Exploring Nature in New Hampshire
I thought I’d start this post with a few plants that many people walk right by without noticing them. I know at least some do this because I’ve been walking behind them when they did. Or maybe they saw them and didn’t care. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter as long as you see them. I’m starting [ ]
Last Saturday started out to be a beautiful day so I went up to Beaver Brook Natural area. It had been a few months since I had been there last and I have to say that I do miss it after a while. After all, I’ve known the place since I rode through here as [ ]
I was happy to see that the cedar waxwings had returned to the stretch of the Ashuelot River I visit frequently. They always appear when the berries start ripening and when the evening sun has a certain slant. They’re beautiful sleek birds that are fun to watch as they fly back and forth across the [ ]
The goldenrod is blooming and that means the beginning of a time of transition. The leaves of plants that grow on the forest floor like sarsaparilla, false Solomon’s seal, Jack in the pulpit, deer tongue grass and many others will begin yellowing and dying off and their fruits will ripen. Fall always begins on the [ ]
On a whim last Saturday I went up to the deep cut rail trail in Westmoreland. Two years ago the trail had suffered lots of flooding when a huge stone slab broke loose from the canyon wall and dammed a main drainage channel. I wanted to see if it was any drier than the last [ ]
Like the rest of the country, and the world I suppose, we’ve had about a week of very hot temperatures. Hot enough so they’ve told the elderly to stay inside in air conditioning. I don’t feel elderly unless I spend time looking through the past, but I’ve followed instructions for the most part. I’ve waited [ ]
A week or two ago I made an aborted attempt at following the trail along the Ashuelot River. I had forgotten to put on bug spray and the mosquitoes turned me back. On this day I remembered the bug spray and tried again. We’d had thunderstorms during the week and the river was high. That [ ]
One day last week I decided to return to the beaver swamp to see if I could get some better shots of the rose pogonia orchids that grow there. It was a very windy and changeable day with clouds and sun, and rain possible in the afternoon. The waterlilies didn’t mind. There were many hundreds [ ]
I call this a pond but it’s really a wide part of a stream that flows into the Ashuelot River from Wilson Pond in Swanzey. I’ve seen many wondrous things here over the years. An odd thing I saw here recently was this painted turtle floating as if it were just floating in space. Actually [ ]
This post is an attempt to make up for the lack of flowers in the last few posts. It was difficult to choose a flower to start this off with because there are many flowers that say “June.” It came down to the two I think most people who live in this area think of [ ]