Buds bursting into gorgeous blooms

Sharp-lobed Hepatica, photo Brandon Corder on iNaturalist.

Folks were out in the Preserve by the hundreds this weekend, be it for the perfect walk with family, for a family picnic at one of the fireplaces, or birding during spring migration. Many marveled at the sights of wonders of nature in spring. My grandchildren were looking for ducks and were surprised by the loud chorus of big frogs in the Picnic Point Pond marsh, who stared at the with many beady eyes barely above the the water surface. Others talked about a muskrat along the shore, and red-tailed hawks circling above. Brandon Corder was capturing the beauty of the first wildflowers in spring on his walk, and shared them on iNaturalists and with us here: the delicate lavender-purple wide-open blossoms of the early Hepatica flowers, and the white trout or fawn lilies covering wide stretches of ground along the path. He also spotted Dutchman's breeches, Fawn lilies, also called trout lilies because of the brown-speckled leaves, and even the big snow trillium with its three leaves and big bud. Spring has come with a mighty force and and all of nature seems to rejoice.