Bigleaf Magnolia

One of the trails we sometimes take from Belmont into Patapsco Valley State Park has quite a stand of Bigleaf Magnolias. They look like a tropical plant in the understory of the forest. The leaves live up to the name of the plant! In this stand, most of the trees have long slender trunks - sometimes with only one ‘umbrella’ of leaves at the top. The deer population around Belmont is quite high so their growth pattern could be influenced by deer browsing on their buds and leaves. There were quite a few plants that were a clump of 2 or 3 spindly trunks. The canopy over the plants may be getting too thick as well; they are understory trees but they evidently need sunlight too.

When I hiked in the area last week, a few of the trees were blooming! Unfortunately - the blooms were high in the trees. I captured several using the zoom on my camera.

Then we found one that appeared to be lower than the rest. One of the leaves under the flower showed evidence of how easily the big leaves can be damaged by wind. These trees grow in a sheltered area of forest and would not do well as landscaping trees surrounded by yard.

We carefully used a walking stick to pull the branch down for some photographs of the inside of the large flower. More confirmation that it is indeed a magnolia!

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 30, 2015

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Quiz: Can you tell these 16 cities by their skylines? -  I got 12 of the 16!

The Great Tuskers of Matusadona - Matusadona National Park in northern Zimbabwe….with lots of elephants and an organized anti-poaching group that (so far) appears to be sustaining the park wildlife.

Supreme Crispy Quinoa Vegetable Burgers - I don’t think I would actually eat this on a bun - since I general decide that I don’t like buns well enough to justify the calories. But I am always on the lookout for other ways to use quinoa since its nutritional profile is so terrific (and it tastes food too)…definitely worth the calories.

An El Nino connection to the floods in Oklahoma and Texas? - Map and narrative about El Nino and its impact on US weather patterns (using recent weather as an example).

These Are the Most Distinctive Popular Foods in Every State - Does it make sense for your state? Crab Cakes is listed for Maryland and that sounds about right.

See This Baby Flamingo Take Its First Few Steps - I knew that baby flamingoes were white (had picked up that bit of trivia somewhere along the line) but I hadn’t ever seen one. I was surprised at how big its legs were. The adult flamingoes seem very attentive to the baby too.

Insane Solar Jobs Boom About To Get $32 Million More Insane - Renewable energy stretching toward the goal of becoming competitive with fossil fuels.

There are No Shortcuts to Birding Nirvana - I was surprised that the Merlin app (from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology) was not mentioned. Maybe because it only includes 400 North American birds. It has the advantage that it is very easy to use even for new birders. I like it.

Designed for the Future: Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World - Take a look at the gallery (link below the picture). These are structures that exist - not drawings or plans.

Hidden Lead in Your Home - It isn’t just old lead pain on walls…there are more sources. 

Mt. Pleasant Farm - May 2015

I’ve been at the Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm quite a lot this month; it is the peak of the spring field trip season for elementary schools. In the quiet before the buses arrive I capture a bit of the scene:

The flower pot people dressed for summer,

The plantings in bloom on the way to the Honors Garden, and

The wood frogs in the small pool just inside the Honors Garden.

One morning I arrived early enough to walk around one of the short loops and saw a rabbit…that was long gone by the time the children arrived…

And tree swallows at the nesting boxes. Surprisingly - one morning a pair of tree swallows was so intent on building their nest that my hiking group of second graders watched them carrying sticks into the box and chasing away other tree swallows!

May 2015 turned out to be an excellent month for field trips to Mt. Pleasant Farm!

Birds at Conowingo Dam

My husband had read about the Bald Eagles at Conowingo Dam - particularly in the early winter - so we decided to reconnoiter the location last weekend and then plan to go back late in the year. The location is only an hour from where we live. Wow! We were surprised when we got there and saw the number of birds fishing at the base of the dam.

There were mature and immature bald eagles - sometimes in groups

Sometimes interacting with smaller birds -

Soaring up high to the top of the dam -

Surveying the river from a dam abutment

Or the rocks to the side.

There were quite a few great blue heron as well. Both my husband and I tried to catch them in flight.

This heron had just landed on the water and looks startled that the cormorant is so close!

Here is a series my husband took that show the way the heron’s wings look as the bird flies very low over the water.

There were quite a few cormorants and it seemed like there was always one wrangling a fish.

We also saw quite a few black vultures and tree swallows….but the Bald Eagles were the big draw for us. Both of us want to go back with slightly different equipment and a little bit earlier in the morning. 

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - May 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for the earlier days of May 2015.

Brighton Dam Azalea Garden. For a few weeks every year - the gates open to a wonderland of flowering azalea bushes and dogwoods. The tall trees make it a shady cool area even as the temperatures get warmer. It is usually at its best for Mother’s Day.

Red Tailed Hawk at Belmont. The first day of BioBlitz there was a red-tailed hawk that watched from a perch tall in a sycamore for the arrival of the first student. What a beginning to the event!

Bald Eagles at Conowingo Dam. I’ll do a post later with more about our day trip to Conowingo. There were at least 10 eagles feeding on fish come from the flow from the hydroelectric generation dam….and there were great blue herons, cormorants, tree swallows, and black vultures too….and that was just what I immediately noticed.

Whooping Crane lecture at Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. Do you see a theme? I hadn’t noticed how many of my ‘celebrations’ this month included large birds until I put this list together. The birds are hatched and prepared for release at Patuxent.  It was interesting to understand how the researchers and volunteers disguise themselves so that the young birds don’t imprint on the human form as ‘parent.’ I’m glad they’ve had enough success to celebrate.

National Arboretum. Every time we go there is something new to see….and old favorites. I celebrated that I recognized an Eastern Towhee in the leaves there during the visit this month.

Strawberries. A quart of strawberries was the first offering of my Gorman Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership. They were eaten before I thought to take a picture! The berries freshly picked from local fields always taste better than the ones from the grocery store. They evoke memories of previous springs and other strawberry fields….finding the berries among the green leaves…taste treasures.

No cavities. I had a dental appointment and was pretty sure a filling was going to need to be replaced because a small piece had chipped off leaving a small divot in the front surface of the tooth (no sensitivity or discoloration). But the dentist decided to just watch it! Hurray!

Volunteering for nature fieldtrips and BioBlitz. Seeing the wonder of discovery in the outdoors from a child’s perspective is awe inspiring. It happens almost every hike I lead…every time I assist I give to identify a ‘find’ ---- celebrating the wonder of children in the natural world.

Rain---finally. We are at close to average for precipitation in our area right now but I noticed a dry spell when I had to fill the bird baths and water my deck garden….but then we started having some afternoon showers. One of them caused a rainbow too.

A last cool day before summer. The forecast is for 90 degree days this coming week but the Memorial Day weekend had cool mornings….and we savored the perfect weather for being outdoors.

Belmont Manor Cemetery

The cemetery at Belmont Manor and Historic Park was featured in two activities last week: a field trip for 6th graders and a lecture about the results of a recent ground penetrating radar survey done there. So - I’ve been thinking more about it.

It is a walk from the manor house - past the formal gardens to the edge of the forest. There is a fence around it although the survey found some graves outside the fence. Were they graves of slaves or was the fence built long after the grave markers deteriorated and the fence was built around the area of existing headstones? Was the very large tulip poplar just outside the fence growing before the fence was built? The fence is not a prefect rectangle; there is a jog to accommodate the tree!

There were graves found in an area within the enclosure that had not markers. Are they graves from the 1700s? The manor was finished in 1738 and the builder died in 1772. They survey detected pieces of metal probably nails, hinges and fasteners produced by the iron forges and blacksmiths at Belmont. All the markers still visible are from the 1800s or 1900s.

There is one grave that I find particularly sad  - for a 2 year old child. It is a reminder that many children did not live to adulthood in the time before vaccines and antibiotics. Prior to the survey - the headstone seemed to be all by itself in the back of the cemetery. But now the survey has revealed the other graves that were probably still marked when the little girl was buried in 1834.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 16, 2015

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

New app puts the world's biodiversity in the palm of your hand - The Map of Life app makes it easier to identify local wildlife. It’s a location specific reference for amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, reptiles, turtles, bumblebees, butterflies, dragonflies, and trees. The down side is things you find that are normally in that locality. I’ve already experienced one - a bigleaf magnolia growing in the woods in Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland. It is a tree that usually grows further south. The app will still provide information but it is not quite as easy as plants/animals that are ‘normal’ for the area.

