Hemlock Trail
By Corey • May 9, 2007 • 4 commentsAn evening walk on the Hemlock Trail at Saratoga Spa State Park is a wonderful experience. The areas where the hemlock groves stand make me think I am in the Catskills. I was hoping to find warblers, and where the trail crossed a small stream, I found one and it was a beauty. A male Black-throated Blue Warbler, silently foraging near a not-so-silent Black-capped Chickadee and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of him, but I did get a picture of a small pile of garbage:
No, it’s not a warbler but there’s a reason for the picture, and a story behind it. My attention was attracted to that section of the woods by a Hermit Thrush, and the Hermit Thrush led me to the garbage, which as you can see includes bottles, which made me think about Julie Zickefoose’s post about bottle-gardens, so I decided to check the bottles out to see if any plants were growing inside of them. The bottles were a bust because they had been used for target practice. They were both a bust and busted, as a matter of fact. But right behind the random junk pile grew trillium!
I’d only ever encountered these flowers before in hemlock forests in the Catskills, so I felt even more like I was at Indian Head or Sugarloaf.
And because this is a bird blog, here is a Blackpoll Warbler picture I took last year on a hike up Sugarloaf Mt:
Love your blackpoll photo and much better than what I have ever been able to capture! Also love your red trillium shots! BRAVO!
Careful there Corey… I think you’re becoming a flower photographer. That’s a great shot of the Trillium. I’d love to see one sometime. They’re pretty rare in NJ.
Patrick may be right, Corey. That trillium shot is outstanding.
Thanks…it’s amazing what a macro lens and beautiful subject matter can do.