Nature - Just Outside My Door

May 20

Exploring Forest Trails at Elk Neck State Park

The Ravines Trail at Elk Neck State Park features the effect of erosion on the soft soils of this park at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. The trail winds through Eastern deciduous forest with a variety of trees, shrubs, ferns, and a few wildflowers still blooming.

In fact, I was so intent on starting my hike, that I almost missed tiny flowers blooming, yet hidden, in this field at the trailhead:

and a mushroom:

Further along the trail, I also spotted these:

There were more blooms along the way -

tulip poplar – I think this one has a worm in it:

a flowering shrub I haven’t ID’d yet:

mountain laurel almost ready to bloom:

Mountain laurel is abundant along this trail; I hope to get back in a week or so to see it in bloom.

Other interesting sights:

smack-dab in the middle of the forest is this little patch of saplings:

a very gnawed tree:

this hole is home to a squirrel, I watched it scamper in:

and one of the several bridges that carry you across the ravines:

I explored another trail too; that’s for a separate post. Over the past few years, I’ve camped often at Elk Neck, but never explored the trail system. It was delightful to walk along these little gems.

May 11

2 Comments

Backyard Garden / Native Plants, Year Two Begins

My native plants are starting to bud and bloom! It’s quite gratifying and exciting.

I have a suburban townhouse backyard. Several years ago, I ripped out the grass and landscaped most of the yard. At that time, I had no background on native plants, so I selected whatever ornamental perennial or shrub appealed to me.

Last summer though I began to fill in the empty spots with native plants. The task was interrupted when I took on a part-time naturalist job on week-ends, in addition to my regular career employment. That left me with little free time for gardening.

But, the plants I did add are starting to bloom -

Columbine:

Blueberry:

I believe this is a native, but I’ve lost the label and can’t remember what it is:

Here it is growing amongst a jacob’s ladder plant, which is native, not yet in bloom:

This Aronia “Autumn Magic” chokeberry was purchased this year:

To other plants in my garden -

The first rose of the season:

I believe it’s one of the “Knock-out” rose bushes. (I was not good with keeping notes on what I planted.) It must love my backyard as it’s become a monster-rose bush:

The most dominant plants in my garden right now though are non-native invasives -

Dead nettle is taking over:

Whatever space is free from dead nettle allows wild strawberry to grow, currently with pretty yellow blooms:

And I have two white mulberry bushes that made their way into my yard:

I’m looking forward to clearing out the invasives (as much as I can) and adding more native plants this season!

Mar 26

1 Comment

The Winter That Wasn’t, But Won’t Go Away, Brings Us a Record March Snowstorm

Winter here on the East Coast is lingering. Lingering though is a pleasant word. It implies the welcome extended stay of friends reluctant to part ways. We’re ready to have winter leave.

We enjoyed mild temperatures til January with several episodes of precipitation, but no snow accumulation. Then winter temps arrived mid-January. We thought it was good to have ‘some’ winter. But once it arrived, winter never left. And now, we finally got our snow.

For us, a snowstorm that delivers heavy wet flakes and accumulates five inches is a big deal. Here are some pictures, though the scenes were far lovelier than my camera could capture:

Mar 18

Hibernation

One of my favorite nature journals is a book by Mark Garland titled “Watching Nature – A Mid-Atlantic Natural History”. One reason I love the book is because he writes about the places I am familiar with and are accessible to me.

In describing winter, he talks about his hibernation instinct. “I want to come home straight from work, read a book next to the wood stove, and sleep 12 hours each night”. I can identify with that as well; it’s basically what I did the past few months …

Mark continues with “there’s much activity for a naturalist to explore” if one only fights the hibernation draw. The few weekendS I chose to tackle the dreary, cloudy, cold days and explore winter nature, I stuck close to home. There were no long day trips for me since Thanksgiving. Which ties in nicely with my philosophy of finding nature just outside my door.

Here are a few pictures of the winter that is moving out ever so slowly this year:

The daytime grays and browns of overcast skies sometimes started with soft pastel sunrises
and brilliant orange sunsets
a sunshiny day gave us sparkles on the water
we had light snow several times, but nothing substantial

I am welcoming Spring!

Mar 7

A Hawk Skirmishes With The Starlings At My Deck Feeders

Much to my delight, while writing at my computer facing my backyard, a blur of feathers caught my attention. It was a hawk! It landed on my backyard deck railing!! The flourish of feathers must’ve been him going after one of the many birds that hang out on the railing.

Mar 4

2 Comments

Early Spring Field Trip – Harford Glen Nature in Winter

A field trip, intended for bird-watching, became more of a winter nature-study hike; a great way to celebrate March. Especially since our group had access to a park that is normally closed to the public in winter.

Dec 2