On the north end of Green Timbers Lake, there is what I believe is a crabapple tree. It’s all by itself, almost crowded out by tall mahonia and IIRC a cottonwood tree. I think there’s some Ribes in the little clump of vegetation as well.
It’s kind of an odd, random collection of plants along the lakeshore, most of which is probably the result of passing birds and time.
Just sayin’
I’ve been waiting for about a month for the wild lily of the valley to bloom in the park. It’s finally starting now.
In the photo, if you look closely on the lower right, you can see a small drop coming off one of the anthers. I’ll assume that it’s a pollen drop, and that it has some kind of odour to attract pollenating bugs.
For some reason, I’m finding it hard to get a good, clear, detailed shot. All that busyness and white just kind of blends together.
I’ll keep trying though. There is one little ‘lily grove’ that’s on top of a stump. When that flowers, it will be a eye level and not ankle level like most of the rest, and I should be able to zoom in closer and steadier. Call me lazy, but that’s easier than using a rubber mat to lie down in the mud. But, perhaps if we get a few dry days….;-)
Here in the lower mainland around Vancouver, we live on the migration route for a number of bird species. Having a lake in a park sometimes helps to lure them in.
A pair of ring-necked ducks showed up on Green Timbers Lake this week. (Well, at least I haven’t seen them on the lake before.) They are freshwater divers and apparently this area is about the northern extent of winter habitat. The top photo would be the male and the photo below would be the female.
I guess time will tell as to whether they’ll move in with the resident mallard ducks and stay all year.
Those were the words that came to mind, as I started out on a walk today: “Wow, it’s just so green.”
After a couple of days of fairly steady spring rain, it was great to get out this morning. The rain had just stopped, and the water was still dropping off the trees on the path to Green Timbers Lake. In some places I actually needed a hood to keep dry.
Wet. But, I guess that’s why they call our area “the wet coast’, isn’t it. It’s also what keeps us so green, so we can’t complain.
The air was fairly warm, the light was perfect for photography and most folks were still just thinking about getting out. Perfect.
Wild lily of the valley is like a carpet in a couple of areas at Green Timbers Park. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have competition though.
Here’s some bracken fern poking through the lily carpet. Seems to be doing pretty well too.
If you look closely, you’ll notice the flower spikes on the lilies are soooo close to opening. Won’t be long now.
Green up is well on it’s way around here. The tree canopy is closing up and the forest is smelling new and fresh. Looking north across the lake at Green Timbers Park, you can see the different hues in the leaves of alder and cottonwood trees.
Most days you can hear the blackbirds calling in the marsh in the foreground. Oh yes, and the fishermen are lined up along the banks to the right and left of me as I took this shot.
Love it!
Well, after being laid low by an old war injury er…a back muscle spasm for a few days last week, and a quick Easter trip over to Vancouver Island, I finally got back to Green Timbers Park again.
I was particularly interested in how the Lily of the Valley was doing. Its small flower spikes have been present for some time, and the canopy above them is starting to close up with alder and cottonwood leaves. I was worried that I had missed the flowers, but no so. They are clearly on the verge of opening up, but, as luck would have it, it looks like they’ll need a few more days.
With the warmer temperatures lately, the northern black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) leaves are just starting to unfold. In the next few of weeks, their aroma will fill the air, followed by fluffy balls of their seed floating everywhere.
The cottonwood has quite a distinctive, fresh aroma, and for anyone living in valley bottoms, it’s a true confirmation of spring. It doesn’t get much better than sitting on the bank of a rushing river or stream with the smell of fresh green leaves in the air.
Boy, this little spring exercise in natural history has shown me how much biology I’ve forgotten. For 20+ years, I followed the nature quite closely, as the work was tied to the biology of plants and bugs. With more recent careers, not so much.
Nowadays, I have to dig a little deeper for the info I’m looking for. Truly a use it or lose it kind of thing, I guess. This spring has been a good reminder.
There are sections of the trail around Green Timbers Lake where the forest floor is covered by what I believe are Wild Lily of the Valley (with the ungodly name of Maianthemum dilatatum).
The flower buds are just starting to spike, and with the warm weather forecast for the next few days, I’m hoping for some serious blooming going on.
It should be quite a show.
donsca 