Today we revisited both the Nothstein Preserve and the Van Buskirk Preserve, both of which we had hiked in March before the deciduous trees had gotten their leaves and the earth awakened from its winter slumber. We started the day at the Nothstein Preserve. As we began the hike on the now grassy path, it seemed like a completely different world. The brown tones were replaced with hues of green, and the trail once covered in snow was lined with fern and wildflowers. As I was walking and keeping my eye out for wildflowers, I came upon a Red Eft which is the juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt. We saw many of these along the trail today, as they are not hard to find due to their bright orange color. The Red Eft is poisonous to anything that eats it; therefore I assume this is the reason for it not having to camouflage itself. We followed the trail upward to the red rock quarry we had seen last time. Now the oaks and birch trees were filled with bright green leaves. The beautiful pitch pines stood tall showing off their prickly cones, but the views of the ridge beyond were now masked by the leaf covered trees. After exploring the quarry we made our way through a grove of pine where I spotted a Lady’s Slipper Orchid. The genus name of this orchid is “Cypripedium.” It comes from the Greek word Cypris which in Greek mythology is a reference to the Goddess Aphrodite. Pedilon means sandal, and the orchid’s labellum resembles a slipper; hence, the name “Lady’s Slipper”. It was a unique find and a very curious looking flower. Next, the trail took us over a bridge and over Cranberry Creek. I remembered this section from winter because everything here was covered in snow at that time. We followed the trail along the creek. It looked so beautiful with its many cascades flowing over the moss covered rocks, and its False Hellebore strewn banks. When we arrived back at the trailhead, it was still pretty early in the day. We decided to stop by the Van Buskirk Preserve which is just a few miles away. Here again, everything looked completely different covered in lush, green foliage. I remembered back in March, we had passed by a vernal pool full of singing wood frogs. This time, the pool was filled with tadpoles. I guess those frogs we heard in early spring were busy! As we hiked past the ruins of the old Van Buskirk Farm, I could smell the sweet fragrance of flowers from the Black Locust trees. By now the day was warming up and the sun was shining high in the sky. I made a plan to revisit some of the other preserves we had seen over the winter to experience them in a new season.
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