I was greeted by a male Baltimore Oriole, foraging in the low branches of a nearby tree. These are such stunning birds, and I was so close to this guy, so I ended up taking quite a few pictures.
Toward the end of my walk, I found out that this male wasn't alone. His mate was hanging out in the same area, and there was even more to his family, as I discovered in a rather sad way. I heard a bird calling loudly from the ground behind some bushes, and when I looked closer, I found this beautiful baby oriole, gaping and calling, with his parents agitatedly flying back and forth in the branches overhead:
I really didn't know what to do -- this baby didn't look old enough to have gotten out of the nest on its own, and those are definitely not flying feathers. I looked around for the nest, but I couldn't see it, and in any case the oriole nests I've seen in the past have been really high up in trees and this one probably would've been out of my reach. I ended up just leaving the baby alone.... Its parents definitely knew it was there, so hopefully they will continue to feed it, but it's so vulnerable.... I don't know, did I do the right thing?
The baby's distress aside, the orioles were a treat to watch, and they were pretty much the highlight of the day. But I did also see some new birds that I'd never seen before, including this Eastern Kingbird, a type of flycatcher, munching on dragonflies and showing off its cool white-tipped tail:
Here's another completely new one for me, a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo:
I knew we had cuckoos around here, but only because I'd seen them in my field guide -- I swear I've never seen a cuckoo or anything like it before in real life, though. Before I saw it way up in the treetops, I heard the weirdest calls (here's a recording to give you an idea), which I wasn't even sure belonged to a bird. Then when I did see it, the first thing I saw was its tail, and I thought, "Blue Jay" -- but nope, it was something new! I like discovering new things.
The Red-Winged Blackbirds were out in force, and I noticed for the first time (after seeing these birds all my life) that the females are actually quite pretty in their own way:
Some nice people have set up nest boxes, and this Tree Swallow was making good use of them, bringing dragonflies to his or her family inside (I think these birds are really cool):
I saw some nice flowers on this trip as well. The woods were just packed with Mountain Laurel bushes in full flower, lining many of the paths. These are some very pretty flowers that I don't think I've ever noticed before, and I love the spiky developing buds, too:
Here's Whorled Loosestrife, another new flower for me, and I think it's gorgeous:
The Indian Pipes were just starting to lift their heads up from beneath the layer of dead leaves on the forest floor (these plants are so awesome -- look ma, no chlorophyll!):
This is Celandine, an relative of the poppy, and introduced from Europe:
And the pond was dotted with Yellow Pond Lilies, raising pretty yellow globes above the water's surface:
There were tons of other flowers and birds as well (not to mention the Red-backed Salamanders and Red Efts that I found in the woods), and these are just some of the highlights. I'm glad I got to explore a new place, and I'm sure I'll be back again!
