A Bluebird!

 

I saw this eastern bluebird today. Click to enlarge. It is easy to see why Henry David Thoreau said "The bluebird carries the sky on his back," right? It also seems to obey traffic signs... 

Memorial Day 2026

 

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

 

from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon

Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchids

 

Every spring I make a pilgrimage into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to see pink lady's slipper orchids. It took a walk in the hardwood forest around New Hope, Pennsylvania, to find yellow ones. Click to enlage.

These are the first wild yellow lady's slippers I've ever seen. They are not just a yellow version of pink lady's slippers; they are a different species. 

Aside from the color difference, they grow in different settings. The pink ones prefer dry, acidic habitats like pine forests. Yellow lady's slippers are found in richer, moist hardwood forest understories. Note the long spirally twisted lateral petals. And the puffy pouch. Folklore says that squirrels wear lady slipper orchids for shoes. The bunch I found had exactly four blossoms -- a perfect set. 

Brown-headed Cowbird

 

A male brown-headed cowbird. It's famous for something it does not do... build nests. Female cowbirds lay eggs in the nests of other birds -- over 200 have been documented. Those other birds end up raising cowbird chicks with their own broods. I've seen small birds feeding chicks larger than themselves -- cowbirds.  

Brown-headed cowbirds are historically associated with buffalo herds. Traveling herds kick up insects and flatten tall grass revealing seeds, and both help the birds find a meal. These days cows and horses are more likely than buffalo, but the birds don't really need them. I saw this one in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, far from grassy fields of grazing mammals. Click to enlarge.

Pink Lady's Slippers

Pink lady slipper orchids are blooming in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Click to enlarge. 

I made my annual pilgrimage this week to see them, but arrived a few days early. They were up but not yet proudly displaying their pink pouches. 

Just cute, green, baby lady slippers. I went back later in the week...

And look at them now! The pink lady slipper is a lovely wild orchid native to the Eastern United States and among the earliest blooming NJ Pine Barres orchids. 

 They take a long time to grow from seed to flower and require special conditions that include a relationship with soil fungus. Once established, they bloom yearly and may live for 20 years.