National Go Birding Day is celebrated annually on the last Saturday in April.
Up until the mid-1700s, most people looked at birds from the perspective of hunting them as a sport or primarily for food. The late 18th century works of Thomas Bewick, John Clare, George Montagu, and Gilbert White show an early interest in observing birds for their aesthetic rather than as a source of food. Then, during the Victorian era (1837 to 1901) people collected birds’ eggs and feathers, and later preserved their feathers. The phrase “bird watching” first appeared as the title of a book by Edmund Selous in 1901.
Birdwatching first gained popularity in the United Kingdom, with the United States not far behind. Going birding is basically the same as birdwatching, although some may say that birdwatchers enjoy simply observing birds, while birders may be more inclined to seek and identify as many species as they can find, including by their songs and calls. Either way, observing birds in their natural habitat is a hobby that draws a great deal of interest for many nature lovers.
One of the many appeals of birdwatching is that it is an inexpensive activity. The necessary equipment includes binoculars and a field guide (and/or a bird ID app) to identify the species you observe. Birders will likely add a camera with telephoto lenses and a notebook to document information of each sighting.
Some relevant factoids to drop into conversations today –
Birds through an Opera Glass (1889) by Florence Bailey was the first field guide published in the United States.
Based on a survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 51.3 million Americans indicated that they watch birds.
Pish: to make a noise that sounds like “psssh psssh psssh” with the intention of luring out a hidden bird.
A “twitcher” is a birdwatcher who is obsessed with list-keeping.
Suggested activities in celebration of this day –
Spend some time birdwatching in your own backyard.
This week, I’m featuring Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Dwarf Ginseng is one of our ephemeral spring wildflowers. Each year it has a fleeting above-ground life of only about two months. Then the foliage dies back and the root lives underground until the next spring.
This perennial herbaceous plant grows 3-8″ tall. It has a smooth and reddish green unbranched stem that terminates in a whorl of compound leaves and a single flowering stalk.
Dwarf Ginseng has medium green compound leaves with stalks about 1-1/4 inches long to which three (sometimes five) leaflets are attached. The leaflets are finely toothed and stalkless, and they appear in a whorl around the stem about halfway between the base and flower cluster. The leaves are oblong to lance-like to elliptic with the middle leaflet being the largest and the side leaflets becoming progressively smaller. The upper surface of the leaves is medium green and hairless.
The flowering stalk rises 1-3″ above the leaves, terminating in a single small umbel of white flowers about ¾” across. Like the central stem, it is light green to dull red and hairless. Individual flowers are about 1/8″ across with five white petals. The flowers of some plants are all staminate (male, which bear pollen), while the flowers of other plants are perfect (male and female, with the latter producing seeds). Smaller plants usually produce male flowers. Individual plants are capable of changing their gender from year-to-year. It has been estimated that every year about one fourth to one third of the plants in an area switch from producing one kind of flower to the producing the other. The flowers turn pale pink before withering.
Fertilized perfect flowers are replaced by small clusters of berries. The rather dry berries are initially green, but later become yellow as they ripen. Each berry contains 2-3 white kidney-shaped seeds, each less than 1/8” in size.
The distinctive tubers (a small round ball only about half an inch wide) of Dwarf Ginseng can be eaten raw or boiled. This species, in contrast to the well-known herbal medicine American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), is not extensively used for medicinal purposes. However, in the past, the Cherokee and the Iroquois used tea of the whole plant in the past to treat a wide variety of ailments, such as chest pain, colic, gout, hepatitis, hives, indigestion, liver ailments, rheumatism, and tuberculosis. The root was chewed for headaches, shortness of breath, fainting, and nervous debility.
Wildlife Value:
Very little is known about floral-faunal relationships for this species. The flowers are probably cross-pollinated by small bees and flies.
In sunny wetlands, Marsh Marigold is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring. According to the Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, New York, Marsh Marigold bloomed an average of six days earlier over the period of 1986 to 2015 as an indication of climate change sensitivity.
Description:
Marsh Marigold is a native perennial herbaceous plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) that tends to grow in clumps. Also known as cowslip, cowflock, or kingcup, it is a lovely harbinger of spring.
