swallows by the pond
There were barn swallows, tree swallows, and rough wing swallows, all eagerly swooping above the pond. With my naked eye in the dusky late afternoon, I could not see what their meal was. The camer...
red ash mystery
Clearly, the ash tree likes to do things symmetrically. The trunk in the background shows the typical opposite-branching pattern, the leaf stems in front show the same pattern, and on each leaf, le...
pinecone willow gall-midge
There are so many of these dried cone-like structures on this particular willow tree that I was sure it was some kind of samara or seed pod, despite recalling nothing like it in any description of ...
Heart-leaved willow
The "heart" shape of the leaves is barely discernible, but unlike the other willows, this one has leaves that spread outward and back a bit before curving into a long, typical, willow shape.
False buckthorn
There's just one specimen of this plant, as far as I can tell, but it's a very dense shrub near the pond. I don't know what this strange orange-red growth might be.
Flowering dogwood
In the interior of the park, I haven't seen the showy blossoms (actually bracts) of the flowering dogwood; either they're other dogwood species, or not in flower. But in the public area of the park...
lilac-colored flowers
Thanks to NH Gardener, I've discovered these are Wild Geraniums. This is one color that doesn't come through the camera nearly as vividly as to the eye. It's really quite a beautiful shade of lilac...
Beech leaf mystery
Beech leaves can have more or less red coloration, especially in spring. Here, we see red and green leaves on the very same baby tree. On this young tree, one branch seems to have chosen to be more...
