18 April 2015:

It’s Spring and there’s a lot to see.  Every day new songbirds arrive and new wildflowers bloom.  There are plenty of opportunities to join others and see the sights in western Pennsylvania (see the outings table below).  Here’s what I found last Wednesday …

At the Allegheny Land Trust’s Wingfield Pines I didn’t expect to see wildflowers because the site has been plowed so many times, but on the hillside I found a patch of bloodroot in full bloom!  Above, a closeup of the flowers.  Below, just a section of the huge patch.  Notice how the leaves curl around the stems.  The sunshine encouraged the flowers to open but made them hard to see and photograph on the forest floor.

Spring wildflowers are ephemeral so don’t wait or you’ll miss them entirely. Several of the bloodroot flowers had already lost their petals and gone to seed.

Here’s a list of April 19-30 outings for three of the many bird and nature clubs in western Pennsylvania: Wissahickon Nature Club (Wissahickon), Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania (BotSocWPa), and Three Rivers Birding Club (3RBC) … and my own outing on April 26.

Everyone is welcome to join these outings.  Click on the links for directions, meeting places, what to bring, and phone numbers for the leaders.

Let’s get outdoors!

(photos by Kate St. John)

p.s. Please excuse typos in the table.  Make sure to consult the website links for up-to-date information!  Call/email the leaders to make sure.