Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring's beauties...

It was cool this afternoon at 46 degrees, but it was sunny, and you could feel the shift of winter to spring in the warmth of its rays, so I headed over to the Little Miami River to see if any wildflowers were blooming. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk very long, but I wanted to see some of spring's beauties...

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - the first wildflower of spring.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
Spring Beauties are one of the first ephemerals to bloom along the Little Miami River.

...the five stamens and long thin leaves of a Spring Beauty make it easy to identify this spring ephemeral.
When identifying Spring Beauties, look for five stamens with pink anthers and long thin leaves. The stem is often reddish and the petals have beautiful pink striations.  


Golden-crowned Kinglet...another one of spring's beauties (...although we have Golden-crowned Kinglets in our woods all winter, they look especially sweet in spring).

18 comments:

Gillian Olson said...

Love the flowers and the kinglet, happy spring.

Guy said...

Hi Kelly

What beautiful series of spring inspired photos.

Thanks
Guy

Janice K said...

I guess I need to take a walk in our woods. If our Spring Beauties are blooming, they must be hiding under some leaves.

Kathy A. Johnson said...

What a darling little bird. Lovely flower photos, too.

TexWisGirl said...

we get spring beauties in january and february here. love them. and love those tiny kinglets!

grammie g said...

HI Kelley...Your Spring beauties are just that "beauties"! I love the micro shot's It has warmed up some here to 50ish in daytime, still a real nip in the air though!!
The Kinglet is a real beauty too,we don't have them here!!
Nice to see a post from you !! : )
Grace

Jenny said...

Aptly named flower Kelly. Your Kinglet is very much like our Goldcrest. Lovely and lively! (-:

Roy Norris said...

Stunning Spring beauties Kelly.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi There, Glad you found a little spring up there. We don't have much here yet. BUT--I saw 2 new birds recently at my feeders (Purple Finches and Red Crossbill)... Neat, huh?

Hugs,
Betsy

Mary Ann Gieszelmann said...

Good to see your always special pictures again, Kelly. You have taken a little time off, but I understand--I've done the same.

Debbie Miller @HooootOwl said...

Such delicate beauties in perfect light. LOVE the kinglet :)

Elaine said...

Beautiful little spring flowers and a wonderful shot of the Kinglet. No spring flowers here yet....

Montanagirl said...

Beautiful photos! Welcome back, Kelly! I've missed your beautiful photography!

Chris said...

Ok that kinglet shot is a beauty and you know I prefer feather than plant ;-) Beautiful post Kelly...

Marie said...

Hey Kelly, good to see you post again. Hope all is well with you. Love the kinglet--I got my first shots of one this winter!

Cindy said...

Fantastic and beautiful.

Julie G. said...

This delightful spring post certainly brightened my day! Lovely photographs! So nice to see beautiful blooms and one sweet kinglet. I can't wait for more spring-like weather to arrive here in Chicago.

Kelly said...

...thanks, everyone! Aren't these flowers a sight for sore eyes? I have a lot more photos to come of spring ephemerals. Hopefully I can get back on track and post regularly.

It's raining right now as I write this....but April showers bring May flowers!