More spring flowers!

These are some pictures from another hike my sister Joanne and I took last week, on April 18, at Champ County Park in north Florissant, off Old Halls Ferry Road. You drive through typical suburban streets, and then all of a sudden the street continues through some trees and you get to a park. There's a gravel parking lot with an open grassy area off to one side - but if you go the other way you find yourself walking through the forest, immersed in a natural setting that seems to have been hidden away from the miles of neighborhoods you just drove through to get there. It's a well-kept secret, but one worth sharing.

We saw some of the same flowers we saw at St. Francois State Park the week before, but some new ones as well.

Right at the edge of the forest where we had parked, we could see this tree blooming. It was small, an understory tree... Sassafras! We could even spot a few leaves with the classic "mitten" shape - and when we scratched at that bark, the unmistakable spicy aroma provided definite confirmation.

Spring Break, part 2

Here are the rest of the pictures, from the other half of my trip to St. Francois State Park on Sunday, April 12.

As I mentioned in the first post, my sister Joanne and I have developed a tradition of going out to St. Francois every spring in early April. (Our parents would come, too, but they have developed a tradition of going on a long train trip to Texas at around the same time each year!) We always drive down by the river, then go to the campground and hike the trail to the bluebells. We drive back to the picnic area at Coonville Creek, eat lunch by the creek, and then take our second hike, along a section of Mooner's Hollow trail.

This is where we see our second set of wildflowers - some of them are in both areas, but this is drier terrain, going up into the rockier ridges above the creek. A different ecological zone, where different plants grow.

There were a lot of dogtooth violets growing near the creek on the other side. Another name for that flower is "trout lily" - just like the ones I saw in Michigan last year, but white instead of yellow!

I spotted some toothwort but couldn't think of what it was called until Joanne saw some much later in the hike.

Spring Break, part 1

A little over a week ago my sister Joanne and I drove down to St. Francois State Park to look at spring wildflowers. This has gotten to be a tradition, we try to go down the first or second week of April so as to catch the bluebells at their peak. These photos were taken April 12.

It was a really pretty drive down, with lots of redbud and dogwood trees blooming along the rural highway. Then as we drove into the park, we could see wildflowers on the hillside along the road: orange-yellow puccoon, neon purple verbena,  bigger clumps of light- purple sweet William, and a glimpse of purple that were probably bird's-foot violets, which we hadn't seen there before. There were mayapples off in the woods, and as we drove along the creek toward the river, a carpet of spring beauties along the roadside...

We could see a few bluebells blooming along the bank of the creek, too - just a hint of what was to come.

We drove around the loop before stopping at the campground. Through the tallgrass prairie, then getting out at the picnic area to look at the river.

You can just make out a few green treetops, the ones that got their leaves early, off in the distance behind the grass stems.

The ground was carpeted with spring beauties (see above), purple violets and dandelions.

Bee Tree

A few days ago it had really warmed up outside. Crocuses were starting to open! I went for a walk to the park down the street, and checked the bee tree near the bridge to see if there was any action.

Sure enough!

This one shows several bees around the entrance to the hole - and an action shot of one flying towards it!

Soaking up those rays of sunshine!

Coming in for a landing...

 It's always such a thrill to see they are still there!

Squirrels in the Snow

I was getting photos off my camera and found one from almost a month ago that I had forgotten to post here. It shows what happens when you dump birdseed just outside the back door in wintertime.

Count them... SIX squirrels in one frame!

Down to the River

Today was unseasonably warm, and my family decided to go for a drive. My parents and I picked up my sister, who lives just two minutes away, and we drove out to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, which is located near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers - in the bottom lands.

(Here's the official website.)

It was really gorgeous out - sun shining, blue sky... I started out wearing a sweatshirt but ended up in just a T-shirt by the time we were done.

The whole area is a flood plain, but it was fairly dry this time around, and the road was clear. There's a whole series of wetlands, alternating with cultivated fields. The old cornstalks, cattails and other plants were really glowing golden in the sun!

We stopped first at the boat ramp, and almost as soon as we got out of the car my sister Joanne spotted a bald eagle flying! We had two pairs of binoculars so we all got a good look, even though it wasn't close enough to get a picture. It stayed in sight almost the whole time we were there, gradually making its way down the river.

We walked down the ramp to the river's edge. I found a couple of beaver sticks - evidence of wildlife, even if I didn't see the actual animal! The river was brown as always, but with the clear blue sky there were some bright patches reflected in the water as well. The brown of the river, the gray-brown of the trees, the golden-brown of the plants on the bank... the blue of the sky, the blue-brown of the reflections... it was quite a complex color palette, once you really started looking.

Looking across. 

More squirrels!

The squirrels in our yard are getting used to having birdseed put out. We've seen six, even seven or eight at a time out on the patio or the yard nearby! They have begun to notice that there is also seed in the squirrel-proof bird feeder hanging over the patio, and have begun to test it... It's been fun to watch.

At first the challenge was that of getting up to the feeder in the first place. Quite a few times we would look out just as a squirrel was trying to climb up the pole - only to be unable to get to the feeder once he was at its level! Although the funniest was on a rainy day, when the pole was wet, and evidently slippery - resulting in a frantic scramble of "climbing in place", ending with a hopeless slide back to the ground...

Now they have gotten to the point of getting onto the feeder itself - sometimes by climbing the pole, sometimes by leaping from the top of the cinder block nearby. However, as I mentioned, this is a squirrel-proof feeder - the wire cage around it slides down when something as heavy as a squirrel lands on it, and this covers up the holes. So I now keep seeing squirrels who have made it onto the feeder but cannot understand why they can't get any food out of it...

They also jump down really fast when you suddenly open the back door!