Good morning! As many of you read this I’ll probably be on my way to work, which is where the road in this photo leads. May is living up to its promise of spring beauty and the many shades of green seem particularly vibrant this year.
One morning on my way to work I saw mother goose. Father goose was there too and so were their rapidly growing goslings. Since I was early I was able to sit with them for a few minutes, watching the parent geese bob their heads up and down on their long necks. I think their head bobbing behavior was meant to signal a threat but the goslings were having none of that and just kept on eating as if I wasn’t even there.
There are many ferns up and still unfurling their long fronds. The interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) gets its common name from the way its green infertile leaflets are “interrupted” about half way up the stem by the darker colored fertile leaflets. The fertile leaflets are much smaller and their color makes them stand out even at a distance. This fern doesn’t seem to mind dry, sunny spots because that’s usually where I find them.
The leaflets on the interrupted fern’s fertile fronds are covered with tiny, round spore producing sporangia. They will release their spores through tiny openings and then fall off, leaving a piece of naked (interrupted) stem between the upper and lower infertile leaflets.
Both the cinnamon (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) and interrupted ferns have wooly fiddleheads that make them hard to tell apart in the fiddlehead stage, but at this stage the fertile fronds make identification easier. The fertile fronds on cinnamon fern are separate from the infertile fronds and there is no gap or interruption along the stem. These fertile fronds once reminded someone of sticks of cinnamon, and that’s how the fern comes by its common name.
I don’t think of cinnamon sticks when I see the cinnamon fern’s fertile fronds, but I’m not naming it so that’s okay. These fronds are covered with tiny sporangia just like those on the interrupted fern and they’ll release their spores in the same way.
Here’s a close-up of the cinnamon fern’s sporangia. They’re hardly bigger than a pin head so I had to push my camera to the limit for a useable shot of them.
I have a calendar that has a view looking up a stream for the month of May and it’s a beautiful photo, so I thought I’d try to replicate it. I failed at that but I decided to keep the above photo because it shows what it’s like in the woods right now, with the light streaming through all the different shades of green.
But it isn’t just green that you see in spring; many new leaves unfurl in shades of red and maroon, as these beautiful beech leaves show so well. According to Chittenden (Vermont) County Forester Michael Snyder, most hardwood tree leaves have some red in them when they open. They turn green gradually as they produce more chlorophyll but cool, cloudy weather like we had in April prevents them from making chlorophyll, so they remain reddish until the sun comes out and it warms up. The beech leaves in this photo were growing from a stump on the shaded edge of the forest and were slow to turn green.
Why some plants have red leaves in spring isn’t fully understood, but it’s thought that the color helps protect their new, fragile leaves from damaging ultraviolet rays and cold temperatures. It isn’t just trees that use this strategy; many shrubs and plants also have new leaves tinged with red. The rattlesnake weed (Hieracium venosum) in the above photo shows just how red some new spring leaves can be, though it has some that have started to turn green. Eventually all its leaves will be green but the red won’t disappear entirely; a deep maroon color will be left on their veins, making this a very beautiful plant.
Rattlesnake weed is in the hawkweed family and though I didn’t look at its still tiny buds I’m sure they will grow to look like these that I saw on a hawkweed plant. They are very hairy.
I went to visit a larch tree (Larix laricina) that I know to see if it was flowering and found these tiny yellow jellybean like objects on one of the needles. It wasn’t very big; the entire cluster was half the size of the head of a match, and each tiny object was about 1/4 of an inch long. It took some research to discover that they were ladybug eggs. I saw a ladybug on a branch too, so it makes sense. Why they choose larch needles to lay their eggs on is anyone’s guess.
This is what I was looking for when I got distracted by the ladybug eggs; a larch flower, which will eventually become a small brown cone. These are even smaller than the cluster of ladybug eggs and are hard to see, but it’s always worth it because they’re beautiful little things. I had trouble getting a photo of one this year because they are almost too small for me to see. I think a dozen of them could dance on my thumbnail, so I look for color rather than shape.
I saw the honeycombed cap of a yellow morel mushroom (Morchella esculentoides) near the larch tree. This is supposed to be a choice edible mushroom but since I’m not really a mushroom person I left it for someone who is. This example stood only about 4 inches high and wouldn’t have made much of a meal.
I’m always finding feathers everywhere I go and this one seemed interesting with its black stripe so I took a photo of it. When I got home I tried to figure out what kind of bird lost it. It was only about 6 inches long so I thought it was maybe a grackle feather, but I didn’t see any feathers that looked like this one on line from any bird. Instead I found reams of information on what feather colors mean. Gray signifies peace and neutrality, authenticity and flexibility, while black signifies protection and warning, mystical wisdom, and spiritual growth. I don’t know the truth of any of that but I have read that Native Americans held all feathers in high regard and considered them a gift from the bird that left them. Birds were considered messengers; if this were a raven feather for instance, it would symbolize creation and knowledge – the bringer of the light.
