Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A Walk in Another Woods

I was headed to the Lake yesterday, to see what had changed since the last time I was there. I took a different road, and was so glad that I did. Because as I was driving down that road, I noticed a kiosk and some cars parked. I was curious, so I stopped. It turned out that it was the Whiting Road Nature Preserve, consisting of 240 acres of land that was purchased by the town to be preserved in its present state.

Naturally, I decided that this was a better destination than the Lake, so I pulled out my camera and started hiking. Thank goodness I had my walking sneakers on. There are lovely paths throughout, which are very easy to walk on.



They're not trying to return the area to a native state, and it is just full of two very invasive plants.

Wild Honeysuckle - though this one was a very vibrant pink.



Wild Roses - The place is loaded with these and, while here at home, I am fighting a constant, and losing, battle against them, I want to make sure to come back and take a walk when they are in bloom. The smell ought to be wonderful. I also want to see them in bloom because there seem to be several different types of these roses, and I think I'll be better able to tell when they come into flower.



And, oh the growing things. There was this plant. It had no flowers, but the leaves were the most attractive things.



In the deeper parts of the woods, there were many kinds of ferns.





And, my goodness, the flowers that I found.

Fleabane



Double Celendine Poppy



Dame's Rockets



Mustard



Herb Robert



Ground Ivy



Woodruff



Wild Strawberry



Toothwort



Star of Bethlehem



Remember, I'm a novice at this identification thing. So, if you find anything you think I have wrong, please let me know and I'll change it.

Of course, there are a couple of mystery plants. This first is just budding. It looks, though you can't see it in the pictures very well, like the flowers will have a pink or red color.




And, there was this lovely bush everywhere. At first, I thought it was just more of the wild honeysuckle, but as I looked closer, I could see that it wasn't. The flowers hang from the underside of the bush, like Solomon's Seal, but the flower shape is different, and the plant is woody.



I spent a couple of hours just meandering along a few of the many pathways. There are more to explore. The pathway is multiple use, but no motorized vehicles are permitted. I met a few other walkers, some runners and a bicyclist. They were all smiling, and quite friendly. I also found shod hoofprints on the wetter parts of the path, so I know that someone is riding there. Biggggg hoofprints, maybe a draft. For sure, I'll be going back as the year progresses, to see what new things I can find.

7 comments:

IsobelleGoLightly said...

Any goatie prints Auntie Louise? hee hee! It's nice to have that nearby! Pretty place.

Upupaepops said...

sounds like someplace that might make use of a friendly volunteer.

Perhaps they might offer nature walks with guides to help learn some of the plants. I find that people who enjoy nature rambles don't hesitate to share information about it. Ask those you meet, you might find a good plant guru. From your postings it sounds like you have a lot of non-native cultivated plants that have gone feral, which certainly adds to the challenge.


Getting to know a place like this is a great pleasure, year round.

Sharon said...

Great pictures! What a nice place to visit and take your lovely pictures. Did you see any critters? Thanks for the walk in the park, I always love looking at your pics of your treks!

Tina said...

Nice pictures, I love the path, I would love to go hiking there, reminds me of my childhood and the sunday trips to the forest for hikes....

Roses and Lilacs said...

It's good to see communities setting aside natural places to walk in and enjoy.

The dame's rocket it blooming everywhere here. It forms little colonies along country roads and is a lovely site. I've seen it listed as an alien invasive but since it competes with garlic mustard in habitat sites, I (personally)don't consider it a threat.
Marnie

BlueRidge Boomer said...

Beautiful place....great pictures!!

Enjoy

Inger said...

You are so blessed with wonderful nature to explore close by your home. I remember wild roses and rosehip soup from my childhood in Sweden.--Inger