What happens to our bodies after we die - Maybe some of the concepts in the article are a little familiar from all the CSI programs on television these days….but it’s hard to separate fact from fiction in those programs. This post from the BBC is on ‘fact’ side.

Idle Electronics and Appliances Waste $19 Billion Annually, Study Says - A study done with 70,000 residential customers in California found that 23% of home electricity usage was from always-on but inactive devices. That can’t be good. Appliance designers need to work on reducing that….and maybe consumers need to be content with stoves and microwaves that don’t have clocks!

Harmful algal blooms in the Chesapeake Bay are becoming more frequent - Ugh! Even with all the work being done to reduce the nutrients going into the bay…the growing population of people and animals is overwhelming the progress made.

Everybody Dies: How to Preserve Your Digital Legacy - It is not just about preserving your legacy…it’s also to whoever will be handling things for you. Wills need to include more than they did 50 years ago!

11 Ways to Increase Electric Car Adoption - My next car might be electric. For my day to day driving it would already be acceptable. It would not work for road trips - and that is a problem even though it is only a few weeks a year.

Long-term study on ticks reveals shifting migration patterns, disease risks  with a larger version of the infographic here (click on the image to make it even larger) - Maryland has the dog tick, Lone star tick, and deer tick ---- and Lyme disease…not good. One of the places where I lead hikes is part of a study to identify the diseases ticks carry in the area.

Maryland and Food Self-Sufficiency - More and more people are becoming more aware of where their food is coming from and some are attempting to become locavores. The findings for Maryland are probably pretty typical. The three foods Maryland produces in enough quantity for our entire population are: chicken, lima beans, and watermelon!

Forests at Valley Forge National Historical Park Coming Back After Deer Culling - There are quite a few areas along the east coast that have an overpopulation of deer. I know the forest behind our house has very few small trees because the deer eat the saplings before they grow taller than the deer can browse. I appears that the Valley Forge National Historical Park is having some success with their program…but they are still monitoring to verify that the forest is indeed sustaining itself.

Real Plants and Fungi That Look Like Something from the Monstrous Manual - A series of videos. The Venus Flytrap film is dramatic!

Belmont Manor and Historic Park - May 2015

I’ve been at Belmont several times since the Master Naturalist class - volunteering as a naturalist for school field trips. There are several trees with very showy blooms right now: a horse chestnut

I’ve been at Belmont several times since the Master Naturalist class - volunteering as a naturalist for school field trips. There are several trees with very showy blooms right now: a horse chestnut

And the tulip poplars. I was very pleased to find one with branches with blooms low enough to photograph easily.

Belmont is known for its viewshed.  From the front door of the manor house…there are no other signs of encroaching structures. It is like taking a step back in time.

Before the Europeans came - the area would have been forested. The biggest trees in that forest would have been American Chestnuts (destroyed in by Chestnut Blight in the 1900s) and the mulch on the forest floor would have been quite deep since the native biota were not as effective as earthworms at decomposing leaves.

The manor house was built in 1738. Much of the forest was cut to make fields for farming (for food and tobacco as a cash crop) and to make charcoal for iron forges (iron ore being readily available in the area. There probably were fewer trees than seen today from the front of the manor house. Over time the soil became less fertile and wheat became an important crop as well. For forests trees were represented in fence rows, along the entrance road, and on slopes as agricultural practices incorporated soil conservation practices. In the early 1900s, Belmont pastures hosted thoroughbred horses.

The pond that is seen just before the distant trees in the image above was added in the 1980s to retain water from a natural seep. It is a late addition to the view….but seems to fit.

US National Arboretum - Azaleas

Another area I enjoyed at the US National Arboretum this past weekend was the azalea collections. The vistas of the gardens - pleasant shade with pathways and shallow stairs - invite exploration.

