Sun in the Forest
Happy Fourth of July weekend! We hope you enjoy the holiday and get outdoors for a hike under the beautiful summer tree canopy and bright sunshine. Find something new in the woods near you!
Read MoreYellow-throated Vireo
The Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons) seen here did plenty of singing and foraging for me on a recent spring morning while his mate tended to their new nest. They were located, as always, on the edge of a large forest, and while they love the cuts they do need sizable, unbroken woodlands. If you take a look at them from afar you may wonder why they have such a plumage…but if you look at some of my photos you may not have to ponder that anymore. What a perfect camouflage, especially in the spring! I have no doubt those looks help the species coax their insect prey into easy...
Read MoreLarge Whorled Pogonia (Isotria verticillata)
Well, it only took Twan three years and several trips to find this beauty flowering, but last week it all paid off: meet the Large Whorled Pogonia (Isotria verticillata), one of the strangest-looking of our native orchids!
Read MorePainted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)
One of these days I’ll stop posting pictures of Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum), but they’re just too pretty not to… Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read MoreIndigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
This Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) ((and what a very appropriate Latin species name that is)) may be a first-spring male coming into his full blue splendor. He was belting out his song in this forest cut, perching on tree branches on the edge of the woodland and finding a shrub or two to allow me a better look while snagging a snack. They are persistent songsters with the tune carrying on all morning and likely through the afternoon. If you are truly lucky – like Twan – then you regularly get to see these birds in your backyard at your thistle feeder. What a striking contrast...
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