Belleplain State Forest
/We got up at 3:30 AM to get to our first organized field trip of the Cape May Spring (birding) Festival by 5:30 AM – a very early start to the day at Belleplain State Forest. As the sun came up, the forest was full of bird song. We heard a lot of birds…saw fleeting glimpses of a few. I am in awe of people that can identify birds by simply hearing them! I enjoyed the morning light for photography of the forest itself while I listened to the birds and tried to spot them with my binoculars.
The mountain laurels were in all stages of their bloom. They like the shade under oaks but sometimes the sunlight streamed through the canopy to spotlight the clusters of blooms. The buds look very pink…the petals make a ‘balloon’ before they open into the full flower that looks white with red specks.
On one of the early stops – before it was fully light – I noticed a tree full of burls. These are swellings in the trunks or big limbs of trees that are covered by bark. They are part of the tree’s response to stress like injury or disease. Because of the number of them in this case, it’s more likely to be a disease of some kind.
The only easy birds to photograph during the trip were some Canada Geese (with goslings) on a small lake.
The lighting makes quite a difference. I liked the green background but the painterly look (nearer the limit of the digital zoom) of the bright picture is also appealing.
There was moss growing over the roots of a tree near a lake – a carpet melded to every nook and cranny of the surface with the roots on the surface showing through.
Some Virginia Creeper was growing on a stop sign.
There were wet woods along the road. Some frogs croaked. There were water bugs on the surface – interference patterns and the tree reflections.
One of my favorite pictures of the morning was the tip of a pine branch – dying or dead – spotlighted – surrounded by green.
Overall – it was a great morning to be out in the forest – getting a fill of the forest before be headed to the shore.
