Zooming - June 2015

The ‘zooming’ post is a little earlier than usual this month…but it was such a good month for outdoor subjects that I didn’t want to wait. Can you find:

• A wild flower?
• A garden flower?
• Dogwood?
• A wood frog?
• Rattlesnake fern?
• Garlic scapes?
• Milkweed?
• A feather?
• A goldfinch?
• Birds nest fungus?

Violets and Rattlesnake Fern

Violets and rattlesnake fern have been ‘finds’ over the past few weeks. Violets were not new to me - I notice them when they bloom every spring. What I had not noticed previously was the seed pods that are produced afterward. This year they seem to be everywhere - or I am just recognizing them for what they are.

The rattlesnake fern is new to me. It is a very different kind of fern. I saw it first in the Patapsco Valley State Park near Belmont and then noticed many more plants at the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area. I’ve added arrows to this picture ---- everywhere I noticed one there seemed to be other growing nearby! It looks different than many ferns in that the fronds come from a central stalk and

The spore producing frond is almost like a ‘flower’ above the leaves. I found myself wanting to photograph the variations of that spore producing frond!