The 21st Century Matriarch

The Pocket Prairie at Josey ranch was blooming when I was there in May. The gardeners have worked hard to help it recover after last summer’s heat/drought. It will take a few years to fill in between the clumps that were planted new this year.

My favorites are the sunflowers. I like them from every angle!

The goslings that I noticed in April were in the same area in May. They have grown….and there are only 3 of the 5 left. Even though there are 2 diligent adults nearby, predators still take a toll. I wondered what the top predator would be in this urban park…maybe turtles…maybe unleashed dogs?

On the larger pond, there were mallard ducklings. There were 5 of them with a female. The males steer clear…seemed to be in all male groups.

The grackles were active and noisy.

They didn’t seem to disturb the great egret’s concentration as it searched for breakfast.

The swans were across the pond from where I stood. There seemed to be a lot of feathers on the shore. I wondered if the swans were molting or if something had attacked one of them.

I’ll be back in Carrollton by mid-June….looking forward to more sunflowers!

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.