Because we had been to the Brighton Dam Azalea so recently - I’ll feature the other things in this garden first in this post: looking down at wildflowers,

Following the noisy rustling through leaves (Eastern Towhee),

Looking up at shelf fungus growing an a dead tree,

Looking straight from some stairs at galls on an oak tree, and

A pine shaded by a large magnolia ….golden cones, sparse needles, lacey bark.

Of course there were plenty of azaleas to photograph as well!

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.

US National Arboretum - Bonsai collection

Another area I enjoyed at the US National Arboretum this past weekend was the bonsai collection. I am not patient enough to attempt to train a tree…but admire the skill of others. It is somehow calming to look at the beauty produced by someone else’s patience.

The azalea bonsai were in bloom just as their untrained counterparts.

Single contorted pines are what I usually visualize when I think of bonsai but there is still almost endless variety in the shapes created.

Sometimes a group of trees - a small forest - is trained.

The bald cypress seems to still have the characteristic shape of the untrained (and very large) trees - although this one had no knees.

Last but not least - I enjoy the landscaping of the walkways around the bonsai collection: the color of foliage and stone lanterns.

US National Arboretum - Fern Valley

We walked around the US National Arboretum in Washington DC this past weekend.  We went for the azaleas but there were a lot of other things to see. One of my favorite areas was Fern Valley - which includes native ferns, wildflowers, shrubs and trees of the eastern US. There were jack-in-the-pulpits, of course.

I found a plant new to me and it had both flowers and newly formed seed pods: celandine poppy. I took lots of pictures of it and then identified it after I got home. It is about the same height as the May apple plants. It might grow at the edge of our woods. I may try to get some seeds to plant next fall to establish a stand; evidently once they are started they come back every year either from the roots or seeds.

Here are a few other images from our walk around that area.

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!

Brookside Tulips - 2015

Photographing tulips is something I want to do at least once every spring. For this spring it happened last week at Brookside Gardens on a bright sunny day.

I photography them from just about every angle….from the side

And overhead.

There were pots of them on pillars in a pool

And beds that were almost all the same color. The single one that is different always catches the eye.

One bed had flowers that were different heights….red and white on tall stalks and pink closer to the ground.

Some tulips have several layers of petals rather than the classic single ground of petals.

The green - white - pink colors combination is always one of my favorites.

The all seem to shout: Spring is Here!

Maymont (in Richmond VA)

Our road trip back from North Carolina in April took us through Richmond, Virginia and a stop a Maymont. It was a Monday so the mansion and indoor exhibits were not open…but the gardens were worth the stop by themselves.

Some of the grounds are very open  - with rolling hills

And interesting bridges over low places.

The mansion is on a ridge overlooking the James River. It is the same vintage as the Newport Mansions and looks similar from the outside to some of them….but it was a place that was lived in for more than a few months of the year and gardens were always part of the place. The Dooleys left the house and surrounding park to the city of Richmond; the furnishings were never dispersed. All very different from Newport.

The porch looks very inviting.

There were gazebos in many places as well.

There are gardens on terraces down to the river level: pools of water with koi,

Water falling over the edge of a terrace and bridges to stand on for a closer view,

Japanese lanterns and colorful foliage.

By the time I climbed the stairs back to the level of the mansion, it was obvious that the day was warming fast and I decided to stick to shade as much as possible for the rest of the afternoon; the back of my neck was unprotected by my hat or sunscreen (and indeed - I did get a little sunburn).

Maymont is a place I want to see again - and next time I will make sure it is a day the indoor exhibits and mansion are open. It would be a good day trip for us next fall!

Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge

We walked through a bottomland hardwood forest on The Kuralt Trail in the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge back in April.

The trail was an old logging road - raised above the water level with dirt taken from barrow pits along the road (most of the pits were filled with water there. There were cypress trees - standing and stumps left from the logging era. Do you see the knees? There is also a waterline evident on some of the trees. The dams upstream release water periodically and flood this area. Without the dams, the high water would rise and fall more rapidly rather than standing so the flood line is an indicator of our management of the river.

It was a cool enough morning that the insects were not abundant. The birds were noisy but too mobile to photograph. The forest was just leafing out so there was dappled light rather than the dense shade of summer.

