Vernal: A Spring Photo Project (Day 11 through Day 20)

On March 20th, the date of the spring equinox, I started a new photography project.  The title of this project, Vernal, translates from Latin as "of, relating to, or occurring in the spring".  My plan is to photograph something in nature every day of the season through the summer solstice (June 21st).  Last year I did a similar project for summer; who knows I may keep this going through the summer months too...

If you missed my images of the first ten days of spring they can be found here, otherwise enjoy the new photographs!

Day 11 (30 March 2019) - Raindrops on Alium and Tulip

This picture was taken at ground-level in our flower gardens at home.  While the focus of our gardens in native plants (We love the pollinators!), we definitely make room for spring flowering bulbs.  I must have planted close to 400 bulbs last fall to replace and replenish those that have died out over the past several years.  This image has been cropped from the regular 3:2 format to a widescreen 16:9 format to emphasize the plants as they emerge from last year's leaf litter.  Don't rake those leaves out of the flower beds - they're free mulch!

Day 12 (31 March 2019) - Friends, Robins, Countrymen...

This American robin (Turdus migratorius) was photographed at Chipp-A-Waters park in Mt. Pleasant.  Perched upon this decaying stump, with its chest puffed out, this robin looks like an orator standing upon a stage ready to address an audience.

Day 13 (01 April 2019) - Blackbirds

  This image of birds silhouetted against backlit clouds was photographed at Forest Hill Nature Area near Alma.  Spring can be rather dreary at times and I think this photograph would work just as well to illustrate the month of November.  Forest Hill was originally acquired by the Gratiot Conservation District and has been operated as a nature center by the Gratiot-Isabella Regional Education Service District (GIRESD) since the 1990s.

Day 14 (02 April 2019) - Potential

Early spring is all about potential.  We know what spring will become, but we are stuck waiting.  Se we search for signs everywhere.  Birds newly arrived from the south.  Green grass peaking up in the lawn.  Or the buds of buds of a boxelder (Acer negundo) swelling with the potential of new leaves.

This image was photographed at Mill Pond Park in Mt. Pleasant during a foray to photograph red-winged blackbirds.  The blackbirds didn't want to cooperate, but the trees were willing.

Day 15 (03 April 2019) - Marsh Marigold 

On this day I found my first marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) plants of the year at Mission Creek Woodland Park.  Some of the ground remained frozen in the shadowy areas of the wetlands, but seeps running down to the creek create warmer microclimates.  This plant was emerging from the water in one of those seeps.  To capture this angle of the backlit leaf, I placed my camera directly on the ground next to the seep and used the digital viewfinder to compose the shot.  Normally I don't use the viewfinder, but it is a nice feature for shots like this.

Day 16 (04 April 2019) - Acorn Caps

On Thursday April 4th I had several classroom programs canceled due to a scheduling conflict.  This gave me the rare opportunity to escape into the woods for an extended time.  With my schedule opened up I drove to the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Audubon Woods Preserve to walk the trails.  I found this cluster of acorn caps hanging on a broken limb dangling from a small pine tree.  I like this image for the simple composition and the variety of textures on the caps and branch tip.  Audubon Woods is my favorite CWC preserve - I spend several days there each spring and fall conducting forestry studies with students.

Day 17 (05 April 2019) - The Ant and the Crocus

This photograph was taken in the flower garden along the south side of our house.  Every evening when we come home from work, before we step through the door, we walk around to look at what the plants in the garden are doing.  These crocuses are among the first flowers to bloom - attracting bees, flies, and ants to the pollen and nectar.

Day 18 (06 April 2019) - Up Periscope!

Those little periscope-like structures are known as sporophytes.  They are the reproductive part of a moss.  Under the right conditions, mosses will grow those sporophytes; when the capsules at the top open up their spores will be released to the mercy of the wind and rain.  Most will never grow into a new plant, but a lucky few will land in a place with just the right conditions and establish a new colony.  This picture was taken at Audubon Woods Preserve prior to a guided hike.

Day 19 (07 April 2019) - Wood Frogs

This picture of mating wood frogs (lithobates sylvaticus) was photographed at Forest Hill Nature Area.  This picture already appeared in my previous post.  To learn more about the mating habits of wood frogs click here.  I know it's only April, but this is the early front runner for my favorite image of the year,

Day 20 (08 April 2019) - Pollination Station

I photographed this small native bee on striped squill in our lawn.  Along with grape hyacinth, this small plant moves around in or flower gardens and invades our lawn.  I never know for sure where it will pop up each spring, but the early pollinators love it.  In addition to this native bee, I saw a couple European honey bees taking advantage of a warm sunny day to fuel up on squill nectar and pollen.