Barred Owls and Buttercups

     Yesterday I took my first paddle of the year. While I had opportunities to go earlier in the year, it was way too cool. When warmer temperatures did arrive I was under doctor's orders not to lift anything over 20 lbs until the end of April. Yesterday was not ideal with strong northeasterly winds, overcast skies, and with the threat of rain, but I would not be deterred. I headed inland and west to the Blackwater River, and put in at Joyner's Bridge near Walters. This river is lined with one of my favorite trees, bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), freshly leafed out in an impossible shade of green. Paddling among these giants connects me with something much older and much larger than myself. This genus has witnessed 100 million springs, when the first seedlings somehow manged to avoid trampling from creatures like Tyrannosaurus Rex, while Pterosaurs flew overhead. While I saw neither creature yesterday, their descendants were numerous. Ospreys, great blue herons, cardinals, crows, wrens, sparrows, yellow warblers, wood ducks, wild turkeys, and pileated woodpeckers were all present, but the greatest thrill was being able to approach a barred owl while smaller birds were trying to peck its head.

     Of course the cypress were not the only plants I noticed. Resurrection fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) was full and fresh from recent rains.

     Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus)

     American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)

Viola affinis

     As green as the river was, many of the nearby fields were equally as yellow, cloaked in a blanket of buttercups (Ranunculus species), and I couldn't help stopping for a quick trespass. This European invasive is toxic to cattle and horses, but it is also distasteful, and when there is enough good forage livestock avoid it.