Monday, April 15, 2013

April 15, 2013 - A Few Miles from Home

Bitterbrush close-up

Locoweed

Bitterbrush in full bloom

The cherries are almost done blooming...

and the apples have just begun.

This evening my husband and I went for a drive out to the section of the McNary Refuge that's along the Walla Walla River.  The bitterbrush - one of my favorite local shrubs - was in full, glorious bloom!  We found a few other plants blooming, as well...some locoweed, some biscuitroot, and some flax that hadn't quite yet opened up.  Lots of fiddlehead flower, of course, and plenty of mustard.  'Tis the season for the mustard to be in bloom!  I must have seen at least four different varieties.
 
I also found portions of a skeleton I couldn't quite recognize.  I think, most likely, it was a beaver.  There are quite a few in that area.  Then, on the way home, we viewed the fruit trees coming into full blossom, or as in the case of the cherries, just finishing up bloom.  There were plenty of wind machines running last night, to keep the blossoms protected.  And we saw a pair of deer, right next to the highway, and ponds filled with ducks and geese.  They've mostly moved off the river at this point, and are in quieter places to nest.  It is such a joy to watch them - I was glad we went that way this evening.

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