Spring Flowers And Farm Critters

In the winter, I sometimes have trouble coming up with enough photos for blog posts, but once spring arrived, I had the opposite problem - so much to post that the photos began backing up on me. Of course time becomes a problem in the spring. The white Fantail Pigeons began nesting:

The Easter Egger bantams began laying, then became broody:

The cattle and horses continued to come into the barn each morning for a bit of grain, but once the grass was green and lush, I had a hard time getting them to come at all:

They preferred being outside and dining on green grass:

Blue and Remy kept an eye on the little white calf, Lucky:

And everyone enjoyed lounging in the sun. You can see the black calf, Elvis, on the left because this photo was taken before I put him in the barn for bottle feeding:

The bi-colored and yellow Daffodils faded away and then the pure white ones bloomed:


And they sure were beautiful, looking almost like orchids:

The hardy Magnolia I'd fretted over and transplanted last fall put out one flower bud, way down close to the ground. It didn't even have leaves yet. I noticed in this photo that it needed more soil around its base, so I did that right away:

Mowing the lawn, I saw these minuscule flowers and remembered identifying them last year. I couldn't recall their common name, though I remembered the word "Thyme" was in it.

So I went back to last year's blog posts and found that it was Thyme-Leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia):

The old fashioned Lilac buds were just about to open when I snapped this picture:

The Drive Home - Part 2

Since I hadn't found many wildflowers along the shore of Clear Pond, I was watching along the access road on our way out from the White Hill Wild Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). It was a bit late for Shadbush in bloom, but I found some:

And more Red Trilliums:

Clover watched out the window as we slowly drove past a beaver pond, causing startled Painted Turtles to slide off their logs and back into the water:

While Clover watched out the window, Daphne watched me:

We got back on the main road, but I knew another nearby location for two more species and I headed that way. The first one I came to was Marsh Marigold. They were growing and blooming in abundance:

  Marsh Marigolds like to grow in shallow water, among the cattails:

I stopped by the side of the road, beside wetlands filled with Marsh Marigolds. The dogs, of course, had to wait in the car for me:

And just up the road was a patch of Large-Flowered White Trilliums. Like the Marsh Marigolds, they bloom here every year:

They really are spectacular:

And they grew all along the road, occupying the mowed area between the forest and the blacktop. By this time we were almost home, so I put my camera away and headed back to the farm:

The Drive Home - Part 1

Our walk along Clear Pond had yielded almost no wildflowers except for Painted Trilliums, but I'd seen other species in bloom along the road in to the trail head, so kept my eyes open as we traveled back out. The first flower I saw was another Painted Trillium:

And another. They were certainly do well this year:

And someone had engineered many stone cairns all along the one lane, dirt access road:

And then I saw a large Red Trillium:

Unfurling ferns at the base of a large, old Black Cherry tree:

And Hobblebush, a wild Viburnum. We hadn't seen any by the lake which were in bloom as apparently I was too late, but deep in the forest I found a few still blooming:

A wondrous creek, making its way through the forest:

The Trout Lilies were up but not in bloom. They are long past in most parts of the country. We are always later, being a northern location, but this year we were even later than usual:

Two more tall Red Trilliums:

Every time I'd get out of the car to photograph wildflowers, the dogs would watch me anxiously. They'd rather jump out and "help," but I wouldn't let them. But there was yet more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Walk Along Clear Pond - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring the shoreline of Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday):

 I'd almost given up on finding any wildflowers when I spotted this Painted Trillium:

We got to the end of Clear Pond and turned back the way we'd come:

The dogs were ecstatic to be going back, just like when we were heading out:

The great explorers, in their own minds a pack of playful wolf pups:

 I certainly hadn't found many spring wildflowers, but here was a second Painted Trillium:

Daphne proved she wasn't just a pampered foo-foo dog by playing in a mud puddle:

And every time we came to another water access, we took it:

Even though we'd just been here a half hour ago, the dogs rejoiced as if we'd found a new treasure:

They ran around a beaver felled tree and on to the next easily accessible shoreline spot:

This was the place with the former campfire, meaning we were almost back to our car:

We followed the trail back through the forest toward the trail head, stopping along the way to explore an old stone foundation, probably where someone's cabin once stood. I hadn't seen many wildflowers, but we'd had a great time in an exquisitely beautiful place:

A Walk Along Clear Pond - Part 1

I'd been wanting to take the dogs out to some forest and photograph the early spring flowers, but was just too busy. When I finally could wait no longer, we all went to Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest. It's a favorite spot for both the dogs and for me. I signed in at the trail head register and headed through the woods toward the pond. The dogs knew what was ahead and broke into a run:

There was a campfire site near the water and that caused more excitement than the natural smells. When it comes to possible bacon drippings, hope springs eternal:

 I found several Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) bushes in bloom, right near the water, their usual preferred location:

 My photos of the Leatherleaf flowers were not good enough, so I got this picture off the internet. They are lovely, waxy, little white bells:

With no bacon drippings to be found, Seamus began exploring the water's edge:

The shallows were filled with giant bullfrog tadpoles, sometimes in groups of two to four, sometimes in what appeared to be hundreds:

Clear Pond is a place of spectacular beauty and the dogs were enjoying it as much as I was. The only drawback was that black flies followed us everywhere and some photos were ruined because they swarmed the camera lens. That's a black fly on the upper left. The good news was that it was still cool enough so they weren't yet biting:

These were joyful dogs! What a happy life they live:

They drank pond water and explored everywhere:

The trail took us back into the forest and I continued on, looking for early spring wildflowers and heading for the next access point to Clear Pond:

The dogs ran ahead, then I called them and they came running back - joyful at all times:

 There were small mini-forests of Tree Club Moss (Princess Pine) along the trail - and there was much more yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: