I visited Ann Lee Pond Nature and Historic Preserve this afternoon in search of a few particular species to see if they were in bloom in anticipation of offering one of my impromptu Lickety-split Botanizer walks early next week. Unfortunately, by the time I’m next available to offer such an outing, it will be too late to enjoy the showiest and most wonderfully fragranced of those. So, please, make time to pay a visit to this preserve in the next couple of days! If you go, take the trail with the plastic bridge over the pond and into the woods, then stay left at each intersection until you find your way back out of the woods; go straight past the dam/outlet and return to the parking lot.
Hope you are able to stop by and see (and smell) the gorgeous Early Azaleas in bloom before their floral show draws to a close for another year.
Happy trails!
NOTE: If you haven’t yet signed up as a Lickety-split Botanizer to receive notifications of my future impromptu wildflower walks, please visit the Lickety-split Botanizer webpage for more info. Each of these walks are not otherwise announced and you must be registered to be invited. Join today! It’s FREE!
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. The full moon of May is known as the Flower Moon because many wildflowers bloom during this month. Indeed, fully 25% of the wildflowers that I have inventoried on local nature preserves, parks, and trails begin blooming during the month of May.
For example, here is a sampling of some of our native species of wildflowers that begin blooming throughout May:
Little wonder that American Indians were inspired to name this month’s full moon after the colorful displays created by these native blooming beauties.
The Full Flower Moon will rise on Friday at 1:34pm.
(Click on image below to enlarge.)
Mars best viewed in W sky at 42 degrees altitude and Venus in WNW sky at 25 degrees altitude (NOTE: A star will rise in the east and set in the west and at any given time it will have some height about the horizon (e.g. ground) which corresponds to the angle between the star and the horizon. When the star is directly overhead at zenith, that angle is 90 degrees. This angle is called altitude.) SOURCE: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/usa/albany-ny
So, what else might one see looking skyward at night in May? What asterisms do you know?
An asterism is an easily recognized star pattern that lies within a constellation. Their names have come into popular usage because they are a convenience—an easy way to navigate the sky. Take a closer look at the sky map above and see if you can discern any of the following in the night sky this month.
Keystone: Look near the center of the image above for the Keystone, a compact pattern of four stars that lies within the constellation Hercules, the Hero. Hercules is a sprawling constellation, the fifth largest in the sky.
The Kite: Boötes is another of the largest constellations in the sky. Its name comes from the Greek word Βοώτης, Boōtēs, which means ox driver, plowman, or herdsman. This constellation is dominated by The Kite, a diamond-shaped asterism formed by its brightest stars with Arcturus, the brightest among them, anchoring the tail of The Kite.
Little Dipper: Off to the left, look for the Little Dipper asterism, part of the constellation Ursa Minor, or the Lesser Bear. At the end of the dipper’s handle is Polaris, the North Star.
Dragon’s Head: Between the Little Dipper and The Kite is the body of Draco, the Dragon, which culminates in the Dragon’s Head, a four-sided asterism.
Parallelogram + Northern Cross = Summer Triangle: Below the Dragon’s Head, look for two very bright stars. The nearest one is Vega in the small constellation Lyra, the Lyre. Beneath Vega is a small but symmetrical asterism, the Parallelogram. A bit lower and farther to the left of Vega is Deneb, marking the tip of the Northern Cross, which lies on its side at this time of year. These two stars, plus brilliant Altair, comprise the three corners of the large asterism known as the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle will be prominent in the night sky from now well into autumn.
I am very disappointed to announce that I must CANCEL this walk for next Thursday since several of the showiest (and most fragrant) blooms will be done blooming by then.
Today, I visited Ann Lee Pond Nature and Historic Preserve at noon with a small group of my co-workers to get a “sneak peak” at the target species for my walk next week.
While I’m happy to report that we enjoyed our walk, the few Early Azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum) flowers we found were nearly done blooming already, such as this fragrant cluster –
We also found several Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum) like this one –
Also, we only found one Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) in bloom. Unfortunately, none of these will be around at the end of next week. Ironically and in addition, none of the Yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) had a flower stalk! So, if you can, I urge you to visit Ann Lee Pond Nature and Historic Preserve this weekend and enjoy these blooming beauties while they’re still available!
If you go, park in the lot along Heritage Lane directly across from the apple orchard. Then, walk past the locked gate and follow that trail to the plastic bridge over Ann Lee Pond. Immediately after crossing the bridge, walk slowly along the path and watch for pink blooms of Early Azalea along both sides of the trail. When you get to the fork in the trail, go left (and left again at the next fork) and continue to the portion of trail where the Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) come up to the edge of the trail on your right. Continue along this path to near the end of the lengthy fern patch, then head out amongst the ferns and look for Painted Trillium. After you’ve viewed them, retrace your tracks over the bridge and return to the parking lot. Or, you could also continue along this path past the fern patch and then go left at the next fork in the trail. This path will take you back out to the outlet of the pond and the small parking lot just beyond it. Continue walking toward the larger parking lot in the distance (that is where you started), which is across from the apple orchard.
Today is Endangered Species Day. Every year on the third Friday in May, people around the world participate in Endangered Species Day by celebrating, learning about, and taking action to protect threatened and endangered species.
Why are species at risk? While there are a number of causes, the principal reason contributing to the decrease in species diversity and especially the rapid decline of some individual species is habitat loss.
Given the ongoing global pandemic, organizers are suggesting alternative ways that you can celebrate Endangered Species Day.
A few days ago, I posted about the ‘Pollinator Party’ activity of Endangered Species Day. The following photos are native species in bloom that provide food to pollinators – the real focus of today’s ‘party.’ Each of these are considered exploitably vulnerable.
American Bittersweet (AKA Climbing Bittersweet) (Calustrus scandens)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Canada Lily (Lilium canadense)
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Common Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Early Azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum)
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Great Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)
Pink Lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata)
Fruit of Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra)
Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)
Striped Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
Wake Robin (purple form) (Trillium erectum)
Wake Robin (white form) (Trillium erectum)
Wake Robin (yellow/green form) (Trillium erectum)
Fruit of White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
While each is at risk, there remains reasonable optimism that none of them will become threatened or endangered, provided we each do our part to help ensure their continuing existence.
Curious By Nature 