This Week at Hilton Pond

Bill Hilton Jr.
Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
York, South Carolina 29745 USA

Appalachian Spring 2010 (22-30 April 2010)

As always, participants in the just-completed New River Birding & Nature Festival in West Virginia were enthralled by natural wonders of the Mountain State, so "This Week at Hilton Pond" we share some up-close images of Appalachian spring birds and wildflowers we observed while conducting Festival workshops and leading field trips. To view the installment for 22-30 April 2010--complete with photos of a terrestrial orchid and a site-faithful nuthatch--please visit http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek100422.html . We include a list of all birds banded and recaptured during the week-long Festival at Opossum Creek Retreat.

Figure 1. This showy orchis (Galearis spectabilis) in West Virginia is one of many North American orchids that—unlike tropical species that are epiphytic—are strictly terrestrial. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

Springtime Ferns (1-10 May2010)

Left to her own devices, Mother Nature usually will take care of herself. At least that's the case at Hilton Pond Center, where several fern species have begun to reappear naturally after the land was ravaged by at least a century of intensive agriculture. For an overview of our newly established springtime ferns--including some super close-ups of their reproductive bodies--please visit our "This Week at Hilton Pond" photo essay for 1-10 May 2010 at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek100501.html . While there, please scroll down for a list of birds banded and recaptured, as well as a few miscellaneous nature notes about such topics as the absence of migrant songbirds this spring.

Figure 2. Unlike mosses and liverworts, ferns, including this netted chain-fern (Woodwardia areolata), are true vascular plants with specialized tissues that conduct water, food, and nutrients throughout the organism. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

Macro Mornings at Hilton Pond (11-21 May 2010)

Although a long lens is a very useful tool for the nature photographer, you can't beat a good close-up lens for allowing an intimate view of aspects of the natural world that are sometimes overlooked. With no telephoto at hand, "This Week at Hilton Pond" we spent several mornings on hands and knees, peering through our 60-mm macro lens to see what secrets we could uncover—from wild fruits to miniature wildflowers to bird bills and the curious homes of immature insects. For a peek at some of these macroscopic wonders, please visit our photo essay for 11-21 May at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek100511.html . We hope you'll also scroll down for a list of birds banded and recaptured during the period, plus a miscellaneous nature note or two.

Figure 3. The frothy home of an immature spittlebug (Hemiptera)—a structure not so appetizing to human eyes--protects it from predators, temperature variation, and desiccation. Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.

To help support the education, research, and conservation work of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, please see http://www.hiltonpond.org/FundingMain.html . Editor.
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The Citizen Scientist (04 June 2010).