Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchids

 

Every spring I make a pilgrimage into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to see pink lady's slipper orchids. It took a walk in the hardwood forest around New Hope, Pennsylvania, to find yellow ones. Click to enlage.

These are the first wild yellow lady's slippers I've ever seen. They are not just a yellow version of pink lady's slippers; they are a different species. 

Aside from the color difference, they grow in different settings. The pink ones prefer dry, acidic habitats like pine forests. Yellow lady's slippers are found in richer, moist hardwood forest understories. Note the long spirally twisted lateral petals. And the puffy pouch. Folklore says that squirrels wear lady slipper orchids for shoes. The bunch I found had exactly four blossoms -- a perfect set. 

Brown-headed Cowbird

 

A male brown-headed cowbird. It's famous for something it does not do... build nests. Female cowbirds lay eggs in the nests of other birds -- over 200 have been documented. Those other birds end up raising cowbird chicks with their own broods. I've seen small birds feeding chicks larger than themselves -- cowbirds.  

Brown-headed cowbirds are historically associated with buffalo herds. Traveling herds kick up insects and flatten tall grass revealing seeds, and both help the birds find a meal. These days cows and horses are more likely than buffalo, but the birds don't really need them. I saw this one in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, far from grassy fields of grazing mammals. Click to enlarge.

Pink Lady's Slippers

Pink lady slipper orchids are blooming in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Click to enlarge. 

I made my annual pilgrimage this week to see them, but arrived a few days early. They were up but not yet proudly displaying their pink pouches. 

Just cute, green, baby lady slippers. I went back later in the week...

And look at them now! The pink lady slipper is a lovely wild orchid native to the Eastern United States and among the earliest blooming NJ Pine Barres orchids. 

 They take a long time to grow from seed to flower and require special conditions that include a relationship with soil fungus. Once established, they bloom yearly and may live for 20 years. 

Another Nice Walk in the Woods

 

I saw two wonderful things while walking in a mature hardwood forest in central NJ this week. The big pileated woodpecker pictured above was calling loudly and pecking insects off a fallen log. Pileated woodpeckers can be about 20 inches long with a wingspan of more than two feet! It was one big woodpecker! Click to enlarge. 

Then this! It's a jack-in-the-pulpit. A shade specialist and very exciting to stumble across.  

From a 19th century poem by Clara Smith: 

"Jack-in-the-pulpit preaches today,

under the green trees just over the way."

  

April Woodland Wildflowers

I was wildflower hunting in the spring woods of Pennsylvania this week. Here are some of the pretty things I found. Click to enlarge.

 

Great white trilliums.  

Yellow trillium, also called yellow toad shade. 

Purple toad shade, also called little sweet Betsy. 

And the lovely trout lily, or yellow adder's tongue. 

  

 

Spring Nesting

 

This spring I am monitoring nest boxes at a local county park again. For the past several years, I've watched tree swallows like the one above, build nests and rear young. Click to enlarge. 

Before settling in, birds investigate the nest sites. Today this one landed on one of mine and then flew away. And then...

This eastern bluebird showed up! Bluebirds also use these boxes, but I haven't so far had them use my boxes. I would love to photograph them nesting.  

Which will it be? Swallows or bluebirds? We will find out soon. 

Happy Easter

 

I met this eastern cottontail rabbit on my street yesterday. Timely appearance, rabbit. May everyone's Easter be happy and peaceful.