The Stage is Set! 15 May 2013
Large-flowered Trillium
Days are long and warming. Insect clouds ride thermals, back-lit above the river by a setting sun. Baby leaves are budding and growing quickly. The day's activity ends with a slow and steady chorus of birds. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo Buntings, Black-and-white Warblers, Ovenbirds, and the slurring singers, the Blue-headed Vireos are here... They have arrived! The tropical forests have again reached 45 degrees north latitude. They have arrived on the wings of birds.
Ostrya leaf-out on the Saint Croix River, a place for birds...
Blue-headed Vireo
The flowers are blooming a perfect complement to tropical plumage. Black-capped Chickadees, sturdy year-round residents, are the age-old hosts and greeters of the avian tropical tourists. Where chickadees sound off, bustling flocks of warblers follow.
Black-capped Chickadee
Bloodroot
As quickly as the first green hues have pushed through dead leaves and waved off the last snows, some flowers are already pollinated and dropping petals. Others are just getting started.
Marsh Marigold
Skunk Cabbage, Black Ant, and Filtered Sun
Spring Beauty Flowers, Trout Lily, and Equisetum
Trout Lily in Bloom
Underfoot, the ephemeral forest season blooms in a carpet of diverse forms and colors. Up above, this diversity is echoed in the hurried activity of many passing migrant birds.
Large-flowered Trillium and Filtered Forest Light
All images were made with a refurbished Canon 7D and Canon 300mm f4L IS lens.
No comments:
Post a Comment