Andrew Trundlewagon's photos with the keyword: spring

Spring flowers

Spring has arrived, the snow has melted, the frogs are out of hibernation, making noise and feeling frisky..

An American Red Squirrel.

A male hairy woodpecker (Pic chevelu; Leuconotopicus villosus) in the woods, St. Bruno, Quebec.

A certain sign of Spring, the frogs are spawning. A Northern leopard frog with spawn (Lithobates pipiens or Rana pipiens/ Grenouille léopard)

Snow is still on the ground but the first real sign of Spring; two frisky red squirrels chasing one another.

A couple of goslings, (oisons). Canada Geese.

Azalea

Flowers of marsh marigold (Populage des marais) growing by a lakeside, lac Moulin, St. Bruno, near Montreal.

The inconspicuous flowers of Micranthes virginiensis, the early saxifrage or the Virgina saxifrage. This is an early spring wildflower that grows on rocks. The stems are long and leafless. A small rosette of dark green leaves hugs the rock surface. (Parc St. Bruno, Quebec, near Montreal). It is thought that the long stems prevent the pollen being taken by beetles and favours productive pollination by bees and other flying insects.

Red trillium (Trille rouge, Trillium erectum) grows on the forest floor as a spring ephemeral before the leaves of the trees are fully open and block the light. The flowers are pollenated by flies and are said to smell of rotting meat, (for which reason they are sometimes called stinking Benjamins), although I have not noticed this. The outer coat of the seeds is very attractive to ants, which carry them to their nests, and in this way distribute the seeds through the forest. Unfortunately the plants are equally attractive to deer, and a recent explosion of deer numbers in the locality has diminished the numbers of trilliums that can be seen each spring.

Chipmunk against a snowy background. Now that the weather is warming they are coming back out to greet the spring after a long winter below ground. In a strict sense, they don't hibernate, as they wake up periodically through the winter to feed on nuts and seeds stored in their burrows.

The bridge is looking at you?

A Bohemian waxwing (Jaseur boreal). They are migrating back to their breeding grounds in the North and just passing through here near Montreal. A flock stayed for a week or so eating all fruit remaining on the trees after winter or fallen on the ground. This picture shows the red markings in the wing quite well, which is supposedly where the name waxwing came from as it resembles the red wax used in seals. This was late in the afternoon and the birds seemed to show a strong preference to remain in the shadows.

Virginia Bluebells, a spring flower of the woods, Bestview Park, Toronto. They spread a carpet of blue under the trees.

Trout lily. A spring plant of the forest floor. St Bruno near Montreal. It can take as long as seven years growth before these plants flower. It is said to be called the trout lily because the mottled and flecked appearance of the leaves looks like trout skin. I don't see the similarity myself.

A small yellow plant of the forest floor. This is called perfoliate because the stem carrying the flower appears to grow through the leave (or rather the leave grows around the stem). St Bruno near Montreal.( Uvularia perfoliata )

White trilliums from the forest floor. A spring flower of the forest floor. They turn slightly pink as they age. The seeds are dispersed by ants which carry them to their nests to eat the outer coat. The inner seed is not eaten and can germinate. These plants are among the favourite food of deer. St Bruno near Montreal. The government of Quebec considers these to be vulnerable due to over collecting. This is especially a problem as it can take up to fifteen (!!) years for the plants to flower from germination, In addition, as noted above, they are often eaten by foraging deer which may also reduce their numbers. Since it takes so long to flower it is impractical to grow in greenhouses or commercial cultivation, but the unscrupulous are tempted to harvest it (illegally) from the wild for their gardens. Having said all this where they can be found they tend to be common and can form quite extensive patches of bright white that enliven the woods a few weeks after the snow melts. The very slow life cycle is summarized from the biodiversity web page of Quebec Govt (Rough English version follows). "Espèce poussant à l’ombre. Floraison au début du printemps. L’autofécondation prédomine et le taux de fécondité varie de 68 % à 88 %. Il faut deux levées de dormance pour la graine. Une première période de froid permet le débourrement de la racine. Un réchauffement subséquent puis une seconde période de froid débourrent le cotylédon. Il faut trois ans de plus pour qu’émerge la première feuille. Le stade juvénile à trois feuilles est atteint cinq ans ou plus après la germination, et la première fleur est produite sept à dix ans plus tard. Le trille blanc aurait quinze stades de développement; sa croissance est donc extrêmement lente. Les graines possèdent une caroncule charnue qui attire les fourmis, ce qui contribue à leur dispersion sur des distances de 4 ou 5 m." "This species grows in the shade and flowers in early spring. Self-pollination predominates and the fertility rate varies from 68% to 88%. Two periods are needed to break dormancy. A first cold period allows the bud to grow from the root. A subsequent warming then a second period of cold is needed to form the cotyledon. It takes three years for the first leaves to emerge. The three-leaf juvenile stage is reached five years or more after germination, and the first flower is produced from seven to ten years later. The white Trillium has fifteen stages of development; and therefore its growth is extremely slow. The seeds have a fleshy cover which attracts ants, and this enables their dispersal over distances of 4 or 5 m. "