From Wilderness Time Travel To Modern Apps

The world is saturated with news and social media coming at you from every direction these days. It's nice to know that if you're willing to take a walk into a nice patch of woods you can get a break from all that. Sometimes I get a feeling of time disorientation when I'm deep enough in the woods. If this patch of woods had a time portal that brought me back to 1826, would I be able to tell that I left 2026 behind? There are no buildings or man-made objects. There is only wilderness which seems timeless to me. 

Eastern Towhees existed in 1826 so that wouldn't be much help!

Now back to 2026. I started using an app called PlantNet which diverted me from bird watching and sent me down a rabbit hole. I always wanted to learn a little more about flowers and plants that you come across in the woods but didn't had the patience to flip through a field guide to figure out one plant at a time.

I believe this first plant is called Panax trifolius commonly called dwarf ginseng. It is native to the northeast. The tubers are edible and it was used for traditional medicine by Native Americans. One of the things that amazes me is the number of plants in the woods or in your backyard that are considered edible. I've taken a chance on a few things that I was positive about but if you make a mistake you can get very sick or worse!

I've seen these plants many times in the woods. The app identified it as false hellebore. I have noticed that the app does make mistakes. It relies on the photos you upload and usually sends a response of likely possibilities. Sometimes 90 percent likely and other times 20 percent likely but usually not 100 percent on anything. It seems that false hellebore is extremely toxic to humans and cause severe in livestock if it is eaten during early pregnancy. Yikes!

From wilderness time travel to identifying plants with a modern app! A walk in the woods can be very rewarding if you're mind can remain in the present!

Save That Ravine For Windy Days

Temperatures are starting to improve but winds ruin that. Birds are more difficult to find on windy days and birding is certainly a less pleasant experience. Rather than skipping out on birding altogether, I try to find a sheltered area. 

There is a small ravine park right down the road from me. The protection from high banks on both sides of the path makes it a great place to visit on windy days. The wind is practically non-existent here!
Instead of running for cover, birds like this beautiful male cardinal were out singing their spring songs.Blue Jays aren't the most popular birds because they come across as brash and rude to some but if you had never seen one before you might be impressed by their tailored suits.I took a closer look at a Dark-eyed Junco which will soon be on their way until next winter. I was able to hear a few new spring arrivals including Pine Warbler, Palm Warblers, and Eastern Towhees but these new arrivals were still a bit shy.

If you want to get out in nature on a windy day, just look for some well protected woods!

American Robins Weren't Always This plentiful

The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut. Early settlers named it a robin because it had a similar red breast to the robins in Europe but the American Robin is actually a thrush, while the European robins are actually related to flycatchers. It used to be said  they were a sign of spring but they have become increasingly plentiful in the winter over the last 50 years -(They tend to eat berries more during the winter while the ground is  frozen).  

During winter bird counts in the 70's they might have tallied up 1000 total robins in Connecticut but now they are recorded by the tens of thousands. Their numbers were also affected in the past by the use of the insecticide DDT but since it was banned, the population of robins has greatly increased. There are tons of robins now but I'm not complaining (except when they declare war on your car). They are a sharp looking bird!
 

Perch Power & Snowy Egrets Don't Like Snow

I took a short ride along the shore last weekend and spied a white bird perched on top of a post that didn't look like one of the gulls. When you're looking for birds, finding a good perching area is always a good thing. Dead branches, chain-link fences and piers along the water are all spots where you may have luck seeing a nice bird out in the open.

There's a little bit of irony when it comes to naming this bird a Snowy Egret (black bill/yellow feet). You're not likely to see Snowy Egrets around where there's snow unless they get caught unexpectedly in a storm. More mild weather conditions suit them better. Then again there's always the possibility of a rebel in the bunch. The Beautiful Snowy Egrets were nearly extinct because in the 1800's women used the egret's plumes to decorate their hats. Teddy Roosevelt opened the first federal bird reservation at Pelican Island, Florida in 1903 which helped protect them from extinction. Now their populations are doing just fine.