A Great Rainy Day

Snow Trillium

Hepatica

Harbinger of Spring

While it was not necessarily a beautiful day, it was a wonderful day today.  I made a trip to Adams County, Ohio in the rain to hunt for Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale).  I would have loved to have ridden the motorcycle down, but I hate riding in the rain, and that was the name of the game today, never ending rain!

In many years of hunting wildflowers throughout the country, I had never observed Snow Trillium.  Birders and butterfliers usually refer to a previously unobserved species as a "Lifer".  I have never heard plant people use that term, but if they did, or do, then I could declare I got a Lifer today!  Facebook friend Andrew Gibson was nice enough to give me great directions and finding the elusive, white-flowered beauty was a piece of cake!  It is found in only a handful of counties in Ohio, and only two counties that qualify as Appalachia, which is my regional focus this year.

Along with the Trillium, I found Hepatica nobilis trying hard to bloom in the yucky rainy weather.  Hepatica is pretty common in my part of the world in southeast Ohio, but it was nice to get it on the record so early.  Also found Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) blooming in the flood plain of the small creek which the limestone ridge that held the Trillium overlooked.  I knew Erigenia would be blooming soon, as it is one of the first of the spring ephemerals, but I figured I would just go to The Ridges in Athens as I know where it grows there.  Once again, another good one to get in the books early.

I reckon the next species to keep an eye out for will be Coltsfoot, another early bloomer.  Then Rue Anemone, Trout Lily, and other Trilliums will be popping.  April will be a busy month!

Things are picking up!

Snowdrops, growing on a hillside along Clear Creek Road, west of the Metro Park.

Hazelnut

Lake Ramona on the west end of Clear Creek Metro Park

Covered bridge at the intersection of Thompson Road and Clear Creek Road in southern Fairfield County, Ohio.

Today was the best day of the One Thousand Flowers project so far.  I added four new species to the list including: Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), Hazelnut (Corylus americana), Common Alder (Alnus serrulata), and Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana).  Hazelnut is common along the length of Clear Creek Road in southern Fairfield County, as is Witchhazel. 

Alder is common at Lake Ramona pictured above.  The alder was a bit of a surprise.  I was not expecting it to be in bloom so early.  As a family we have visited Lake Ramona many times, to hike or go fishing.  My son once caught a very nice Largemouth Bass fishing off the dam.  There are two docks at the lake, one is accessible from Clear Creak Road, the other from a picnic area above Lake Ramona.  Below Lake Ramona I found one Skunk Cabbage still in bloom.  This was a little surprising in that this one bloom was all that could be seen of the Skunk Cabbage.  I remember the Skunk Cabbage at Lake Ramona to be far more common than that.

I observed my first butterflies of the year today as well.  A Question Mark was basking in the trail, not far from the Skunk Cabbage, and then a Mourning Cloak was playing chicken with cars along Clear Creek Road where I had parked the motorcycle.  Felt good to be back on the bike!

The covered bridge above is at the intersection of Clear Creek Road and Thompson Road.  I parked the bike at the bridge and walked to the hillside covered in Snowdrops.  While Snowdrops are not native, they have obviously naturalized (and multiplied) to the site and therefore are fair game for the One Thousand Flowers project. 

I am glad that flower activity is beginning to pick up.  I now have ten species for the year.  Next Monday, I hope to be in Adams County hunting for Snow Trilliums!

The Beginning

Species #1 - Taraxacum officinale - Common Dandelion

With this bright and cheery dandelion, the One Thousand Flowers project has begun.  I never would've thought the first species of the year would be documented on January 10!

The One Thousand Flowers project is essentially a Big Wildflower Year that I am undertaking for 2013.  It is much like the Big Butterfly Year I completed in 2011, just with wildflowers.  In the Big Butterfly Year I had but one rule, for a species to count I had to get an identifiable picture of the butterfly.  For the One Thousand Flowers project I have added a few additional rules.  Once again, I must get an identifiable photo of the plant's flower or fruit.  The other rule is that the plant must be native or naturalized to the Appalachian region and found in a 'wild' condition, meaning it was not intentionally planted.  All plants that fit the above criteria are fair game, including monocots, dicots, ferns, and gymnosperms.  The only catch is that I must observe the plant in flower or fruit.  So, for example, ferns will count but only if I get a good photo of the sporangia (spore producing structures) on the back of the leaves.  My goal, as you can probably guess, is to document 1000 plant species during the year.

Why am I doing this?  Because I am a glutton for punishment of course!  Because I cannot be happy if I am not in a constant state of over-whelm!  No, actually, I am semi-obsessed with nature (I think of it as Creation), and learning about all of the incredible species of plants and animals with whom we share our backyards.  As a boy, I would capture grasshoppers and butterflies.  With age I have graduated from a coffee can to a camera.

A lot of people know me as the Butterfly Guy, but actually my formal training started with plants.  I hold a Masters Degree from Ohio University where I majored in Plant Systematics, which is a fancy way of saying wildflower identification.  Sure, there is more to systematics than just that, but who wants to get into phylogenetic relationships, cladistics, and the like!  My thesis was a plant inventory of the former Ohio Mental Hospital grounds in Athens, Ohio.  And not once have I encountered any of the wacky ghosts that supposedly still inhabit the site.  :(

I am also doing this to draw attention to a region of the country that is special to me, Appalachia.  My family has lived in Appalachia since the 1860's.  Appalachia has a very rich natural and human history, and I would like to tell that story.  Of course, some parts of the story are sort of sad.  Appalachia also has a lot of poverty and environmental degredation, and I'd like to tell that story too.  A part of telling these stories is the blog you are currently reading, which I will update regularly as I travel and add to the species count.  Another part of the story will be found in the book I write and calendar I produce at the end of the year, fifty percent of the profits from these going to ministries in Appalachia that battle poverty and environmental injustice.

I hope you will be a regular follower of this blog.  If you would like to financially assist with travel costs of this project, please visit: http://www.gofundme.com/1swe8s.  There are some pretty nifty thank you gifts that go with your donation.  If you cannot donate financially, and I realize times are tough, then I ask that you support me with your prayers, encouragement, and enthusiasm.