Woods
-
Fall
I have a number of photos taken over the summer to post. But for now, let’s think about the wonders of autumn.
Leaves covering the earth, even in a grove of evergreens.
I photographed this prospect in spring. It has quite a different character now. This little guy was perched in exactly the same spot as he was in spring, too, but drowsier.
I didn’t expect turtles, but there were some out on our walk the other day.
My daughter commented on the smell of fall. It’s true. Fall has its own odor, and I’m aware of it even though I’m not a good smeller and often don’t notice odors. It triggers a sense of great satisfaction edged with bittersweet.
It’s been some summer for our country, and there’s a weariness and worn-outness that goes along with it. I felt it was being reflected in the sights on our fall walk.
-
Spring woods
Let’s take a walk. We’ll go through the woods to the pond…
…and enjoy the wild cherry blossoms.
The trail is grassy there, so we have a good view of the water and its life.
Just remember that no matter how many things we see — warblers, geese, blossoms, color, tracks — we’re always being watched as well!
-
Greening up
The light in the woods is taking on a greenish tint at last. The trees are beginning to produce leaves, and the mosses are incredibly varied. This rock is just one example, showing a number of different textures.
This tree reminds me of hobbits, thanks to its fuzzy toes.
Chipmunks are always watching. Though they’re not secretive enough to go unnoticed, they do blend in pretty well.
I’ve photographed this boardwalk many times, but it always intrigues me. Yesterday it saved our shoes in the extremely muddy woods.
A little photo-editing was done on this one. Fiddleheads are starting to appear…
My pictures don’t show it, but there were quite a few people taking advantage of the nice day to walk in the woods. This is due to pandemic cabin fever. I wonder if it will last.
The crowded woods didn’t prevent us from visiting some favorite spots, and all in all I’d say it’s a great development that people are enjoying the outdoors. . . ourselves included. Hopefully next time we’ll spot some warblers.
-
One step forward, two steps back
We’ve had precipitation of various kinds since last time I posted, including snow. This is typical for spring in the northeast. Here are some shots from the most recent walk — over a week ago now. The lighting is rather severe, but finding beauty in overcast days is also part of living in the northeast…
Interestingly, when we tried to go for a walk on a sunny day last weekend, two local preserves were absolutely mobbed. Very unusual! We gave up, mainly because we had our (crazy) dog with us, but it was amazing to see so many people looking for outdoor things to do on a nice day during the coronavirus shutdown.
-
Wood Between the Worlds
-
Mixed bag
My daughters and I have been making trips, roughly a week apart, to a local preserve to watch its progress as spring unfolds. The gallery above shows some of the sights.
And really, it’s quite early yet. May is the time when ferns unfurl, wildflowers and warblers run riot, and leaves pop. But it feels amazing to be in the woods in these early days as ever-so-slightly, the green begins to make its inroads against the brown, gray and white of winter.
Yesterday I noticed something I didn’t photograph that was equally cheering: many people, out and about. Both in the woods, and in the car on the way home, I thought about the strangely mixed bag of stayhomesavelivessocialdistancingflattenthecurve during a pandemic…
One the one hand:
- economic loss
- social isolation
- severe illness, and death
- children missing school lunches, friends, stability, routine
- family tensions inflamed in close quarters
- anxiety
- too little toilet paper
- too many sweets
But on the other hand:
- dogs getting walked more
- people doing things together more
- a man and a young girl riding a tandem
- parents and young children walking the trails
- temporary technological substitutes for community & education
- books getting read
- time
I don’t want to do this forever. But for now, I can see some good things happening, even in the midst of crisis. Spring is unfurling in the woods, and looking around, it appears that perhaps a good many “Someday when I have time, I will _____” ideas are unfurling as well. Six feet apart is not that far.
I say this without minimizing the bad, but with thankfulness for the good that exists alongside it.
You May Also Like
Yellowthroats and Other Wonders
-
Wildflowers
We took an afternoon walk yesterday to see how a familiar preserve looked in the sun. Here’s a new flower — with the not-so-catchy name “narrow-leaved blue-eyed grass”:
It’s only about a half an inch across, but it was neat to see a new adornment on the ground. Here’s a closer look:
A veery was singing in the distance, which my daughter tried without success to see. Oven birds, a house wren, robins and cardinals provided musical accompaniment. A few other flowers we saw:
Buttercups (I guess) 
Bluets 
Daisies There were mosses a-plenty…
As well as some favorite spots to think.
A couple of oven birds tried hard to lead us away from what must have been their nest site. It would have been amazing to see an oven bird nest, but we settled for watching the birds for a few minutes, then moving on to give them some peace.
Not only did we observe; we were observed:
On the whole it was a lovely stroll.
-
Cloudy and green
Around here this spring, we have to accept the overcast as an almost constant state. But the temperature was pleasant and even a little sultry, so we ventured out.
A may apple in bloom Plants continue to develop even in wet conditions. This interrupted fern shows its fertile leaves.
A closer look My daughter noticed this clump with a bracken fern growing in the midst of another kind of fern. (Maybe a common polybody fern? I’m trying to learn them, but many look alike to me.)
A few more specimens. . .
“Moss” on a dead tree. Seen closely, it always looks like a whole community of pants. 
A wide variety grow along the bank of the stream, too. 
Dogwood It was very dim light, and the photos show the drabness. But somehow the greens look greener when it’s overcast. My pics don’t show it as much (partly because I’m still stuck with my cell phone camera), but one has a sense of the light emanating from the leaves instead of the sky.
See the frog? 
-
Spring Marsh
It was in the 40s this morning, but the sun was inviting. We headed for a nearby marsh in search of spring warblers.
The May apples were just opening their “umbrellas,” and a riot of green shoots of all kinds reached for the sun. These ferns were fist-bumping!
Others stretched their fronds more tentatively. This one looks like it’s admiring its shadow.
We saw more than I was able to capture in photos. My camera doesn’t focus well when fully zoomed out, so I have only one semi-decent warbler picture. But we saw pileated woodpeckers and downies, red-winged blackbirds, mallards and geese, at least one flicker, and numerous yellow-rumped warblers like this one.
A bench in a strategic place allowed some time to reflect and listen.
It’s heartening to see the surge of life bursting out all over. Along with spring leaves and blooms, all the beautiful summer-dwellers are back: orioles, grosbeaks, hummingbirds. May is my favorite month, and by the end of it we’ll have seen an intricate tapestry of tiny wildflowers and ferns and mosses grow to carpet this landscape. The leaf canopy will thicken, softening some of the brightness and contrasts in the scene. I plan to savor and enjoy every phase.
-
Chipmunks
These little guys are so fearful of being seen. If only they could be quieter, they’d have better success. But first it’s the chipping out of vocal warnings from their roosts, and then it’s the frantic scrabble of little claws on bark that gives them away.
