I was just going to write about another glorious weekend in Belleplain State Forest. Johnnie and I were there two weekends in a row, one of which was Memorial Day weekend. As we approached Belleplain on May 23, I was excited to see mountain laurel in bloom. I love mountain laurel, relative to rhododendrons and blueberries, and native to the state of New Jersey. (I think it should be the state flower rather than the violet.) I know mountain laurel blooms in late May or early June and I am disappointed when I miss the flowering of the mountain laurel. One year, there had been a soaking rain days before we camped at Belleplain and the blooms were shapeless and lifeless — what a disappointment!
May 23 seemed early for blooming, but I was grateful to be there for the night. Memorial Day weekend when we would be at Belleplain for three days was when I planned to play with my new camera lens, a Sigma DG 150 – 500 mm, by photographing mountain laurel. Though I have been coming to Belleplain for the past eight years, I still don’t know it. Things I learned Memorial Day weekend:
1. Mountain laurel does not grow everywhere. There is a stretch of the North Shore Trail that ends on the grounds of the Park Office. I’ve been on other stretches of the trail but never this section. So, camera in hand, I started my walk to photograph mountain laurel. There was no mountain laurel to be found. I kept walking, thinking a patch would show up around the bend, or just a bit further down the trail. I wonder why. I noticed ferns growing which means there is regular moisture in the soil. Too much moisture for mountain laurel? I don’t know. I photographed the ferns and I love to take photos of trails, so I took a few pics of it, but I went back to the Jeep to find another spot to look for mountain laurel.
Ferns along the North Shore Trail, Belleplain State Forest Fern frond
The North Shore Trail
2. The rustling in the leaves that often startles me is not a lizard, or a squirrel, but is a bird I did not know at the time: an Eastern Towhee. I often go out by myself but I am not fearless. I jump at noises and rustlings and if there are too many, I retreat. I call it a healthy respect for nature. When I left the North Shore Trail, I drove out of the park, through the town, then to one of the side, unnamed roads that Johnnie and I often ride our bikes on to come to the edge of the camping area where I knew mountain laurel grew. The mountain laurel was plentiful and I parked the Jeep. I heard rustling off of the path that leads back into the camping area, so I went to investigate. I found a bird causing all of the noise. Setting the camera on the sports setting, I took about 100 shots of the bird. Out of that 100 only 5 or 6 are any good. But, those 5 or 6 are clear enough that I could identify the bird in my bird book. I had never seen this bird in any of my trips, so new sighting for me.
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee in the dead leaves
3. Dragonflies frequent the cedar swamp. I took photos from a little bridge we often stop at. I’ve been here probably a hundred times, but I have never seen the dragonflies.
A dragonfly in a cedar swamp
4. Mountain laurels are more beautiful close up than I imagined. I have photographed these flowers lots of times, but the level of detail I was able to capture with the Sigma lens was incredible. I want even a closer view but for that I think I will need a macro lens.
Mountain Laurel
5. Bark is beautiful. While photographing the cedar swamp area, I noted the differences of the bark of the pines and cedars. Close ups of the different barks are beautiful to me.
Pine Bark
Inside of bark
6. The cedar swamp is beautiful. I photographed the water. I photographed the surface and I focused on the sunlight in the cedar water. Beautiful. I didn’t have water-proof shoes on, so I couldn’t walk into the swamp and that was probably a good thing because I hadn’t let Johnnie or the rangers know I was going to be wandering in the swamps. (The rangers know me, so I always stop in and let them know (if Johnnie is not with me) where I’m going so they can look out for me.)
Surface of the swamp
Looking into the cedar swamp water
What did I ultimately learn from my visit?
1. I love Belleplain State Forest. It is my home. It is a part of me. When I was growing up, I felt the same way about the two places I camped the most: the Burlington County Girl Scout camp, Camp Kettle Run, and Bass River State Forest. Now, in New Jersey, it is Belleplain.
2. There are many places I also love or know intimately and I want to revisit them in the same way I revisit Belleplain: Assateague State Park and Assateague National Park in Maryland, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Saguaro National Park in Arizona, and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to name a few.
3. The more I visit those places, or any place, the more I will be aware of just how little I know about it.
what precious photos! thanks for sharing!
http://www.tracyzhangphoto.wordpress.com/
Thanks!
beautiful shots