Zoo Blooms at Cincinnati Zoo

Spent the morning and early afternoon at the Cincinnati Zoo.  I hadn't been in several years (shame on me) and boy has it changed.  Many new arrangements and there is a major construction project going on in the old main parking area.  The new entrance and parking area, umbrella-ed with solar panels is really nice and worth seeing in itself.  I had a great time meeting with many members of the Ohio Valley Camera Club today.  Here are some images from today.

Bird of Paradise

Some sort of funky looking tulip which I cannot identify.

Hungry squirrel.

Sun drenched bed of tulips.

Peacock in the garden.

And our friendly neighborhood Orangutan.  "Right turn Clyde". (If you don't know, Google it!)

Thanks for looking.  If you want more, check out the album on my website.

Cincinnati Nature Center (Trip 2)

Week two of my search for the perfect blooms of spring, brought me back to the Cincinnati Nature Center.  Hoping to see the glory of a sea of daffodil, I was a bit disappointed to find that most were not in bloom yet.  I'm feeling like a mid week visit might be in order, so that I can catch the best of the blooms, however, it will probably be the weekend before the majority are showing.  That said, there were a few fields in bloom, though the sun was so bright at the time I shot this, that I don't have the feeling of satisfaction, photographically speaking.

Field of daffodil

Most of what I saw was the same as last week, but I did find a couple of additions to the collection for this spring.  Here is a Helleborus (Lenten Rose) of which I have many in my garden.  It is an impressive plant, in that it is long lasting and the deer don't eat it.

Helleborus niger

A lot of the time I was on the lookout for the extremely gorgeous White Trout Lilly, of which there was an abundance last week.  Of course, I was on a different part of the trail this week, so I didn't see them until I was on my way out and then found this group and a few more on the stone steps.  Mostly, those that I observed were on the wane, so I was glad to find these prime examples hanging out in the crotch of a stone wall.

Grouping of White Trout Lilly

Lonely White Trout Lilly

On the previous week's visit, there were ladies raving about the Virginia Bluebells and that we should keep an eye out for them.  I had no idea, and forgot to look them up, so I didn't even know that I was looking at them early on.  They appear as a small clump of purple little buds hiding in the midst of an unfolding leaf clump.  Unless you looked closely, they just looked like a green vegetation with no flower.  But, they were in there and the word is that they are spectacular and plentiful.  I will be visiting more often in expectation of their arrival.  Some say a week, others two weeks.  I'll probably be stopping by during the week as well as the weekend, just to make sure I don't miss these spectacular blooms.  Here's a shot of what's showing as of today.

Birth of Virginia Bluebell

I also found a few grape hyacinth poking out from between some rocks in the herb wall.  They are really cute, but hard to photograph.

Grape Hyacinth

I also found these little guys.  I don't know what they are and they were very few and far between, but none the less, an extremely attractive flower.  I love their delicate appearance and the cool blue stripe in the center of the petals.

Unknown

Lastly, I revisited several of the blue flowers from my previous visit.  I love the deep center of this first one and hope to shoot it again, as I'm sure it can be captured to better display it's splendor.

Periwinkle

 

And the Siberian Squill.

Siberian Squill

That's all for this week.  Stay tuned for what's to come and thanks for looking.

Cincinnati Nature Center

Spring is here (still hard to tell) but the flowers think it is, so who am I to argue.  Off to CNC for a look.  I'm not the best at flower ID, so, if you know the names of some that I don't, please make a comment and let me know.

It was pretty bare looking, with no leaves on the trees and just a hint of green buds, a lot of fallen limbs and trees, but the ground was showing signs of life.  Here are all we found on our four hour hike around the GEO trail and the lake.

We were greeted by this gal, who put on quite a show for a few minutes.

 

I was beginning to think the only thing growing were these little yellow flowers.  They were abundant.

Lesser Celandine

But, as we continued into the woods, numerous other types began to be evident.  We found a lot of these White Trout Lillies.  It was not immediately evident that there was a abundance of these as they are not easy to see.  Once you notice them and look for them they become more visible.  I was then surprised to notice them in bunches.  In certain areas, they abound.  They seem to have little neighborhoods all along the trail.

White Trout Lilly

We also found these little guys poking up through the dead leaves.  Noone seemed to know the name.

Unknown variety.

Salt and Pepper

A little further down the trail, we ran across this nice little waterfall.

 The daffodil is the subject of much conversation as pertains to this nature center, and no small wonder.  The forest floor is covered with seas of these plants, just on the verge of blooming.  There is going to be a wonderful show in about a week.  For the time being, though, there were just a few early bloomers.

Daffodil

Further on down the trail, blue seemed to be the order of the day.  Aside from the Celandine, which were everywhere, there were a lot of these.

Glory of the Snow

Sky Blue Aster

Siberian Squill

Periwinkle (I think)

Lots of little white flowers as well, though I had to look hard to find a Snow Drop that was still blooming, I got lucky at the top of the trail and there was a large patch which were still blooming.

Snow Drop

Snowflake

Spring Beauty

This was one of the last things I saw and it was the only one that I saw all day.  It was tucked in beside a rotting log, just growing quietly by itself.

Winter Aconite

I also ran across a couple of other things.  This odd blue fungus was growing on a decaying log.  Very funky looking stuff.  Almost looks like a piece of coral.  And then there was this dead leaf looking like it had some sort of disease.

Funky Blue Fungus

That's all for now.  I'll be heading back next weekend for what's sure to be a bit more spectacular.  Looking forward to seeing a sea of daffodils.  That should be amazing.