I know a place along the Ashuelot River in Swanzey where shagbark hickory trees grow, and each spring along about the first week of May I start checking the buds for signs of swelling. The buds are fairly big anyway, but they swell up to the size of an average human’s big toe before the bud scales open to reveal a new crop of leaves. The insides of the bud scales are often striped with shades of yellow, pink, orange or red and a tree full of them is a very beautiful sight. There are many things in nature that can take us out of ourselves and let us walk in a higher place for a time, and for me this is one of them.
This post was about showing you spring in New Hampshire but I’ve only just scratched the surface. I don’t think I could ever show you everything there is to see, but I’ll keep trying. I hope spring is just as beautiful where you live and I hope you can get outside to enjoy it.
It is very important to go out alone, to sit under a tree—not with a book, not with a companion, but by yourself—and observe the falling of a leaf, hear the lapping of the water, the fishermen’s song, watch the flight of a bird, and of your own thoughts as they chase each other across the space of your mind. If you are able to be alone and watch these things, then you will discover extraordinary riches which no government can tax, no human agency can corrupt, and which can never be destroyed. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Thanks for coming by.
Your feather find was interesting. Most of the ones I find belong to swans or magpies.
I was surprised to find that there is a whole raft of feather lore that tells you what finding certain feathers means. I don’t know if it’s all from Natives or where it came from, but it’s interesting. I find feathers all the time.
You have seen very interesting things. Thank you for showing us the Sprite around your place. I love the stream shot, should think about getting one on my wall. I like also the feather with its meaning and the quote.
You’re welcome, and thank you. I was really surprised about all the information connected to feathers. I see them all the time and had no idea!
I’ve never soon a larch flower…I’d better sharpen up my eyes! Now I will look much closer at them! That morel looks good! I’ve not seen yellow ones; we have just black one and they are delicious once you get used to them.
Yes, the larch flowers are very small and hard to see on the branches. I look for the color more than anything else.
I’ve heard that morels are delicious but I’ve never had the opportunity to try them. Someday maybe!
Well, you inspired me to take a close look at unfurling beech leaves this spring (thank you) and now it looks like I will be battling briars to the one larch (tamarack, to me) on our land to see if it’s blossoming. I’m sure I will thank you for that, too. I’ve always thought that I’ve paid close attention to the small things in nature, but somehow tree blossoms escaped me. Nice to be reminded that there is so much to learn and discover all through life.
We had a tree crew come along our road early this spring cutting back young trees along the road side. All of the shoots coming up from the stumps (maple, beech, and oak) have been intensely, brilliantly red. Like your beech leaves, only more so. Interesting and beautiful.
You’re welcome. I learned about these things from others and I’m happy to pass that knowledge on. The larch flowers are worth a look but you might want to bring a loupe or some other form of magnification because they’re pretty small.
Interesting that you had red shoots on your stumps too. I see quite a lot of them, especially beech, and they are beautiful. Another theory I’ve heard is that deer and moose can’t see red so they won’t eat the new spring shoots and leaves, but I don’t know how true it is. I do know that they don’t seem to eat them though.
I liked the photos of the creek and the river, they both capture what I think of as spring perfectly! I’ve been looking for larch flowers this spring, I haven’t seen any yet, I probably missed them being up north for a week.
I still can’t believe how much time and research that you put into your posts, I barely have time to slap a few photos together for mine. That goes with the excellent macro photos that show us what you’re talking about, as with the ferns and the spore bearing leaves.
Thanks Jerry! The larch flowers are just starting to develop here, so you might still see them.
Yes, these posts do take some time but I enjoy doing them. The extra two hours a day driving to and from work hasn’t helped any though.
I had to buy a new Panasonic Lumix and its macro capabilities aren’t anything like what the older model had, so Macros might be limited for a while. It’s hard to find a camera that has been built around its macro function. These days it seems to be all about selfies. I might have to break down and by a DSLR with a macro lens, but we’ll see.
A beautiful and informative post, as they all are. You have a great drive to work! Larch trees I don’t see here either, but remember one particularly gorgeous one near the stable where I kept my horse long ago. It turned gold in fall.
How are you hemlocks doing? I remember the woolly adelgid being a problem back there way back when, killing off hemlocks.
Thank you Lavinia. I know of only a few larch trees but they’re all beautiful in the fall. A couple even lean toward orange when they turn.
The hemlocks seem to be holding their own. I see dead ones now and then but not the large swaths that people feared. I hope they can win the battle. This state just wouldn’t be the same without them.
What a beautiful object that larch flower is. We don’t get to see many larches in this part of England so I’d probably have to be away from home at this time of year to see a flower. I like the strange shape of the morel. I’m not keen on mushrooms and would rather just admire their shape and colour without picking them. We once went on holiday in northern Germany to Travemunde on the Baltic coast and got there just in time for the wild mushroom harvest. Wherever we went the restaurants and cafés were singing their praises and everything we ate had a side order of them. I was so sick of the things by the end of the holiday!
Thank you Clare. I don’t see many larches either. I know of three or four that I visit bet that’s about it.
The flowers are very hard to get a good photo of!
I agree with you on the mushrooms. I love looking at them but I’m not really interested in eating them. In spaghetti sauce is about the only way I can take them, and even then it’s more for the crunchy texture than the taste.
