13-APR-2010
Daffodils
Taken in the BYG by Chris Bruce, this makes for a dramatic shot! He mentioned that the daffodils in the Butterfly Meadow are also blooming. Things are just jumping ahead by leaps and bounds at the moment!
13-APR-2010
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
A beautiful closeup of this spring ephemeral in the Ash Woods.
09-APR-2010
Virginia ctenucha moth caterpillar
These are quite common around the garden from early spring until late fall. The moths are day-flying and quite striking, with bright orange heads, dashes of bright blue on the thorax, and wings of a dark indigo verging on charcoal. The moths usually start flying in early June, but this year, who knows? Everything is early.
12-APR-2010
Brown creeper
Although this was taken in the Arboretum, we get brown creepers at FWG of course, particularly in the Ash Woods.
08-APR-2010
Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
In this shot you can see one fertile cone, and some sterile stems. Horsetails are very primitive plants, considered to be close allies of the prehistoric Calamitalies which were very tall tree-like plants that once flourished on earth millions of years ago.
08-APR-2010
Magnolias
When I was at FWG on April 7, the magnolias were in full bud, and on April 8, Jeewanthi photographed open flowers! I went to the Arboretum yesterday to check out the magnolia trees there and they are flowering! This is about 3 weeks early, at least since I've been keeping track. I'm sure they will flower earlier than the usual late April-early May dates that I am most familiar with.
07-APR-2010
Eastern Phoebe
Phoebes are back in good numbers around the FWG, the Arboretum and many other local areas.
07-APR-2010
Another attempt to prevent people from crossing the unstable bridge
It is very evident that many people are walking around the fence on the Ravine side. The raspberry canes are flattened and broken, evidence of more than a few people refusing to abide by the "No trespassing" signs. I watched a dogwalker do just that, climb past the fencing and cross the bridge. This is a woman who comes to the garden daily and has done for years. Wouldn't you think she might have a little bit of respect for a place that she clearly enjoys walking in?? I confronted her and she wouldn't stop, but instead called out that her mother was in hospital and she had to visit her, otherwise she would have gone around. Yeah, right! So I grabbed some heavier tape (the yellow "Caution" tape) and once again tried to cut off access. How long will this last? A day? A few hours?
07-APR-2010
View of the bridge and beaver dam
Here you get a better idea of the water flowing through the breached dam.
07-APR-2010
Beaver dam breached - again
It disturbs me no end to see how cavalier people are in disregarding the multiple signs we have put up asking them to not use the bridge and to not break the beaver dam. While the dam was intact on Tuesday, when I returned on Wednesday it had been broken again and the water was pouring down into the Ravine at a fast pace.
07-APR-2010
Trying to climb onto the raft
I watched this painted turtle swim around the raft a couple of times before attempting to climb onto it. He got his front paws on the raft but as he tried to pull himself up, he did a backflip into the water. Poor thing.... he then swam around it a bit more before moving off. Not sure why he was having trouble, as he often sits on the raft. Nearby was the red-eared slider. I didn't see the Blanding's but apparently it was very visible the other day for I just had an email from someone who saw it around the time that Sandy did.
06-APR-2010
Red elderberry (Sambucus pubescens)
In addition to all the plants I mentioned yesterday, the red elderberry will soon be in flower. They are always one of the first shrubs to produce flowers, but I don't know... this year they may have competition from other shrubs and trees, given how everything is just rushing to burst forth.
