May 7

Saturday was a good day at Forest Hill for a hike with my dog, Remi.  The early afternoon weather was mostly sunny with a temperature of 60 degrees and a slight wind out of the northeast.  Since the calendar indicated that spring was half-over, I was hoping that Mother Nature had more seasonal surprises for me today. Before descending the hill toward Mallard Marsh, I gazed over the landscape to the west and noticed that the willow thickets and deciduous trees had turned a pale green color as the new leaves were beginning to sprout. I walked past Mallard Marsh through Bobolink Meadow to the entrance to North Woods where I observed several colorless, jointed stems of Common Horsetail (Equisetum) poking up through the soil. I entered North Woods and followed the trail west where I saw the unusual wildflower, Jack-in-the Pulpit with its large hood-like striped leaf poking up through the leaf litter. Arriving at the big boardwalk, I noticed some dainty, 4-petal, pale-lavender flowers of the Purple Cress plant growing in some muddy soil. On the other end of the boardwalk I saw seven crayfish chimneys; the tallest one being four inches high.  I exited North Woods and continued around Succession Field where I noticed the white, silky web of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar attached to the crotch of a small tree. I walked over to investigate and saw dozens of half-inch long, toothpick-thin caterpillars crawling on top of the tent. Later in the summer they will form cocoons and turn into Lackey Moths. I entered South Woods and followed the meandering trail where I observed a patch of Pennsylvania Sedge with their pale-yellow bristly flowers popping up from the forest floor. I exited South Woods and continued toward Artist Overlook where I was quite surprised a few days ago to see the pure white silhouette of a Great Egret standing motionless next to Willow Wallow. Then, from on top of Artist Overlook I saw a second one of these majestic birds standing on the shore of Sora Swale. I suspected they were a mating pair on the way to their summer breeding grounds. I followed the south trail and turned at Frog Fen toward Brady Cemetery. I passed the cemetery and entered Native Grassland. I hiked north where I noticed six pair of geese swimming on Grebe Pond. One pair was swimming with 3 small fuzzy goslings and another pair was swimming with 5 goslings. Also, to my left I saw a small depression in the ground with four mottled eggs of a Killdeer. The mother bird was watching nervously on the trail just ahead of me. On my right, I observed some Wild Mustard plants beginning to show their yellow blossoms in the meadow. Finally, I arrived back at the Classroom Building where I saw some 6-inch tall plants with tiny white flowers, called Shepherd’s Purse growing on the east side.  So, I got in the car and took off for home with good thoughts of nature in spring and another wonderful hike.

In the glow of the dawn,

Welcome a new day,

Greet the golden sunlight or rain,

Nature in all its subtlety.

Whip of the wind,

Earth unfolds,

Softly falling rain,

Growing plants and buds blossoming.

Visions of the earth, with glories of nature,

Beauty of the daffodils, 


Sunshine and rain from a rainbow,

Awe! Nature in full bloom.

Blanche Black