I completely agree! I use them for texture and padding a dish out if I don’t have enough other ingredients. Yuk mushrooms! 😀
You’ve surpassed yourself with the detail in the shots on the larch tree.
Thank you. That was taken with the finicky new Lumix that doesn’t want to take macros.
You must have talked very nicely to it.
I think it knew that I wasn’t happy with it.
Thank you with much sincerity for all your wonderful nature photography. The quotes are quite moving at times and I often share them with others. Appreciate nature is what I live by and your blog is a lovely way to accomplish that when other things limit my outside time. Thank you.
ARZ
You’re welcome and thank you very much. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that this blog is a passable substitute for when they can’t get outside but I do hope they’ll try to get out as much as possible. It’s a beautiful world out there!
Wow. You are, by far, my favorite blogger. I love your posts and the quotes at the end are perfect. I learn so much. A friend and I just bought triplets and are having a ball studying tiny things.
The feather may be from a Morning Dove. The morel looked perfect, I’m jealous. If the cap and stem are hollow and look like that, you are good to go.
Question. About three weeks ago, we found shrubs in a very wet area. They had bright red, tiny scraggly blooms. Much like a Beaked Hazelnut, but without much bud underneath. My friend went back to check about a week later and these red buds were all up the sides of the twigs. Alternately, I believe. Could send a picture. Thank you!
Thanks very much Cindy. I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. This world is full of tiny things to study and some of them are unbelievably beautiful.
You were right about the feather. I never would have guessed mourning dove but I just looked them up and they match, so thank you for that.
There were actually 3 morels growing in a group but they were very small.
You have me stumped on the shrub with red flowers but I’m colorblind so I see things a little differently. American hazelnut, alders, and sweet fern all have very similar, tiny flowers but alder is the only one that likes we places. If you type “alder flowers” in the search box on this blog you will be able to see them, I think. If you want me to look at a photo I’d be happy to. You should be able to send it through the “contact me” page.
Those greens are just beautiful. May is indeed the prettiest time of year with those glorious greens punctuated with spring blooms.
Thank you Sue. I agree!
Here’s something you might like to check out: http://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/index.php
Thank you Quinn. That’s a handy thing but unfortunately I couldn’t find this feather, even though it gave me 322 choices.
Sorry it didn’t help! I think it’s a work in progress…;)
Don’t be sorry. It’s a great resource!
Someone else suggested it might be a mourning dove feather and that’s exactly what it is. Maybe I just didn’t notice it in the database.
Please DO keep trying to show us everything about New Hampshire spring. Your sharp eye is amazing.
Those ladybug eggs must have been tiny – hard to imagine one small ladybug depositing all those eggs. It’s a wonder you saw them.
On a beautiful day, your ride to work must be extraordinarily pleasant. Looks like a fabulous road for cycling.
Thanks for another great post. Perfect with morning coffee.
You’re welcome and thank you Judy. I don’t plan on giving up blogging right away.
Yes, the ladybug eggs were tiny and it was their color that led me to them. The only way I could see any detail is by taking a photo and zooming in on it.
I do have a pleasant ride to work but it’s not all on that road. I see people cycling on it all the time. There’s very little traffic so it must be an enjoyable ride through dense woods.
You’re welcome and thank you Judy. I don’t plan on giving up blogging right away.
Yes, the ladybug eggs were tiny and it was their color that led me to them. The only way I could see any detail is by taking a photo and zooming in on it.
I do have a pleasant ride to work but it’s not all on that road. I see people cycling on it all the time. There’s very little traffic so it must be an enjoyable ride through dense woods.
Another great blog NHGS! I am wondering if the feather belonged to a Blue Jay?
Thanks very much Nancy. I’m not sure. I know blue jay feathers do have black on them.
Yes, there’s so much happening in the spring around these parts, too. I love ferns. Ferns are such an elegant springtime plant.
Thank you Cynthia. Yes, spring would be very different without the ferns. I look forward to seeing them all winter.
It’s great to see that spring is in full swing in New Hampshire. So much new life is reflected in the unfurling of all of those wonderful leaves. I really enjoyed your shot of the morel mushroom, which looks to me like a brain. I am not much of a mushroom eater and am not sure I would ever chance eating a wild one.
Thank you Mike. I’m with you on eating wild mushrooms. I’ve read too many horror stories about people being poisoned by them and I’m not overly confident in my identification skills.
It certainly has been a beautiful spring. I’m heading off to Bethlehem for 2 weeks to continue with TouringNH, hoping to find many of the small joys your post highlighted!
Thanks Laura. I can’t wait to see what you find up there. Happy hunting!
I thought your river shot was very nicely done. I’m not a big fan of photographs the make flowing water look blurred to signify motion because that’s not how my eye sees it.
Thanks very much. I agree with you on blurring moving water. Some say it shows motion but I think if you see a shot of a stream you know it was moving.
Gosh, you go to work early. I loved all the ferns and the final reflection.
Thank you Susan. Yes, it takes nearly an hour to get there so I do have to leave early for work. At this time of year I often leave even earlier so I can dawdle and take photos along the way. I’m glad you liked them.