Spring Creeps into the Woods

A glorious day to be out in the woods! As soon as I did the weather (we are a NWS Cooperative station), I grabbed the camera, my binocs and a radio and went out. Three hours later I returned with the following sightings:

Yes, there is still snow on the trails here, but I would say we are 99% snow free.

Striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum) has beautiful flourescent pink buds!



And check out the bright pink female flowers of the

speckled alder (Alnus incana)! Who knew nature could have

such colors! The long dangly flowers are also from

speckled alder, but these are the males.

Trout lily (Erythronium americanum) leaves are pushing up through last autumn's debris. Unfortunately, they are mostly IN the trail! I fear for their survival as visitors rush down the path, so I put a "fence" of sticks into the ground around them, hopefully enough of an eye-catcher to slow folks down. Maybe when the flowers start to bloom that will be enough to stop eager feet.

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) has also put in an appearance. Note the two blossom ends on the berry: a single berry is created from two flowers. Nature is full of surprises!

American beech (Fagus grandifolia) leaves are still on the trees from last fall!

And moss-scapes abound! I'm going to save the mosses, however, for another post, after I've had a chance to try to ID some of them.