"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (Wildflowers) May 30, 2008

Well where to begin? This is a very late entry about my weekend at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, May 30, 31, June 1, 2008. I wanted to make sure I share it with you because it was such a fantastically wonderful weekend filled with great people and plenty of new things to learn about nature. I've decided to break it up into several posts so it's not too long. This one will be about the wildflowers I saw. Below is just one of the fabulous views in Allegany State Park.

I feel giulty for not having more drawings, but let me explain what it was like. From Friday until Sunday you could show up for hikes or classes lead by experts in their field, all day long! There was one after the other, some at the same time, it was so hard to pick and choose which I wanted to go on. I filled 13 pages in my sketchbook with notes about birds, flowers and plants! We were constantly walking as a group so it was very hard to draw, the small amount of sketching I did was while I was walking! Seriously...you have to watch the ground so you don't trip! haha...

This page of my sketchbook shows a drawing I did while on a guided birdwatching hike. It was lead by Tim Baird of Salamanca, he's a retired science teacher who knows more about birds and plants than anyone I know! He has such a wonderful casual manner when you ask questions about everything you see....well um...that was me! I asked him about everything I saw! He was so patient!! haha...must be the teacher in him. Most of the flowers, plants and birds I learned about this weekend were from his walks. Thanks Tim!!

Dwarf Ginseng, shown in the little sketch above, a pretty little woodland flower.

I learned about this flower on a wildflower hike led by Mary Alice Tock, down by the lakeside. It's Cinquefoil, cinque (5) as in five leaves, five petals slightly heart shaped. Mary told us some things to look for when identifying wildflowers: 1. color 2. shape of leaves 3. # of petals 4. arrangement of leaves on stem, and how they're connected to the stem.

This is Clintonia, a woodland lily, also called Yellow Corn-lily or Blue Bead for the fruits it bears. I took this picture up at Thunderocks on my last day...more about that amazing place in another post!

This is Golden Alexander, shown in the sketch I did above while walking. It has a complicated flower head like Queen Anne's Lace, I forget the technical term...I'm sure someone can remind me in the comments.

This very pretty flower is Golden Ragwort, looks just like something that'd be growing in your garden.

This is Star Flower, found in the woods also, like a hidden gem just waiting to be noticed.

And this is a very well known wildflower, Trillium. I was lucky to catch sight of it in bloom here and in the Adirondack mtns.