May 25, 2018

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2018

May 25, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

My celebrations in May were all about aspects of being outdoors in spring –

20180515 bioblitz snail.jpg — ***Finding a snail on a blade of grass*** at Belmont during a BioBlitz with 7th graders.

Catching the horse chestnut tree in bloom at Belmont.

Discovering a black rat snake coiled in an oak tree when I was hiking with kindergarteners and talking out what might live in the tree.

The smells of spring (and trying to figure out which plant it is).

2018 05 IMG_0733.jpg — ***Seeing an orchard oriole and Baltimore oriole*** during a birding event in Baltimore…firsts for me.

And the same was true for the kingbird.

Discovering new perspectives on common plants with a macro lens on my Smartphone

Brookside Gardens – there is something there many months of the year. This May it was dogwoods and butterflies (in the conservatory)….and the many subjects for macro photography that the gardens contain.

Warmer days --- but having time indoors with air conditioning when it is overly warm.

A rainy day at home was something to celebrate because we had been so dry earlier in the spring…and because I needed a day off from field trips and butterfly exhibit volunteering. May is probably one of the peak months for the type of volunteering I do.

May 23, 2018

Baltimore Birding – part 3

May 23, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

We continued our Baltimore Birding experience with a walk around Fort McHenry the next morning. It was mostly sunny and warmer. Even with the better light and no rain – I saw more birds than I managed to photograph. I’m featuring the ones that say still long enough for me to get the camera in position. There were quite a few Great Crested Flycatchers (I remember seeing one in my back yard last year about time…posted about it here).

There were American robins in the grass.

The small birds moved around rapidly in the trees. I think this one is an orchard oriole.

I photographed mushrooms when I saw them. The mulch was support several groupings….and a sycamore stump had a collection of small shelf fungus.

There was a grackle aggressively defending a trash can at the front of the visitor center.

There were mallards about. There was a female that looked calm for the moment…the males were being very aggressive.

There was a ‘mixed breed’ duck…probably mallard and a domestic duck of some kind.

There were some sycamores along the path that did not look healthy. I wondered if salt water incursion was happening through the seawall around the fort….or maybe they are all the same age and getting old. I took a picture of one that already had its top gone; there was a knot with leaves sprouting at about eye level with ‘wrinkles’ on all sides – almost like skin.

We headed over to a marshy are beside the fort…and I managed to finally get a picture of a one kind of swallow we say: a tree swallow. We saw barn swallows on our walk as well.

Overall our Baltimore Birding experience provided a different perspective on the city. I would guess that birding in just about any city would have the same results. Maybe it is something we should do more often….although the amount of trash (particularly in the water) is always depressing.

May 22, 2018

Baltimore Birding – part 2

May 22, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing from yesterday’s post….

We continued along the Gwynn Falls/Middle Branch trail and it seemed to get darker and wetter. Here were mushrooms coming up in the grass beside the path.

My husband held the umbrella while I took a picture of a yellow warbler and

Some very wet flowers.

The cedar waxwing only showed up in silhouette.

We walked out of the trail and closed the loop back to the cars along the street. Under some bushes beside a fence – a common yellow-throat was busy in the mulch.

We got back into the cars and continued to the Middle Branch Park boathouse. We trooped over the wet grass to paved paths were full of puddles. I was glad I’d worn my boots! I saw a Baltimore Oriole and managed to photograph an orchard oriole.