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27 April

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  Two spring weeks in the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest  bring about a dramatic change in vegetation and bird life.   The Forest's understory is suddenly rich in vivid greens.  Bracken fern has now emerged from "fiddleheads" to delicate fronds. and swordfern is developing its almost serpentine shoots. False lily of the valley is abundant, as is vanilla leaf. Saskatoon bushes show their distinctive  rounded, serrated leaves. The red elderberry bushes are flowering. The dull Oregon grape is flowering, in company with pathfinder (at the bottom of the frame). Near the Marsh, the bald-hipped rose is leafing out, and its rather delicate spines help in its identification. (click on the image to get a larger photo, which shows the frame.) Even nearer the Marsh, in the fringe vegetation, the twinberry, a species of honeysuckle, is starting to bloom. In the Marsh, the buckbean is flowering, in company with the marsh cinquefoil. The Marsh chimes with birdsong.  Mo...
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12 April

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12 April   The path into the Wetlands is dappled with sunlight this morning. The Forest is definitely leafing out.  The sun caught this huckleberry and highlighted it among the trees. It was resplendent in new green. Bracken fern is emerging.  I find myself wondering whether the early bracken actually inspired the design of violins.  Red elder is leafing out as well. In the Marsh's fringe, the twinberry is showing leaves and a few flower buds. Mosses are also responding to the seasonal change.  This--is it beaked moss?--is sprouting new growth. Trees, both living and snags, nurture biodiversity. The Marsh is known as a prime area for waterfowl brooding.  Much of the activity looks to be at the far southeast end--too distant for clear photos. Still, a pair of geese glided along. A very distant merganser kept company with one of the many red-winged blackbirds breeding in the marsh.   (The merganser is in a typical merganser pose, surveying the ...
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30 March, 4 april

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  It was an exceptionally still and dark morning as we entered the Hamilton Forest. The season is warming up, but heavy rainfall has kept the forest foliage and paths soggy.  Slugs find these conditions inviting--they're putting in their first appearances of the season. They seem to be moving even more slowly than their usual sluggish (sorry!) pace.  Perhaps cooler temperatures affect them. Slugs and other creatures will feed on the newly emerging fungi. Showy false turkey tails are appearing. We've watched this elder snag  nurturing a growth of bracket fungi for the past two years.  It shrank a bit in the drier season last summer, but looks to be re-establishing itself, accompanied by a strand of trailing blackberry. Skunk cabbage is beginning to emerge in the streams and ephemeral ponds. Slime molds are appearing on soil and many downed logs.  This poetically named "dog vomit slime mold" is luxuriant (if that's the term?). Elderberry is beginning to leaf ...
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