Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It's All Red, Gloria


The Red Colors of a Summer Forest


Summer in an eastern forest is all about green. Everything, so it seems, is green. We have adequate rainfall to thank for that. The green is a good thing, since it means that chlorophyll-containing plants are photosynthesizing, and therefore growing and releasing oxygen to the atmosphere. And it's just so darned pretty!

But what it also is, that green world, is a great backdrop for all the other color highlights to be found in the forests. Probably most people's favorite such color would be red. It's a rich color, uncommon enough in the woods to be special.

Wild Columbine Flowers
Columbine
In reviewing months of video footage I've recorded this year, I noticed a number of red splashes among the greens, and thought I'd feature just some of them. There's unquestionably more to be found out there, so this isn't intended to be an exhaustive display. Just a few to point out what a treat it always is to discover a bit of red in the woods. Enjoy.



Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet tanager

Red Maple Leaves
Red maple, turning early

Red maple buds in spring
Red maple buds in spring

Purple Trillium Flower
Trillium

Partridgeberry
Partridgeberry

Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Groundnut Flower
Groundnut
Blackgum, turning early
Blackgum, turning early

Dragonflies in the "mating wheel"
Dragonflies in the "mating wheel"

Turkey vulture
Turkey vulture

Indian pipes
Indian pipes

Mushroom

Red eft (juvenile red-spotted newt)
Red eft (juvenile red-spotted newt)

Lunch!

Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

Red bellied woodpecker
Red bellied woodpecker
Cardinal flower
Cardinal flower

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