Tim Myles: 2013 Spring Foray to Kelso

A lovely cool breezy day, blue skies. In the morning we watched birds on our ponds, admiring the productivity of ducks and geese, one mallard hen with 11 ducklings, two goose families, one with 5, the other with 7 goslings. Around 11am we headed to Kelso, thinking to climb the ski slopes we have so often watched in winter. Admission was $6.50 apiece, but in the end worth it. We ascending the ski slopes, using a pair of bamboo ski poles Alicesara had purchased as climbing sticks. The grassy slopes were steep but after a short climb we had a great view, of slopes, lake, fields and forest, the 401 hardly noticeable.

Turkey vultures glided just overhead, above them many swallows and higher still, seagulls. Many wildflowers in bloom, really almost too many to name, but including coltsfoot, white baneberry, dandelions, red columbine, herb Robert, mayapples, hawthorne, and honeysuckle.