Pictured, above, a ridgetop fragment to the west-southwest of the entrance to Mount Washington State Forest, Mount Washington, Mass. The soaring bird in the photograph surprised me, having been captured undetected in the final frame of a series of rapidly snapped pictures. I was working for focus on the ridgeline with a long lens. Only when the photographs were out of the camera and on my screen did I discover the bird.
Was it a raptor soaring above the mountaintop? But there is no raptor with a forked tail in our landscape! I sent the photograph to Greg Ward, renowned birder and plantsman. Greg, with friendly modesty, answered, “I am pretty sure it is a Barn Swallow. The forked tail, pale buffy belly, dark wings and head are all field marks that say Barn.” I pondered the fact that barn swallows fly into my garden on insect-hunting forays, arriving from their nests in my neighbor’s barn, but are not seen over the mountaintops. Clearly, the barn swallow that seems to appear over the ridge is an optical illusion made by the camera capturing the bird in the foreground of my long lens aimed at the distant ridge.
The bucolic setting at the entrance to Mount Washington State Forest parking and trailhead welcomes visitors to stroll and linger in a manicured pond-side environment as well as take to trails that lead through meadow, forest, and stream-side environments. Whether dropping in for a stroll to botanize and birdwatch or to head out on a hike to mountaintop vistas, the preserve keeps giving.
Within the first 50 to 100 feet of the trail entrance, at the edges of the path on flat ground, five species of native spring ephemeral wildflowers grow in family groups or delicately rise from leafy green carpets.
The wildflowers in the photograph appear at the base of the first hedgerow at the trail entrance. In addition, an expanse of flowering, prostrate blueberry plants flourishes on either side of the trail. Look for their small white blossoms.
Leaves and flowers of Canada Mayflower, also known as wild lily of the valley (Marianthemum canadense), form a mat of smooth, pointed-oval leaves. In this patch, a white flower spike emerges from the center of many of the plants, preparing to burst into full bloom.
In the center of the picture, Starflower (Lysimachia borealis) sports a blossom composed of six or seven white petals as well as one tiny flower bud. A whorl of six lance-shaped leaves radiates from the top of the stem, below the starflowers.
See the red berry, Partridge-berry (Mitchella repens) on the ground to the left of the starflower. Small dark green leaves, each with a white midrib, are visible trailing on woody stems in the vicinity of the berry. Diminutive white flowers appear in early to mid-summer.
Foam-flower, whose poetic Latin name, Tiarella cordifolia, suggests a tiara, while the specific name cordifolia means “with heart-shaped leaves.” Best described as “frothy spikes of white flowers,” foam-flower is a fine ground cover for home gardens.
A captivating, unmistakable native spring wildflower, Wood Betony, Forest Lousewort, or Chickens’-heads are colorful common names for Pedicularis canadensis. It is an intriguing native plant found scattered trailside beyond the entrance to Mount Washington State Forest, especially to the left of the trail just before the forest begins. An attractive food source for pollinators in May and June, yellow-flowering clumps appear near ruby-red individuals. Dense rosettes of leaves with rhythmically indented margins surround the flowers.
