2 May

 Summer has arrived early at the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest.  

This  log has been nurturing this huckleberry growth for some years.  Today the sunlight set the new foliage aglow.

A vernal pool beside the path has shrunk substantially this past week.  It looks less like potential habitat for salamanders than it has.

Siberian miner's lettuce, or candyflower, is coming into bloom.  Although it initially shows as a white blossom, it takes on a pinkish hue as it matures.  

Trillium also starts as a white flower, but then changes to a pinkish-purplish tone.  There is some debate about the reason for this.

Some sources state that the flowers change colour after they've been pollinated as a way to enable the plant's development unimpeded by other insect visits.  

Unlike bracken fern, sword fern is an evergreen species. New growth still appears annually, initially showing a brilliant green.

New fronds expand from a "fiddlehead" (not particularly edible, as is the eastern bracken).  They form elegant patterns as they develop.

Nurse stumps host a variety of species.

Pathfinder is a member of the sunflower family, although its flowers are quite distinctive.  (More to be seen as the season advances.)  

The upper sides of the leaves are a glossy green, the lower side, white, and somewhat hairy.  They take their name from the way in which they show the lower leaves when a creature makes its way through a patch of them--leaving a white path through the green. 

The Marsh is showing a good stand of reeds and sedges, and for now the water level is holding.

As we left, we spotted a panther amanita beside the path.  Pun unintended.  The fungus had been spotted for some time through no effort on our part..