pameladean

Last Friday Raphael and I went out to Elm Creek Park Reserve to look at the ephemerals. Traditionally our first spring expedition has been to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, but for the past few years Nerstrand has been too wet for us to feel like making the drive. This year all the trails on the south side of the road were closed because of standing water, the Prairie Creek crossing above Hidden Falls was closed because of high water, and waterproof hiking boots, which neither of us has, were recommended for the north-side trails. I hope we'll go later to see the wild geraniums and yellow violets blooming, but it won't be quite the same.

Elm Creek was not especially wet. The little pond by the nature center was brimming, but not enough to prevent the frogs from singing. There were a couple of green darners patrolling the edges of the boardwalk and the emergent vegetation; some hooded mergansers; some mallards; a pile of turtles sunning on the single non-submerged log; swallows swooping over the water; and a vast horde of yellow-rumped warblers hawking insects in the maple that hangs over the water at one end of the boardwalk. The yellow-rumped warblers were all over, in fact, which cheered us quite a bit.

The ephemerals were considering the situation. There were a lot of leaves but not many flowers yet. We did find some spring beauty, which grows abundantly around the nature center. Here is a photo of some, in which I did the thing where I zoom in the cellphone camera wrongly and get some weird effects.

( Cut to spare your sensibilities, since I am not a good photographer )