A day in the woods!

Although I was really sad to miss a couple days of teaching (I really do miss hanging out with the kids), I was happy to have a fantastic day out in the woods, experiencing the nature of the Millrace in a unexpected way. I thought Cassie, and Erin, and I would just go out to the Millrace, walk around for a bit, write down some stuff, and then head back. What I did not realize was how much I would know and how awesome the short little walk would be. We found an insane amount of species that we knew (which I will list below!) AND we ran into some ornithologists that let us hang out with them for a while. The weather held up for us, and we had a great time romping around in the cool weather, finding cool things we had never seen before. I honestly could not believe our luck, and I could not believe how a lazy, un-fun day turned into such a fulfilling life experience.

Here are the species we found:
Dogwood Tree
Red bud Tree
Dandelion
Red Maple Tree
Japanese Maple Tree
White Oak Tree
Evergreen Tree
Squirrel
Cardinal
Robin
Daffodil
Birch Tree
Violets
White Man's Tread?
Spruce Tree
Tulip Poplar Tree
Sycamore Tree
Sassafras Tree
Magnolia Tree
Honey Locust Tree
Virgina Creeper
Sweet Sicily
Garlic Mustard
Pin Oak
Black Cherry Tree
Elm Tree
May Apples
6 Hour Itch
Mushrooms
Raspberry Bush
Red-Winged Blackbird
Bedstraw
Song Sparrow
Mute Swan
Reed Canary Grass
Purple edible plant that I don't remember the name
Canada Geese
Poison Ivy
Trillium
Burdock
Snowdrops
Water Strider
Mallard Duck
Black Walnut Tree
Mosquitoes
Catalpa Tree
White Ash Tree
Moss
Buckeye Tree
Narrow Leaved Cattails
Killdeer nest
Common Crow
Baltimore Oriole
Brown-headed Cowbird
Wilson's Warbler
Barn Swallow
Great Blue Heron
Warbling Vireo
Rough-Winged Swallow
Pawpaw Tree
Phoebe
Parula Warbler
Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher (My favorite!)
Northern Red Oak
Swainson Thrush
Carolina Wren
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Roast-Breasted Grossbeak 

Here's a blurry picture of one of the several Great Blue Herons that we spotted.

These birds kind of take my breath away every time I see them. They really are quite magnificent, and seem incredibly huge when they fly right over you. Wish I could have gotten a picture of that!