Marsh Marigold in Ushers Road State Forest
Marsh Marigold grows from 8-24 inches tall with many branches, and has glossy green basal leaves that are round, oval, heart or kidney-shaped and up to 4” long and 4” across.
The basal leaves have long petioles while upper, stem leaves are alternate and on shorter petioles becoming stalkless as they ascend the stem. The stems are hairless and hollow. Leaves are smooth with a deep and narrow notch and their margins have small scallops or teeth. Leaf edges may be toothless but are more often scalloped.
The upper stems produce small clusters of 2-5 bright yellow flowers on short petioles, usually rising above the leaves. Each flower is about ¾–1½” across with 5-9 (usually) petal-like sepals. There are no true petals. The sepals are bright yellow, well-rounded, and slightly overlapping. There is no noticeable floral scent.
Fertilized flowers mature into a flattened and recurved seedpod (follicle) about 3/8 inch long. Each follicle is initially green and erect, spreading out as it matures, drying to light greenish brown and eventually splitting open along its upper side to release its seeds.
A German legend tells the story of a maiden named Caltha (meaning “cup” in Greek) who fell so in love with the sun god that she spent her days and nights in the fields, trying to see as much as possible of him, until her body and spirit wasted away. The very first Marsh Marigold – a cup filled with the sun’s rays – grew where the devoted maiden had stood.
Culinary and Medicinal Uses:
CAUTION: Plant juices can cause blistering or inflammation on skin or mucous membranes on contact. WARNING: POISONOUS – Leaves contain the oily toxin protoanemonin, the amount of which increases as the leaves progress through a growing season. If ingested raw, it can induce convulsions and lesions throughout the digestive tract.
The young leaves (picked before the plant blooms) are sometimes used as potherbs, but require several short boilings with changes of water between each; heat destroys the toxins. Tightly closed buds can be similarly prepared and pickled like capers.
Medicinally, the whole plant is anodyne (painkiller), antispasmodic, diaphoretic (induces sweating), diuretic (induces urination), emetic (induces vomiting), expectorant and rubefacient. A poultice of the boiled and mashed roots was used by American Indians to treat sores, remove warts, protect against love charms, and as an aid in childbirth. A tea made from its leaves was also believed to relieve constipation. Early colonists learned from American Indians to mix a decoction of the root with maple syrup to make cough syrup.
Wildlife Value:
The flowers produce both nectar and copious amounts of pollen, which attract primarily flies and bees. Marsh Marigolds are primarily pollinated by pollen-seeking Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), Halictid bees, honey bees, and hoverflies (family Syrphidae, including Lejops spp., Neoascia spp., and Xylota spp.). Ants (family Formicidae) and cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.) collect the nectar.
Because the acrid foliage contains toxic alkaloids and glycosides, it is usually avoided by browsing animals. The seeds are eaten by Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Sora Rail (Porzana carolina), and Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).
Where Found Locally:
As its name suggests, Marsh Marigold is a plant that prefers sunny areas where the soil is consistently wet from underground seepage of water. Habitats include various wetlands, including vernal pools in low woodlands, swamps, soggy meadows in river floodplains, marshes, fens, seeps and springs, and ditches that get part or full sun.
Sweetfern is a small, native, aromatic mound-shaped shrub, 2-5 feet tall that has ascending to widely spreading branches with fine twigs and occurs in dense colonies. The bark of branches and twigs is gray or reddish brown, more or less smooth, with scattered white lenticels. Young shoots are light green to light brown, and very pubescent, becoming less pubescent with age.
Alternate leaves occur along the twigs and shoots. These leaves are 2-6″ long and ¼-1″ across; they are narrowly oblong to oblong-elliptic in shape and the edges of which are rolled back and rounded, with a fern-like division. The upper surface of mature leaves is medium green to olive-green and smooth to slightly short-pubescent, while the lower surface is light green and nearly smooth to short-pubescent. Immature leaves, in contrast to the mature leaves, are yellowish green and more heavily covered with silky hairs (especially along their undersides). The leaves also have glandular resin-dots; leaves and twigs are very aromatic, so much so that on a warm day the fragrance can be detected at some distance without crushing its leaves. The leaf stems are less than ½” long, light green, more or less pubescent, and relatively stout.
