High Flats State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking in High Flats State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came to a beaver marsh which was down in a valley. We walked down to see it and the three little dogs went exploring. Seamus did not want to cross over the fallen tree trunks to get there, so he just watched:

It was a mysterious, magical place where birds and frogs called all around. Little Jack waked through the water to see what he could find:

Then we climbed back up the hill and continued on our way:

Probably a resident of the nearby beaver marsh, this female Black-Winged Damselfly paid us a visit. I knew it was a female because of the white spot on her wings. I knew it was a Damselfly because she held her wings together when at rest. Dragonflies keep their wings outstretched:

It had become clear to me some time earlier that we were on the wrong trail, but we explored it anyway and then began retracing our steps. When we arrived back at this lovely creek, we stopped for a drink:

Refreshed and happy, we returned to the trail and continued on our way:

As before, the open meadow beside the beaver marsh filled the dogs with joy. I liked it too, with all its Black-Eyed Susans, Queen Anne's Lace and Heal-All flowers:

But the dark forest was just ahead:

It was a lovely trail, and the dogs were by now too tired to run ahead like they had at the beginning. This made for a more peaceful experience:

I stopped for a closer look at this brown, wood-toned (it even had rings) mushroom:

It had rained the previous several days and everything was wet, yet the trail was mostly dry:

This yellow mushroom was just pushing up through the moist earth. I don't know what kind of bright red berry that was next to it. I looked around to see what plant might be near but didn't notice any obvious berry plants:

A Forest Troll:

Lovely brown and yellow mushrooms:

And a toasted looking golden mushroom. We were nearing our starting point but not there yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

High Flats State Forest - Part 1

I'd been so impressed with our recent hike in Whiskey Flats State Forest that one morning I decided to take the dogs to High Flats State Forest, not too far away. It was very wild and nothing was marked, but I found an all purpose trail and we started walking:

Unlike the pine covered Whiskey Flats, High Flats was mostly hardwood forest. It was lush and green and damp:

I was just thinking we wouldn't see any wildflowers at all when I came upon these Heal-All flowers. They appeared in nearly every spot on the trail where the sun could get through:

There was Fan Club Moss galore:

And brilliantly colored yellow mushrooms:

We broke out of the woods and into a meadow:

The dogs thought that was great fun, and Jack ran full speed, back and forth:

Abutting the meadow was a marsh, probably a former beaver pond although I never saw a dam:

I did however see the creek which was the overflow for the marsh. It ran from under the trail and out through the forest, gurgling and bubbling:

The dogs drank from the creek and then we continued on our way:

We came to some private land and turned around, taking a side trail. According to the state map, we should be heading for Close Pond. Alas, I discovered that we'd passed Close Pond on our way in and the state map bore little resemblance to reality:

Fergus and Jack trotted along:

In another open spot, I saw Bull Thistles in full bloom, making me glad I'd cut down the ones in my fields before they blossomed:

This one confused me, but I finally decided it was regular Spotted Knapweed - just very healthy, lovely specimens:

There was more Wild Ginger than I've ever seen anywhere, but since it blooms in April, I still haven't seen their odd flowers. One of these days I'll be in the right place at the right time. But we were just getting started on our adventure, and there was much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Spring Romp In The North Field

This blog post was reserved for pictures of the first calf of 2016, but I'm still waiting for the calf to be born, a full week beyond its due date. I'll post pictures of that later, after if happens. But we had a lovely spring day and I took the dogs for a walk across the north field, a wonderful adventure in itself and worthy of a few happy pictures:

I've seen at least four Meadowlarks flying around this field and have found their nests before, so I hoped I might see one today. Alas, I never did although the dogs found lots of small items of interest. I suspected that most of them were imaginary, but they made the dogs happy:

We made our way slowly across the field, the dogs stopping to sniff things or to scan the distance:

Fergus alternated between running ahead like a deer or tagging along at my feet, hoping to keep me happy:

When we reached the fence at the far side of the field (the electricity was turned off), I turned right towards the gate:

I opened the gate and we all dropped down into a gully full of weeds, headed through a narrow strip of woods with another hay field (most of it not mine) just beyond:

I stopped when we got to the creek, but the dogs found it extra fun, and the source of a good, cool drink besides:

But it was time to head on back to the house, so we climbed up out of the gully and back through the gate (which I closed again after we passed through):

Seamus struck a pose to show off his newly svelte body:

While Jack and Daphne went after a Woodchuck which had had the effrontery to dig a hole in the field:

The barn and the farm house were just ahead of us and I began to concentrate on keeping the dogs with me instead of bolting across the gravel road (not that there is much traffic):

It was a spur of the moment mini-adventure, but I returned home with five very happy dogs: