Staunton River Star Party

My husband and I spent last Monday and Tuesday at the Staunton River Star Party (held at Staunton River State Park). The park is an International Dark Sky Park….lots more stars visible than in the area where we live. The park prepared well for the event – with star party themed jack-o-lanterns, red cellophane on all windows were white light my leak, and paths marked with red snake lights or small red LEDs on stakes.

The observing field already had a lot of people setting up by the time we got there but we managed to get a spot that was close to one of the electrical hubs – good to be able to run equipment directly and/or easily recharge batteries during the day. We started to unpack and quickly discovered that we had forgotten our tent! Fortunately we did have the tent-like cover for the back of our SUV and some extra tarps. My husband and I managed to sleep inside the car on an air mattress (it helped that he was observing until the wee hours of the morning since the space was a narrow enough that we could only roll over in unison)!

We tied one side of a tarp to the roof rack and used tripods we had brought for our cameras to hold the corners away from the car. The wind came close to knocking the tripods over before we hung heavy equipment bags as weights. Having the tarp helped during the day when it got a bit warm in the bright sunshine.

I took sunrise and sunset pictures too: Sunrise on Tuesday morning. Note the various tents, trailers, awnings and cars…the whole field looked like this with a lattice of drive lanes to provide just enough organization so vehicles could get in and out.

Sunset on Tuesday evening. There were enough clouds at sunset that everyone was looking around for signs of clearing…and it did by the time it was fully dark.

Sunrise Wednesday morning – a few hours before we left. There were quite a few crows greeting the sun and they seemed to like the bare tree – stopping there before moving about and sometimes coming back to perch again for a little while.

The clouds on that last morning looked like they were losing part of themselves as they floated into morning.

The dew was heavy both nights we were at the star party and people generally called it a night before 3 AM. Those that did not have heaters to keep condensation off their mirrors had to stop earlier. I took pictures walking around during the mornings when the telescopes were generally neatly covered.

 

I took one short hike and found more fungi than I expected. There were a few colorful trees as well. Otherwise – I was feeling relaxed and lazy with the flurry of star party activity going on all around me.

Dogwood in the Fall

I first became familiar with dogwoods when we had one in the backyard of our house in Virginia over 30 years ago. It grew by the patio under the tall oaks. We moved to the house in July so I first saw it with its graceful branches full of green leaves undulating in the little breezes. And then came the fall. The leaves turned red earlier than most and the red seed clusters were so vibrant they glowed even on cloudy days. Dogwoods became a ‘tree to note’ from that time forward for me. The one I chose to photograph this year grows at Mt. Pleasant Farm along the drive to the farmhouse. It is very similar to the one I remember.

Of course – the white blossoms in the spring (see post from last spring here) are pretty spectacular and I probably photograph them more than the fall foliage. I appreciate the fall foliage as a celebration of the season – the grand finale of the dogwood’s year.

Wheatland Arboretum

The grounds around Wheatland and the LancasterHistory.org building have been transformed into an arboretum with careful plantings and signage for the trees. There was a map provided but I decided to walk around and photograph rather than reference it frequently. It was a very warm day and I found myself staying to the shady path whenever possible. The bright sunlight made the pine needles glow!

There was a large camellia in a shady area and I did some close…and closer shots of the flowers.

The dogwoods (non-native ones) were still blooming. I’d seen this same kind at the National Arboretum a few weeks ago.

The tree that caught my attention the most was the ‘tri-color beech’ which is an import from Europe. It was a striking tree in an otherwise green landscape.

And after my walk - I was ready to be in an air conditioned environment for a bit before heading out for lunch and then driving toward home.

Zooming - June 2015

The ‘zooming’ post is a little earlier than usual this month…but it was such a good month for outdoor subjects that I didn’t want to wait. Can you find:

• A wild flower?
• A garden flower?
• Dogwood?
• A wood frog?
• Rattlesnake fern?
• Garlic scapes?
• Milkweed?
• A feather?
• A goldfinch?
• Birds nest fungus?

Zooming - May 2015

May is always an excellent month for outdoor photography. I had no trouble at all finding a lot of zoomed images to create the collages below. Can you find the

• Dandelion,
• Buttercup,
• Dragonfly,
• Azaleas,
• Dogwoods,
• Trillium,
• Solomon's seal,
• Tulip poplar, and
• Celandine poppy?

US National Arboretum - Dogwood Collection

Another area I enjoyed at the US National Arboretum this past weekend was the Dogwood Collection. Most of the dogwoods that were native to North America were past their prime so I photographed the exotics - mostly from Asia.

What we normally think of as petals are actually bracts.

And they are usually white. I was surprised at the subtle variety of bract shapes on the different treats.

Most of the time the leaves are solid green.

But not always.

They are not generally large trees since they grow under larger trees….but they do get large when they are planted as landscape trees - getting more light than they wood in a forest and never lack for enough water. I like the way breezes cause the leaves and branches to move with a floating motion, the bright red/orange clusters of drupes in the fall, and how the buds on the bare limbs in winter look like slightly squished Hersey’s kisses. The dogwood is one of my favorite trees throughout the  year.

Brighton Dam Azalea Garden

Today is Mother’s Day and I’m remembering the first year I was a mother on Mother’s Day. We made our first visit to Brighton Dam’s Azalea Garden that year and I carried by daughter in a carrier on my back. She stayed awake for most of our walk around the garden.

This year the garden seemed to be in near peak bloom when we were there on Friday. As we walked in there were Canadian Geese protesting on the lake and when I got home I realized I had managed to get a picture of one in mid-honk (and a lot of the pollen floating on the water's surface).

The gardens are wonderful from every angle - looking up

Up close

360 from the observation (the benches with the movable backs always appeal to me)

The gazebo near the entrance looking toward the dam

Surprising colors of azaleas

The white and pink dogwoods near the entrance…but always near the end of the loop we walk

And last but not least….jack-in-the-pulpits under the dogwoods.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Dogwood, Fiddleheads, Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Does everyone have plants that they look for in the springtime forest? After I moved from Texas to Maryland many years ago - l noticed plants that were not common at all where I had lived in Texas…and now I look for them every spring. I hope the people that grew up in Maryland (and other areas where they are ‘native’) appreciate them as much as I do.

Dogwoods are popular as landscaping trees but I like them most in the understory of the forest. They start blooming before the taller trees create the deep shade of summer.  A few years ago a disease killed or damaged many of the dogwoods and it seemed like there were a few years that hardly any dogwoods bloomed. But there seem to be many in bloom this year. They are back!

I enjoy the new ferns returning every spring - and the fiddleheads that unfurl. In the beginning the fronds are so tightly coiled that they look solid rather than layers of tissue that will unwind. It is a wrapped gift of nature that those fiddleheads become fully formed ferns in just a few weeks.

Last but not least - Jack-in-the-Pulpits. Last year they seemed to be everywhere. They are not as numerous so far this year - maybe the weather caught some at the wrong time. They are odd looking flowers. I spotted these at Brookside Gardens last week.

Spring Trees - 2015

Part of the joy of spring is watching the plants unfurl from winter. I particularly like the trees and shrubs because the leaves come out in all kinds of ways…in clumps…as single buds...folded…coiled…pleated. I’ve collected a number of pictures of the new leaves over the past few weeks and have put together the slideshow below. Enjoy!

Master Naturalist Training - Week 3

River Birch

White Birch

This week was the third of eight days of training to become a Master Naturalist in Maryland. The forecast was for rain all day but it held off long enough for us to take two short hikes - one for each of the topics for the day: Botany and Mammals. We tromped through snow to look at buds, bark and dry plants. I managed to get some good close ups of bark. How many of these would you recognize: river birch (peeling bark), white birch (white with dark striations), dogwood (blocky bark…but the buds are easier for me to use for identification), and tulip poplar (complete with lichen growing beneath the furrows? Can you guess what the hairy vine is growing up this tulip poplar trunk?

Dogwood

Tulip poplar (lichen)

Tulip poplar (poison ivy)

The second hike was for mammals which was harder for several reasons: mammals are very good at hiding, it was wet (snow melt and sprinkles), the freeze thaw cycle had distorted the tracks even though we were able to recognize some deer tracks, and the one non-deer scat we found was dissolving in a puddle of melt water (although it did include hair so was from a carnivore). I managed to get snow over the top of my boots a couple of times; I took the boots off to let them dry out along with my socks while we finished up the class.

Now that I’ve had those two short hikes I am looking forward to the great thaw and run off….and a good round of picture taking of winter trees for shape and bark….may some buds before they pop open (or right after). I’m keen to create a tree tour of the Belmont location (where our class is held) as my project associated with the master naturalist training.

Like the previous sessions - the Wednesday class day dodged the hazardous weather. Yesterday was very snowy in Maryland!

Previous posts: Week 1, Week 2