 What's New in the WoodsI live on nine acres at the edge of the Adirondack Mountains where the forest begins . This is a mixed forest of tall pine trees and hardwoods, like maple. Many birds and animals live in these woods, and the ground is covered with beautiful small plants. On this page you and I will explore the woods together, watching the seasons change, and waiting quietly for those rare, magical moments when animals appear. |
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Spring! What could be sweeter than watching the winter snows disappear and the warm weather return. While driving into the Adirondacks we saw this otter fishing in the Hudson River. Otters are terrific swimmers, and Jeanine and I were thrilled to watch this one climb up on one of the ice floes that were drifting by.
Now we have had some very warm weather
If you look closely at this blossom you can see a bee at work gathering pollen and in turn pollinating the flower.
Close to the house a clump of wild violets
has taken root in the rocks that form a small patio. After taking pictures by the house, I wandered out into the woods where spring is just getting started. One of the first things I noticed was this pile of scales from the cones of the white pine. Scales are the parts of the cone that stick out.
Red squirrels feed on the seeds of white pine, small seeds that rest between the scales. The squirrels chew the scales from the core like we might eat corn from a cob. They don't eat the scales however, just the seeds that they find. If you look at the pile, you can see the cores of the cones which look like small sticks. Here is a picture of a red squirrel.
Some of the small growing things that stay green all winter long look like miniature pine trees. These are lycopodium, a very ancient plant. This one is sometimes called Princess Pine. Note the little red headed lichens growing to the left. These are called British Soldiers or Canadian Soldiers and probably have other common names as well.
It is a little early for most of the wildflowers to be blooming but I did find a red trillium with a big bud. It will probably open with the next spell of warm weather. They are called trillium because they have three leaves and the flower has three petals. Tri, of course, means three.
There are many fern in the woods here.
All their first sprouts are called
Looking back from the woods, I see the house sitting there in the brilliant spring sun.
One of the earliest flowers is Coltsfoot.
It looks a bit like a dandelion,
At the neighbor's pond, close to the big tree, I saw a newt under the water. This relative of a salamander is green when it is in the water, but when it emerges and wanders around in the forest it is a bright orange.
Coming home from a nice hike in the woods and up the road, I noticed that my neighbor's Forsythia was in full bloom. What a lovely plant. You can tell that we had a fairly easy winter, because the bloom extends all the way to the tips of the branches. When we have prolonged cold with nights around 20 below zero for a week or so, the exposed buds are killed. The buds beneath the snow are protected and will still bloom.
It's spring. I hope you can get out and enjoy and let me know what you see. Cheers, Bruce
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prompting the daffodils to bloom.These
beauties have been coming forth in front of the studio windows
for the past 20 years, without any real care from me.
fiddle
heads, as they resemble the curved head of a violin, or fiddle.
Some of them are quite good eat and can be cooked like asparagus.
I have not been able to tell them apart at this stage, however.
I need to get out my fern book and study them, or find out which
ones are best to eat from someone who knows them well.
but the stem is different and it blooms before it puts out leaves.
The leaves are shaped like a small horse's hoof, which is why
it is named Coltsfoot.
