Tuesday, May 17, 2022

HUNTLEY MEADOWS - FINAL PHOTOS FROM OUR LAST VISIT ON 4-25-22

"Everywhere I go, I keep falling in love with the trees and wanting to stay just a little bit longer."

~author unknown~
I feel the same way, especially with the new leaves starting to grow.   As are the leaves on the Arrowwood viburnum below (botanical name Viburnum dentatum).  Also known as Arrowwood, Arrow-wood viburnum and Southern arrowwood.  It is native to the eastern United States and Canada, from New Brunswick to Minnesota, and south of Georgia.  It is so named because Native Americans used the strong shoots which developed from the roots for the shafts of their arrows.  It is a fairly small perennial shrub that is part of the honeysuckle family.  In late spring it bears white flowers that stretch roughly 2 to 4 inches across.  Blue-black fruits appear after the flowers, that tend to attract a variety of birds and other wildlife.
"As I wonder'd the forest, the green leaves among, I heard a wildflower singing a song."
Above you can see the Common blue violet (Botanical name Viola sororia)  Also called Common meadow violet, Wood violet, Hooded violet and Missouri violet.  I mentioned it before in a previous post here, the tenth photo down.  It has an interesting history.  Below you will see a plant called Mayapple, which I talked about at this link.  It is in the second photo on that post.
Gregg took the next few photos, of the log and the birds.
I have no idea what the fungi is growing on the side of the fallen log.  I tried to find an ID online.  I always found similar but none of those I looked at were quite right.
The Northern Cardinal was a little shy...  
as were the Red-winged Blackbirds.  



There were pairs of Canada Geese in various areas of the park.  I looked for nests on my way around the park.
Coming in to land, and a close-up.  There were a lot of noisy geese around.
The remaining photos are mine, taken with my cell phone.
A bit of an overload but they deserve their place in the sun.  I enjoy them too.
I think there was a nest in there somewhere.

I heard frogs more than I saw them.  There were tadpoles and tiny fish.  It wasn't just the Canada Geese who were making a racket that day.  The frog and his many, many companions sounded like the Hallelujah Chorus.  Well, not quite, but you know what I mean.... 
"My parents used to call me 'The Little Frog," because whenever they asked how I knew something, I'd say 'read it,' which sounds a bit like a frog croak."
There were also turtles but no more than a stare from any of them, this one included.  (Gregg's photo).
It was a great day for wildlife, and several of our sightings were thanks to other people at the park.  They were very kind sharing what they were looking at, and what they knew about them.
The information board below has been here for a long time but hopefully if you enlarge it, you can read what it says. 
I took this photo of the trees as we were leaving the parking lot.  
The Dogwoods were still blooming, and these were also in the parking lot.
Beautiful!
And so, we leave until our next visit.  I hope it is soon as I would love to see more of the babies, and maybe some Pileated Woodpecker chicks.  Fingers crossed!






36 comments:

  1. Nature is always solace and heartbalm for me. thank you.

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    1. Sua descrição é perfeita :) A natureza é maravilhosa! Obrigado, um abraço e continuação de boa semana.

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  3. Hello Denise,
    I love the trees and all the greenery! Beautiful captures of the birds and great quotes.
    Take care, have a great day and week ahead!

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    1. Thank you Eileen, so happy you enjoyed. You take care and have a great day and week also :)

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  4. I have seen lots of blackbirds, but never one with red wings!! Really beautiful. Are the one with red wings usually male?

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    1. Hi Angie and thank you :) Yes, the males are the ones who have the red markings. You can see a female here:

      https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/id

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  5. the mushrooms look like false turkey-tail or so says my google lens search. stunning photos and my favorite is the frog. the trees are all amazing and I do love trees.

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    1. Thank you and also for the ID Sandra, much appreciated. I love the frog too along with those trees :)

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  6. Great post.
    Great photographs.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan and all the best to you too :)

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  7. Those Violet leaves are gorgeous! And wonderful frog photos! Very cool how you caught the blackbird with his tail fanned out!

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    1. I am happy you enjoyed the photos Ginny, Gregg did a great job of his photos and the bird didn't he? :)

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  8. Love all the photos. Seeing the trees all green again always makes me happy. Add in all the other things you saw and I would be ecstatic

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    1. So glad Ann and thank you :) It's great to see the trees so green isn't it?

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  9. You had a great walk around the pond and saw a lot of stuff. Thanks for taking us along.

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    1. It was an amazing walk Yogi and you are very welcome. Thank you :)

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  10. That was a lovely ramble! (ツ) from <A HREF="https://mymuskoka.blogspot.com/2022/05/flora-and-fauna-tails.html> Cottage Country Ontario </A>, ON, Canada!

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  11. Extraordinary!! Seriously, some beautiful scenic photos and info! I enjoyed every photo,every word.

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    1. I am very happy you enjoyed my post Anni, means a lot, thank you :)

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  12. This was such a wonderful post. Read it this morning and came back to read it again. Glad I did cuz I forgot to leave a comment that time. Thanks so much

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    1. Thank you Cloudia and how kind of you to tell me that. So glad you enjoyed this post :)

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  13. Great shots and very informative.

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  14. I love it when fellow enthusiasts share their knowledge and point things out not to miss. Wonderful place to explore and great photos!

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    1. It was very heartwarming Ellen, people were so very kind :) and thank you!

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