Male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant (monoecious) or different plants (dioecious) in clusters called catkins; flowering occurs before leaves emerge. Male catkins are drooping and cylindrical, ½ to 1¼ inches long, mostly crowded at tips of one-year-old twigs, with 25 to 50 flowers each with a sharply pointed scale-like bract and 3 to 8 pale stamens. Female catkins are erect, round to egg-shaped, 1/16 to 1/6 inch long and ovoid to globoid in shape, with 20 to 45 flowers each located below the male catkins when present or at branch tips when not.
Afterwards, the female catkins are replaced by bristly fruits that span about ¾” across; each fruit contains a cluster of 8 to 15 nutlets at its center and numerous bristly bractlets. At maturity, individual nutlets are 3-5 mm. long and ovoid in shape. The seeds contain a powerful germination inhibitor and can remain dormant but viable in the soil for as long as 70 years (Del Tredici, P. 1977. The buried seeds of Comptonia peregrina, the sweet fern. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 104: 270-275.).
Still, even after becoming a dark brown color, the leaves of this colonizing plant adds interest in the autumn landscape.
Sweetfern leaf color in late autumn
Culinary and Medicinal Uses:
The young fruits are eaten as a pleasant nibble. The fresh aromatic leaves are used to make a palatable tea and are also used as a seasoning, such as to infuse baked or broiled fish with its flavor or to infuse a bottle of rye whiskey to make a woodsy cocktail. Sweetfern also makes an excellent rub for meat and fish.
Sweetfern has served a medical function due to its ability to act as an astringent, blood purifier, expectorant, and tonic. North American Indians used it as a poultice for wounds or sprains, and to make a tea to cure diarrhea, headache, or fever. Additionally, Sweetfern can be used topically to relieve itchiness from poison ivy or stings by infusing cold water with fresh leaves. Due to its astringent properties, the Shakers found Sweetfern to be of importance for maladies such as cholera, dysentery, debility following fevers, bruises, rheumatism and for diarrhea. It is still used for most of the same purposes in modern herbalism. Leaves are harvested in early summer and dried for later use.
Wildlife Value:
Sweetfern is a host plant to the caterpillars of a number of moths and butterflies:
The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) feeds on the buds and catkins, while the White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browses on the twigs and foliage. Two bird species, the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) and Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), have been observed to feed on the nutlets of this small shrub. More importantly, colonies of Sweetfern growing around and in between the bases of Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) provide safe nesting habitat for a Federally endangered bird, Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii).
Where Found Locally:
Sweetfern most often occurs in poor, sandy or gravelly, infertile soils, such as along roadsides. Habitats include upland sand prairies, sandy shrub prairies, and sandy upland savannas. Dominant trees in these savannas are oak trees (especially Black Oak (Quercus velutina)) and sometimes pine trees are present (especially Jack Pine). The root system can develop clonal offsets from underground runners, often creating colonies of plants. Dry, sterile, often sandy soil of open woodlands, pastures, old fields, and clearings; usually in full sun.
In New York, Sweetfern is a characteristic plant found in these ecological communities:
The month of April brings spring showers. After those showers, the sun comes out and a rainbow often appears. Each year on April 3rd, National Find a Rainbow Day challenges us to look to the sky and find a colorful ray of hope cast across it.
A rainbow is a spectrum of light in the form of a multicolored arc, appearing in the sky, that is caused by both reflection and refraction of light in water droplets in the Earth’s atmosphere. Rainbows always appear directly opposite of the sun. The light is refracted (bent) when it enters a droplet of water (which acts as a prism), then is reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.
A rainbow has seven colors because water droplets in the atmosphere break sunlight into seven colors. When light leaves one medium and enters another, the light changes its propagation direction and bends. Red is the color that is visible on the outer part of a rainbow and violet on the inside of a primary rainbow.
In the rainbow (primary rainbow) light emerging from a water droplet, the shorter wavelength (violet) is diffracted more in comparison to the longer wavelength (red). Accordingly, when looking from the left side of the figure (seen from the direction with your back to the sun), the light emerges at lower angles. SOURCE: https://www.shimadzu.com/an/service-support/science/010912/010912a.html
For those of you who may want to delve deeper, please view the Physics of Rainbows.
Some relevant factoids and folklore to drop into conversations today –
The word rainbow originates from the Old English renboga – ‘regn’ meaning rain and ‘boga’ meaning bow.
The basic scientific explanation for rainbows dates to Persian physicist Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī and, independently, German physicist Theodoric of Freiberg in the 14th century.
Who remembers the science class mnemonic Roy G. Biv? Teachers used it in hopes that we would remember the sequence of colors in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Generally speaking, rainbows in American Indian cultures are seen as a sign of good fortune, hope, and a connection to the spirit world.
In Hawaiian folklore, rainbows symbolize the veil between the realms of the gods and the realm of humans.
In Irish legend, Leprechauns bury pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, but since a rainbow can only be seen at a distance, the gold is forever illusive.
Every year on the 30th of March, National Take a Walk in a Park Day is celebrated to acknowledge the importance of taking a walk through a park, understanding the health benefits of doing so, and appreciating a reconnection with others as well as nature.
Taking a walk at a local park is an excellent way to clear one’s mind from the stresses of the day, re-energize, socialize with people, and, at the same time, improve your health. Walking has amazing health benefits, from increasing heart activity (which, in turn, helps to lower blood pressure and decrease the chances of cardiac arrest), to lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and even certain types of cancer. Read more about the benefits of “green exercise” in my prior post, International Day of Forests.
Today is a great opportunity to discover a new park near you and explore it.
If the Bauer Environmental Park in the Town of Colonie is new to you, I encourage you to make time to visit it today or this weekend.
From either parking lot, a short path leads to the loop, which is a flat, ADA-accessible trail of about one mile (~90% boardwalk) that takes you on a circle through the woods. A few bridges cross the stream that meanders through the park.
The trails are family-friendly and ideal for walking, hiking, nature enjoyment, and cross-country skiing. Interested in birdwatching? View the list of birds observed at this park. Want to view wildflowers here later this year? View my wildflower field guide for this park.
A definition: a plant that is not desired where it is growing.
A perspective: “A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
For a little insight on the secret origin of weeds, view this.
Read this helpful article that provides some clarifying distinctions between “weed,” “native,” “wildflower,” and “invasive.”
As to ‘appreciation,’ I am referring to the “a full understanding of a situation” definition of that word.
To that end, each of the following plants has ‘weed’ in its common name. As we reflect upon such plants on this day, read some curious factoids about these particular “weeds.”
Edible and Medicinal Use: Leaves as a potherb. The whole plant is astringent, carminative (agent that prevents or relieves flatulence in the gastrointestinal tract and, in infants, may help in the treatment of colic), demulcent (relieves irritation of the mucous membranes in the mouth), diuretic (induces urination), expectorant (helps clear mucus from airway), laxative (loosens stool and increases bowel movements), refrigerant (gives sensation of coolness or relieves feverishness), and vulnerary (wound healing). Chickweed has a very long history of herbal use, being particularly beneficial in the external treatment of any kind of itching skin condition. A decoction is used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds, and ulcers. Read about how to prepare a skin salve from Common Chickweed and English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata).
Where Found: Clearings in forests, open banks of streams, successional fields (where the soils are exposed or thin), cultivated ground, roadsides, disturbed areas, and waste areas.
Folklore: The essential oil of the plant is said to be a useful insect repellant and fungicide.
Edible and Medicinal Use: Young leaves are edible; best dried and stored for later use to help flavor meals (flavor is similar to tarragon). For medicinal uses, it can be harvested at any time that it is in flower and is best used when fresh. Valued most for its astringency, it is used in the treatment of gastro-intestinal problems such as diarrhoea and dysentery. It is said to be a very effective treatment for bleeding haemorrhoids. The whole plant is antirheumatic (reduces or prevents joint damage associated with inflammatory disorders of the joints), astringent, balsamic (soothing, restorative), diuretic (induces urination), emmenagogue (stimulates or increases menstrual flow), styptic (stops bleeding from shallow surface injury), tonic (invigorates), and vermifuge (expels parasitic worms).
Wildlife Value: Bee visitors (such as Halictid bees) suck nectar or collect pollen, fly visitors (such as flesh flies (Sarcophaga spp.), Muscid flies, Syrphid flies, and Tachinid flies) suck nectar or feed on pollen, while other floral visitors (such as Perilampid wasps, Sphecid wasps, and Vespid wasps) feed on nectar. These flowers also provide an important nectar source during fall migration of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippes). Animals usually avoid browsing the foliage because it is resinous and bitter.
Where Found: Roadsides, pastures, lawns, successional fields, and disturbed areas
Folklore: In Celtic mythology, this plant was believed to have magical powers and was used in spells and charms to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits.
Edible and Medicinal Use: No known edible uses. Its leaves and flowers have been used to make tea, which is said to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and diuretic (induces urination) properties.
Where Found: Marshes, wet fields, ditches, seepage areas, and swamps
Folklore: Joe Pye has been associated with an American Indian healer, possibly named Jopi, who used the plant to cure typhoid fever; he is also credited with having halted a typhus epidemic in Colonial Massachusetts. A peer-reviewed study suggests that Joe Pye was indeed a Mohegan sachem (a chief) named Schauquethqueat who lived in the mission town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts from 1740 to 1785 and who took as his Christian name, Joseph Pye. Read more about the history of this man and how his name became associated with this plant.
Edible and Medicinal Use: No known edible uses. A tea made from the whole herb is diuretic (induces urination). It is used in the treatment of kidney complaints, painful urination, rheumatism, etc. The leaves and stems are harvested in the summer before the flower buds open, and are dried for later use. Externally, a decoction of the roots is used as a wash on rheumatic joints. The roots are harvested in the autumn and dried for later use.
Wildlife Value: The nectar of the flowers attracts honey bees, bumblebees, long-horned bees (Melissodes spp.), leaf-cutting bees (Megachile spp.), bee flies, butterflies, skippers, and moths. Some bees may also collect pollen. It is a larval host to the Clymene Moth (Haploa clymene), the Common Eupithecia (Eupithecia miserulata), the Ruby Tiger Moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa), and the Three-Lined Flower Moth (Schinia trifascia). The seeds of Joe-Pye Weed species are a minor source of food to the Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana).
This week, I’m featuring Speckled Alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.
PLEASE NOTE:Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses: Speckled Alder was used by American Indians in a wide variety of medicinal uses in the treatment of numerous ailments. Read more.
Description:
Speckled Alder is a common, fast-growing, large, multi-stemmed wetland shrub, often forming dense thickets from root suckering as well as a process called “layering”, where low branches take root then detach from the mother plant and grow independently. Stems are usually numerous from the base, but individual trunks can grow up to 6 inches in diameter, occasionally taking the form of a small tree.
Twigs are brown to reddish brown to grayish, with scattered white lenticels (pores); new growth is hairy, but becomes hairless and smooth the second year. Older bark is grayish to reddish brown with pale horizontal lenticels (pores).
Leaves are alternate and simple, egg-shaped to elliptic and pointed or blunt at the tip, 1½ to 4½ inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide on a hairy stalk up to ¾ inch long. Some leaves may have shallow lobes. Leaf margins are coarsely double-toothed. The upper surface is a dull dark green, hairless to sparsely hairy, and the lower surface is paler and hairy, especially along the veins.
Alders are among the first plants to flower in spring. Male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant (monoecious), in clusters called catkins, blooming in very early spring before leaves emerge. Two to 6 male catkins form drooping clusters at the tip of 1-year old twigs, 1¾ to 3½ inches long. Female catkins are red, oval to short-cylindric, about ½ inch, in one or more separate clusters near the male catkins on the same branch, with 1 to 4 catkins in a cluster.
Fertilized female catkins become stout, oval to egg-shaped, cone-like clusters up to about 2/3 inch long. These green fruits mature to reddish-brown in fall, resembling small pine cones with 5-lobed scales. They release their seed in the summer, but the cone structure generally remains intact through winter. Each cone contains two small rounded brown nutlets 1/8 inch long that may have two small leathery wings.
No known edible uses due to its strongly astringent and emetic (induces vomiting) qualities.
Speckled Alder was widely used medicinally by American Indians who used it to treat a variety of ailments, such as anemia, internal bleeding, urinary problems, sprains, bruises or backaches, itches, and piles. A tea was made to cure diarrhea and to treat upset stomachs or rheumatism. A mixture of root bark and molasses was used in the treatment of toothaches, and either its inner bark or a decoction made from it were applied as a compress on rashes, sore eyes, and swellings. The Chippewa mixed alder root scrapings with powdered bumblebees and fed the mixture to women whom were having difficulty during childbirth.
While Speckled Alder has been little used in modern herbalism, its bark is alterative, astringent, emetic, laxative, ophthalmic, stomachic and tonic.
Wildlife Value:
Speckled Alder is a host plant to the caterpillars of a significant number of moths and butterflies:
Speckled Alder seeds, buds and catkins provide food for small animals and birds, such as American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea), Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) and Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). However, research suggests that Ruffed Grouse will typically reserve these as a midwinter survival food, consuming them only when other food sources become scarce.
More importantly, Speckled Alder thickets provide safe nesting habitat for Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum), American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), American Woodcock (when located in upland sites), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris), and Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). In addition, Ruffed Grouse often use alder stands as drumming sites, selecting a log with good visibility around them. It’s common to find nests and broods in alder thickets on upland sites.
Speckled Alder is found in wet sandy or gravelly soils, usually along streams and rivers, but also along edges of ponds and in swamps and wetlands. It is only found in open sunny areas, being unable to compete in dense shade, and can slowly spread via runners from its extensive spreading root system.
In New York, Speckled Alder is a characteristic plant found in these ecological communities:
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21st as the International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
Worldwide, there are three general types of forest that exist:
(1) temperate forests are generally found in North America, Europe, and East Asia;
Experts estimate that, together, these forests cover approximately one-third of the Earth’s surface.
In New York, we experience a notably greater extent of forest cover on our landscape. Here, forests cover 18.6 million acres, or 61% of land area. The most common type (53%) is deciduous forest comprised of species of maple, beech, and birch.
For more information regarding the importance of forests to us humans, please read:
While there are a number of forests throughout our area, please consider a visit to this local forest: Mooney Carrese Forest.
The 78-acre Mooney Carrese Forest comprises more than half of the 141-acre Veterans Memorial Park, which is located at 697 MacElroy Road in the Town of Clifton Park. Purchased in the spring of 2013 from Kathleen and Arnold Carrese and their family, the forest is located in the southwest portion of the park. Tributaries to the Cooley Kill traverse the site.
Panoramic view of water feature along trail through Mooney Carrese Forest
The addition of this forest offers visitors an undulating hike crossing small watercourses past wetlands as well as mature stands of Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) in the uplands.
Is it no wonder that forests offer a beautiful setting in which to relax?
As I was reminded on one of my late winter visits here, our forests also offer places for you to contemplate the many wonders of nature. Such as, what is going on in this photo? In other words, why is a Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis) growing out of the trunk of this Eastern White Pine?!? (Feel free to leave a message below to share your pontifications as to “how” this happened.)
Yellow Birch sapling growing out of hollowed branch bole of Eastern White Pine
The combined properties comprising Veterans Memorial Park offer great habitat for White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), small mammals, amphibians, and a diversity of birds, including Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). For example, the Illustrated Checklist of Birds Observed is an ongoing compilation of bird species that have been observed at Veterans Memorial Park.
Notice the arc of the sun across the sky each day. You’ll find that it’s shifting toward the north. Responding to the change in daylight, birds and butterflies are migrating back northward, too, along with the path of the sun.
If you will be visiting some of our local nature preserves, parks, and trails, I hope you will consider downloading my wildflower field guides for those destinations. I have recently updated my wildflower field guide for Veterans Memorial Park; you can view or download it here. I hope it helps you learn about wildflowers that you may encounter during your future visits.
Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) – typically begins blooming in MarchEmerging leaves of False Hellebore (Veratrum viride)Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) – typically begins blooming in mid-AprilCommon Shadbush (Amelanchier arborea) begins blooming in mid- to late April, before its own leaves unfurl.
Consider these activities as part of your adventures this spring –
The Great North American Total Eclipse: The Science, the History, and Why You Should Get Your Butt to Totality (If Possible) (3/23/2024 @ 11:30am; Registration required: Call 518-872-0800)
Curious By Nature 
