Ten Little Celebrations – May 2018

My celebrations in May were all about aspects of being outdoors in spring –

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Finding a snail on a blade of grass at Belmont during a BioBlitz with 7th graders.

Catching the horse chestnut tree in bloom at Belmont.

Discovering a black rat snake coiled in an oak tree when I was hiking with kindergarteners and talking out what might live in the tree.

The smells of spring (and trying to figure out which plant it is).

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Seeing an orchard oriole and Baltimore oriole during a birding event in Baltimore…firsts for me.

And the same was true for the kingbird.

Discovering new perspectives on common plants with a macro lens on my Smartphone

Brookside Gardens – there is something there many months of the year. This May it was dogwoods and butterflies (in the conservatory)….and the many subjects for macro photography that the gardens contain.

Warmer days --- but having time indoors with air conditioning when it is overly warm.

A rainy day at home was something to celebrate because we had been so dry earlier in the spring…and because I needed a day off from field trips and butterfly exhibit volunteering. May is probably one of the peak months for the type of volunteering I do.

Baltimore Birding – part 2

Continuing from yesterday’s post….

We continued along the Gwynn Falls/Middle Branch trail and it seemed to get darker and wetter. Here were mushrooms coming up in the grass beside the path.

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My husband held the umbrella while I took a picture of a yellow warbler and

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Some very wet flowers.

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The cedar waxwing only showed up in silhouette.

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We walked out of the trail and closed the loop back to the cars along the street. Under some bushes beside a fence – a common yellow-throat was busy in the mulch.

We got back into the cars and continued to the Middle Branch Park boathouse. We trooped over the wet grass to paved paths were full of puddles. I was glad I’d worn my boots! I saw a Baltimore Oriole and managed to photograph an orchard oriole.

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The last bird of the day was a kingbird that seemed to pose for pictures – moving to show both sides.

Tomorrow I’ll post about our birding around Fort McHenry.