Wetlands And Wildflowers - Part 3

The dogs and I had walked eastward on the Rutland Trail (see also previous two posts), but had turned back toward our parked car:

I was amazed at the spectacular display of New England Asters:

And the dogs were by this point walking calmly with me instead of running ahead:

They always seemed to aim for the puddles, though:

Clover, ever the little adventurer, pushed back through the brush towards a wetland area. Then she decided against it and watched me to see if we were continuing on. We were, so she came with us:

 The Snowy Egret was right were we'd left it, but the angry Canada Goose had left in a huff:

And on we walked, passing by Asters, Goldenrod and Roughleaf Dogwood on our way:

I try to stop the dogs from drinking out of puddles, but sometimes they do so anyway:

More New England Asters:

And tired, muddy dogs:

 Evening Primrose in bloom:

A stop to smell something interesting:

And then onward through the autumn color:

With the end of the trail getting close, the dogs picked up their speed:

They'd had a grand time but were now anxious to get back to the car and rest:

I took one last photo of the pond, a fitting example of the autumnal beauty all around us:

Wetlands And Wildflowers - Part 2

The dogs and I were walking the Rutland Nature Trail eastward, through abundant wetlands (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). The trail was lined with New England Asters in bloom:

And the dogs were ecstatic and muddy. The black cinders which once held up the railroad ties covered the dogs and got into my shoes and leg braces:

 At the other side of a pond were a Snowy Egret and Canada Goose. The Egret ignored me but the Goose honked angrily, upset that I'd invaded its territory:

Most of the red which you see on the sides of the trail was from Roughleaf Dogwood bushes:

And here is a closeup of Roughleaf Dogwood and its berries:

Seamus gave me his biggest smile:

 I was happy to see one Fringed Gentian, but I began to see more of them, then hundreds of them. They were great beauties:

And the dogs got increasingly covered with black, gritty mud:

Little Jack ran to and fro, always with a great smile:

 More Fringed Gentians:

My shoes and leg braces had become so gritty that walking was painful and I saw nowhere to sit and clean them. So we turned around and began heading back towards our parked car:

 I thought I recognized this sapling with the red leaves, so I looked it up when I got home. I decided it was a Black Tupelo, another species I've seen in pictures but never before in real life:

The dogs had finally tired themselves out and walked with me nicely. I didn't have to keep calling them back:

We passed by some channels along the trail:

The walk back was peaceful and calm:

Milkweed pods were getting ripe but not yet ready to burst and scatter their seeds. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Wetlands And Wildflowers - Part 1

The Rutland Nature Trail is only five miles from home, so I go there often. I recently took the dogs on the eastbound portion, a former railroad bed, which led us through wetlands:

The dogs were as excited as ever, maybe more so:

 Most of the Goldenrod by my house was finished blooming, but there was a lot of it along this trail:

And New England Asters, as you see on the left here, were also abundant:

Small White Asters (that's the official common name, not just a description) were also abundant, though less strikingly beautiful:

And the dogs ran up ahead, then back when I yelled at them:

I had recently decided that what I had by my house were New York Asters, not New England Asters. I thought they were variants of the same species but learned that they are different species altogether. Then I decided I had New York Asters and changed all the descriptions in my plant photo files. Sadly, I didn't check my field guide carefully first. When I finally did, I discovered that those by my house were New England Asters. These along the trail - well, I'm not sure and the photos don't reveal enough detail:

But the dogs don't care about such things. They just enjoy getting outdoors and running:

I've never seen a Fringed Gentian except in pictures, but I found one along the trail and it was as beautiful as the pictures had made them seem. Why is no one producing a cultivated variety for flower gardens? I checked online and found several companies selling seeds for these beauties:

 Virginia Creeper was turning bright red:

As we came to the wetlands, Jack went in for a long drink of cool water:

And I looked out over the brush to the opposite shore:

But thick brush mostly prevented us from going too close to the water, so we kept moving eastward along the trail. Autumn colors were already in evidence:

Happy dogs, running free:

I had to look past Small White Asters and Joe-Pye-Weed to see the next pond:

Jack led the way as we continued our eastbound journey. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Winter Walk On The Rutland Trail, Westbound

It was a dull, cloudy day but not too cold, so I took the dogs back to the Rutland Nature Trail. Our last foray on the trail was from Hallahan Road headed east and through the wetlands, but this time we headed west and through the forest. There were a few traffic signs because this trail is used by snowmobiles:

The dogs were so excited that I had to yell at them repeatedly to keep them close. They don't seem to mind, though, and have a grand time running, sniffing and peeing:

There was just enough snow to look wintry without making walking difficult:

The dogs heard something and went on alert - well, three of them did. Fergus was behind me and Jack was oblivious to everything except playing:

Fergus mostly stayed at my heels but sometimes I encouraged him to run ahead with the other dogs:

We turned downhill toward Allen Brook:

Clover and Jack arrived first and set about searching for sea monsters:

As for me, I relaxed and appreciated the gloriously wild scenery:

But this was a short hike, and soon we were headed back toward our parked car. I was amazed that the dogs seemed suddenly to want to walk close to me and not run ahead:

Except for Jack, who runs full speed ahead, then runs full speed back. This pattern, like his joyous energy, seems never to end:

The dogs (except Jack) seemed to have spent their excess energy and we walked comfortably and calmly back toward the road:

It was a short hike, but just right for a snowy day: