HAPPY EASTER FROM THE WEST HYLEBOS WETLAND!
Mother Nature was going out of her way to tease me today. When I first entered the park, I thoroughly checked all of the false bleeding heart plants for blooms. They always bloom just before Easter, but we've had such crazy weather this year that I wasn't sure they were going to make it. When I looked at them last Monday, they didn't look anywhere near blooming. When I checked them early this afternoon, there wasn't a bloom in sight. I was really disappointed by their failure to appear on cue. As I started back around the loop from the Brooklake viewing platform, I spotted a single bleeding heart bloom. By the time I reached the area near the two big oak trees, I was spotting brand new bleeding heart blossoms all over the place. They chose to make their appearance during the four and a half hours I spent roaming around the park. These are brand new and quite fresh, so they haven't gained their true shape and color yet, but will in the next few days. The upper half of the blossoms will take on a very distinct heart shape, while the little round part at the bottom will turn dark purple, looking much like a single drop of blood suspended from the tip of the heart. Christian folk-lore believes that this signifies the blood lost by Christ on his way to crucifixion. Since it always blooms at Easter, this symbolism isn't lost on me. False bleeding heart isn't the only plant that blooms in the park around Easter time and holds meaning for Christians.
Trilliums are another. Dash Point State Park has trilliums by the hundreds, but they're few and far between in the West Hylebos Wetland. I generally find them growing on either side of the boardwalk trail near the Brooklake spur at this time of the year, so was intently searching for them today. I got well past the point where I usually spot them and was intently checking the forest floor to my right, feeling really disappointed not to have spotted any. Giving up, I turned around and, there they were......a great big clump of them, in full bloom and looking very classy in the sunshine. They were fresh and beautiful and all dressed up in their Easter best. Trilliums hold importance for Christians because their blossoms form three lobes, symbolizing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or The Trinity. Some of them turn purplish as they age, once again symbolizing the scourging of Christ on his way to the crucifixion.
Brand new fiddlehead ferns are poking their way up through the forest floor. Some look like this.
While others look like this. Two different kinds of ferns creating two distinctly different shapes.
What kind of wildlife did I spot in the wetland today? Quite a few actually, despite the fact that sunshine and warmer weather really attracted visitors to the park, most of whom were not even trying to move slowly, or carefully, or look around. For the most part, adults strolled quickly around the boardwalk and, from my observation, looked neither left nor right as they walked. Children, on the other hand, mostly ran, jumped, or hopped down the boardwalk, being as noisy as possible. One child insisted upon leaving the boardwalk and cutting his own way through the wetland, despite the fact that both his mother and I demanded that he return to the boardwalk and behave himself. He made a point of ignorning both of us. And, of course, I spotted two couples walking their dogs down the boardwalk, despite the fact that the boardwalk is posted "NO DOGS ALLOWED". I informed both couples that dogs weren't allowed on the boardwalk. One couple gave me the "I am so offended by your presence" glare and patently ignored me. Some people grow larger, but never quite grow up, if you know what I mean. The other couple said that they hadn't seen the sign, then promptly took their dog back to the meadow and walked her around the trail behind Marlake instead. On days like today, it's very difficult to spot wildlife. Speedy, noisy people tend to scare them off. This is understandable. The wetland is full of predators. Everything in the wetland eats everything else in the wetland. He who lives longest is he who responds appropriately to the approach of predators, either by fleeing or hiding, and humans are considered to be predators.
So, what did I see amid all of the motion and racket? Well, first of all, I saw some beautiful little yellow warblers, like the one in the photo above, flitting around in the tops of the trees. I saw two male bald eagles circling in the sky, traveling from west to east. About ten minutes later, I saw a single male bald eagle flying east to west. Their white heads and tails caught the sunshine and stood out like headlights in the sky. They were beautiful. I saw seven Canada geese at Marlake, in addition to a mated pair of hooded mergansers, a mated pair of buffleheads, a lone ring-necked duck, three red-winged blackbirds (two males and one female), and a spotted towhee.
The violet-green swallows are back. Of course, the resident American robins, dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows, and black-capped chickadees were in abundance. I could hear a woodpecker pecking away somewhere in the wetland, but couldn't spot him.
The clumps of amphibian eggs that I think look like brains are still sitting deep in the water of Marlake.
And there are a few tiny clumps of amphibian eggs floating or, or near, the surface. But most of the eggs are gone now. If you're patient, and you look really hard, and the light is just right, you can spot teeny-tiny tadpoles swimming among the water grasses on the bottom of the lake.
The eggs on the log-boom have gone missing again. You can just barely make out the slightest bit of goo left on top of the log where the eggs used to be.
I thought that the sunlight would draw out the snakes. After all, they've been snoozing all winter and must be really hungry by now, so you'd think that they'd be out warming up in the sun so they can hunt for food. This is the only snake I spotted though. He was moving like greased lightning, so was plenty warm.
As I crossed the orchard, I could hear the frogs singing like crazy back in that wet patch between the orchard and the trail. They were so loud that it was amazing. My first thought was, "Oh, my gosh, I wish I could photograph that sound!" I wanted to share it with you so badly; but, of course, you can't photograph sound. I found a large red-legged frog at the Deep Sinks.
And another much smaller one in the water nearby.
Although my favorite tree-well is stuffed full of a variety of amphibian eggs, I still haven't seen so much as a single frog there. I wonder where they are?
Some of the old salamander eggs are still hanging around, although looking a bit undesirable at this stage of their growth. The other, smaller, glob is long gone.
But, the pool adjacent to the one with the old eggs is full to overflowing with salamander eggs. There are big globs of salamander eggs nearly everywhere you look!
And the moss-covered log just above that spot is liberally covered with eggs of another kind. There are so many eggs, that it doesn't matter whether you look down in the water, or up on the log, you can't help but see eggs. They're everywhere! There are hundreds of them! But, you do, of course, have to actually stop... and look.
Twinberries are getting ready to blossom. Soon these will open into pretty yellow trumpet-shaped flowers, that will later turn into deep purple berries.
I also spotted some tiny bright blue butterflies flitting through the new growth and some big fat black and yellow bumbly-bees feasting on salmonberry blossoms. Wasps were busy checking out the wooden railings of the boardwalk. I still think they're collecting wood to build nests, but don't know how to prove that. It was such a beautiful day to wander around in the park. The sun was shining and the temperature rose all of the way up to 54 degrees F., although the wind picked-up in the afternoon and it got a bit gusty as the day went on. You couldn't ask for a better Easter weekend than this! I hope you get a chance to get outside and enjoy it! Why not have a picnic in the park?