Its song brings happiness to my heart, fills me with joy. The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), sings its name as it goes about its day, collecting insects.
________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
Zion National Park. Western Springbeauty (Clintonia lanceolata), is native to alpine climates of western North America.
______________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
Wandering the mountain today, and a surprise. Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) within days of being in bloom.
And these blooms even show up on the trunk, and older stems of the tree. This is called cauliflory. There are estimated to be more than 100 species of plants, the world over, that are cauliflorous, scattered among a wide variety plant families.
No matter the location of those flowers on the trees. The woods will soon be pink, pink, and more pink!
_____________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia). Tucson, Arizona. Native only to the Americas, including a couple species that are native to the East Coast of the United States.
__________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
A discovery yesterday. Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are just beginning to emerge from the soil. As one might expect given the lack of winter, they’re a bit early. I’m totally pleased to see them, early or not.
In the past I would expect to see this swath of umbrella-like leaves at the beginning of May.
These flowers too, at the beginning of May. But who knows what this coming season will bring and when. We shall see.
_______________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
This morning, an Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) rummaging through the leaves looking for something to nibble on. Note to self: toss some sunflower seeds into that leaf litter.
Goodness, those piercing red eyes. Not everywhere though. In Florida and the southeast coast up through most of North Carolina you might see Eastern Towhees with white or cream colored eyes. I haven’t seen that and think that might be just as jarring as the red eyes!
Glad to see the Towhee this morning. I’ll be listening for its song of, “Drink your TEA!”
_______________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
Known by the common names of Ground Cedar or Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum). A Clubmoss. Though not a cedar, and not a moss. So much for common names. You can’t depend on them. That scientific name, which is a doozy to remember, is the one you can depend on for accuracy.
This Clubmoss is one of the most primitive of vascular plants. Vascular plants are those that have vessels within their roots, stems, and leaves that carry food and water to the plant cells. The Clubmosses first appeared in the fossil record approximately 400 million years ago. Now it grows as a small plant, but in those first appearances in the Carboniferous period, 350 million years ago, Clubmosses grew to be the height of the tallest trees of today.
Ground Cedar is a plant that I don’t often find around my cabin, so when I see it, I’m thoroughly pleased.
_____________________________________________________________________
If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!
Photographs often contain precious memories. Even photographs that were taken just a few minutes ago. That’s the case with this image. My Mom loves gardens and while she was very active, she had beautiful gardens filled with lovely flowers blooming or just waiting to come into bloom.
These Daffodils, just out my kitchen window make me think of Mom’s gardens and spring just beginning.
Black Birch (Betula lenta). A tree that’s common around my cabin.
It’s a tree that is monoecious, meaning it has male and female flowers on the same plant/tree. The flowers of birch trees are called catkins. The photo, above, is of male catkins, on a branch I found on the ground after some wild winds we had recently. These male catkins emerge as summer turns to autumn and will stay on the tree (unless there are wild winds) during the winter months. They will release their pollen in the spring.
Just in time to catch those pollen grains, the female catkins appear in early spring. Once fertilized, green cones are formed. Then in early autumn the green cones turn brown and burst open dispersing the seeds of the cones.
As those leaves turn golden, more male catkins are formed and the cycle continues.
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). Most often I’ll see one at the suet feeder. Less frequently it will be one at the hulled sunflower seeds or at the shelled peanuts. But only one.
Yesterday, much to my surprise there were three Downy Woodpeckers. Not at any of the feeders. Just hanging out in the woods. Of course they didn’t want to pose for a group photo. Maybe next time.