I took many pictures of shelf fungi - as usual when I walk in a forest.

I couldn’t resist the spring green and clear blue sky photo either!

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is a large refuge in several segments. It has only been a refuge since the 1990s so much of the area is still recovering from being drained/farmed. There was an area planted in colorful grass - different enough from what we had been seeing to stop for some photography.

A butterfly was so involved with a dandelion flower that we had plenty of time to take pictures from multiple angles.

Wild turkeys were enjoying the leavings in the cornfield.

Later in the day we drove to Columbia NC where the visitor center for the refuge is located. The center was already closed but there is a boardwalk along the edge of the Scuppernong River. You can see the time level via the rings of the pine pollen at the base of this cypress stump.

The boardwalk meanders over the marshy areas back into the forest where there were several shelf fungi.

The cypress stand in the soggy areas - sometimes surrounded by water.

A lone pied-billed grebe was looking for dinner.

A turtle was catching the last of the day’s sun - ignoring the green debris on his back.

Last but not least, as we walked back toward our car - there was a snake on a branch hanging of the water. Is that a bulge toward the middle? He may have already had his dinner.

Swanquarter and Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuges

We headed out to Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge first thing one morning. The birds that winter there had already left. We tried to walk silently on the decking to get close enough to take good photographs of terns and gulls that are always around.

I watched an osprey dive successfully for a fish but the bird was too far away to get a really good picture.

Our next stop was Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge had many groups of coots.

There were egrets fishing in the shallow water. I managed to get a fuzzy picture of one becoming airborne….different enough from the stalking poses I usually capture.

The turtles line up on anything in the sun. This morning was chilly.

I liked this grouping of cormorants. There were some noisy Canadian geese nearby so they did not hold this pose for very long.

The male and female pintail ducks swimming single file was my best sighting at this refuge. I captured these pictures by leaning out of the open car window!

The Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo NC

Most of our destinations in North Carolina were wildlife refuges; The Elizabethan Gardens was an exception. It has been open since 1960 - a project of the Garden Club of North Carolina. It is located on the outer banks of North Carolina with one side bounded by water.

When we were there earlier this month the camellias were still blooming profusely (although there were a lot on the ground too), bulbs were in their first waves, pines pollen coated everything, redbuds were blooming, and everything was either green or greening.

The gardens have a nice balance of formal gardens and more rustic beds. It was easy to image several areas as wedding venues - a lawn surrounded by planting low enough that the water was visible beyond, a thatch roofed gazebo with plenty of space around it. I liked the smiling dwarf statues in one of the rustic areas.

We had visited the gardens years ago. The statue of Elizabeth I had been added since our last visit.

Enjoy the slideshow of this special place!

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

After we left the barrier islands - our plan was to visit some of the inland wildlife refuges so our first stop was the multi-refuge Visitor Center in Manteo. We picked up the maps and brochures for all the refuges we wanted to visit. I couldn’t resist photographing the colorful tile band in the visitor center restroom!

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was the first refuge we visited. As we turned onto the wild life loop road (gravel), we were thrilled to see otters frolicking in the canal. I benefited from my husband walking ahead of me and getting most of their attention. They were huffing at him to go away when I took this picture.

There were a few wildflowers. This one had a spider!

The maples were further along their seed production than our tree in Maryland.

I only saw one mushroom but this was lovely nestled in this moss and pine needles.

Fiddleheads were everywhere. The forest was wet…lots of places for ferns to grow.

The pines were releasing a lot of pollen. Our car was covered with the yellow dust when we returned from our hike.

We used our car as a blind to photograph 2 vultures on the other side of the canal from the wildlife drive. The black vulture (on the left) was feeding on a raccoon carcass as we drove up. The turkey vulture (on the right) was waiting patiently at first - but then seemed to become more assertive and the black vulture flew away and the turkey vulture settled in for a meal.

There were also turtles. They were very sensitive to any noise and would plop in the water very quickly. I was glad to catch these two…complete with reflections.

And last but not least, as we reached the highway out of the refuge we spotted an alligator in the canal by the road. He seemed to be dozing in the sun at first. As I used the full zoom on my camera - he opened his eye. What an ending to a visit to the refuge!