Peace Valley

Mary and I made a remembering Jeanetta trip to Peace Valley this morning.

We went first to the bird blind, and when I spotted this female wood duck, I knew Jeanetta was with us.

A splendid male wood duck.  He was opening and closing his bill, and I wondered if he was making sounds that his female could hear, but I could not.

There was also this male mallard eating birdseed.

This perky little downy woodpecker came in for some suet.

On the lake the usual cormorant crowd.

A deer on the opposite shore of the lake.

Earth Week

Here at Foulkeways we started off our Earth Week Extravaganza with a bird walk.

The red-bellied males were doing their thing.  Here is one on the Big Oak Walk.

Another near the M parking lot.

About 17 species were seen, including this goldfinch.
Following that there was a wildflower walk, where we lamented on the lesser celandine take-over.
In the afternoon we had a quad clean-up.
Today was Arbor Day, so we planted a tree.

There was a bitter cold wind for April.

The tree goes into the hole.

It is a white oak, which could live for 400 years!

Ft. Washington

We went to Ft. Washington in search of birds.  This magnificent male red-bellied woodpecker kept calling his "whirr" call.

This mockingbird was singing constantly.

One time I looked and it turned into a mourning dove.

No shortage of robins.

A particularly poor photo of a cowbird.

It looked like all the bluebird boxes had been claimed by tree swallows, but we did see a bluebird, and heard him sing.

Magnificent Magnolia

This magnolia at "C" has been magnificent.

There are many magnolias on campus, including this one reaching for a cloud.

More bloodroot blooming in the picnic area.

I am amazed to see any at all with all the lesser celandine.

First garter snake I have seen this year,

This insect is in the family Vespidae, and is a Polistes, which makes it a wasp, a paper wasp.  But it does not look like our usual paper wasp, so I think it might be a Polistes rubinginosus.  Still it is a paper wasp.

Another view of the Cherry Allee.

Ah Spring!

If you walk along Big Oak Path there are daffodils to greet you, and places to just sit.

The daffodils, planted many years ago, come in many different colors ans patterns.

They are also seen along the Loop Trail.

Today I found even more bloodroot.

The star magnolia is at its prime.

The flowers are just lovely.

I hope we do not get a frost.

Ah Spring!

Should I make this one into a greeting card to sell in the Gift Box?

Turtles and Towhee at Peace Valley

On a recent trip to Peace Valley we saw the cormorants out in Lake Galena, and Canada Geese also.

The woods were as peaceful as ever.

We started along a pathway, but were unprepared for wet walking, and had to turn back.

In the bird blind we saw the now yellow goldfinches.

An eastern painted turtle basking just above the pond surface.

Nice to see a towhee.

And there were many turtles, each seeking a bit of sun.

Hellebores and More

I started out today to look for Helebores.   Here is a white one.

They also come in pink, but they always seem to hang their heads, and make taking a photo difficult.

Also saw this lovely Cornus Mas at B.

Another on the other side of the campus.

A pretty shot from near Perimeter Road.

Willow and clouds against the blue sky.

Maples are blooming, the bees will be happy.

I found only a few bloodroot blooming this year.

Bees

The beekeepers were here recently and found that all our hives had survived the winter, although two of the hives had bees huddled on the side away from the wind.

There is still much work to be done, rotating boxes and feeding.

Many of the bees found my crocus patch.

And a pair of mallards have found our wetland.