short-winged blister beetles

I had two of these cool-looking critters on one of my jack-in-the-pulpit plants. Good thing I didn't try to touch them - they can exude a fluid that causes blisters. But I didn't know that then - I took photos so I could ID them. It took me a while since their wings are not at all obvious so I thought they didn't have wings - I wondered if they were the larvae of something. In the end, it was a "go through the insect guide page by page until you find a matching picture" process, but that did work and here are some pictures of Meloe angusticollis.

Potato bean

 

These pretty flowers belong to the groundnut - a common food source in colonial times, and probably in the early years of nationhood as well. Here is a bit of local information about them. They are a legume, but also have edible tubers - hence the name potato bean, which is the first name I learned for this plant. Other plants also go by the name groundnut, but this is the only one I know of in my region. I didn't find this info in any of the references I looked at, but the potato bean flower has a sweet, pleasant scent that is enhanced by the warm sun (as are most flower scents, I think). I wonder if these would grow in my yard? These are growing in some open land up the street from my house. Apparently they are pretty easy to transplant via the tubers, but I wonder if I have enough sun. Could be a good experiment...

High summer meadow

Goldenrod & Purple Loosestrife - hard to see the Joe-pye-weed

Lady Slipper

The first I've seen blooming this season.

Holly flowers

We all know the berries, but have you noticed these?
And you can see this spring's new leaf growth as well, and some "winter burn" or some such damage on a couple of the older leaves.
I'm not sure if this is Ilex aquifolium - English holly (I suspect it is), or Ilex opaca - American holly.  Either way, it is pretty.

kayak

Concord River

My husband and I got out for our first kayak of the season today.  It was a beautiful sunny day with just a light breeze and temps in the upper 60s.  We chose to head to a put-in not far from our house, since it was getting to be late morning by the time we got organized, but we decided to go downstream first, since we hardly ever do that and the wind was light.  As it turned out, the wind was with us as we paddled upstream on the way back and we didn't have to work too hard at all.  All in all, pretty much a perfect paddle.

We saw great blue herons, Canada geese, red-wing blackbirds, tree swallows, a red-tail hawk, a turkey vulture, several painted turtles and a snapping turtle.  We heard many, many birds without seeing them, and we saw a beaver lodge and lots of beaver chew, but no beavers.  We did, however, see several mysterious splashes.  As you can see in the photo, the leaves are not fully out yet, but they are coming - we are in full spring mode here in New England.

flowers!

forget-me-not - so cheerful and unassuming, they come up in different spots different years

violets - always so sweet - these grow all around my house, including these on my front walkway

trillium - I transplanted this from my neighbor several years ago - it hasn't spread, but it comes back every year (this hasn't fully opened, but it looks pretty this way also)

Japanese andromeda - I just learned the name of this one today, even though it's been here for years - not native, but not invasive, and quite sweet smelling (a robin has built a nest in the bush near my back door)

bloodroot - so this flower has already dropped its petals, but it is a very cool plant that is spread when ants take the seeds back to their tunnels where they then grow

shadbush - this looks better in real life than in a photo, but once this blooms I know spring has arrived

beech leaves

The American Beech trees have finally lost last year's leaves.  That means that the new leaves are about ready to pop out.  And that means that spring is here.

Spicebush

One of the sweetest smelling early bloomers - even if it isn't showy.

blooms

So spring is finally making a slow entrance here in New England.  Each day the views look a little greener, and today we hit temps above 70ºF for the first time this year.  These pics are from a couple of days ago, and there are more out there now!

a cool fungus in my yard - no id yet

marsh marigolds

pulmonaria (lungwort)

skunk cabbage

frog

Just reporting the first frog sighting in my own little stream this spring.  I guess this warm rain finally tempted them out.

I'm glad it's warm enough for frogs again

Now if only that stubborn pile of snow outside my back door would melt...

a better pic

The owl moved, in the same tree, and I was able to get a better picture.  She (just a random guess) clearly noticed my every move when I was in her field of vision.  So beautiful!

wonderful - Barred Owl