Baltimore or Bust

We are still loaded into the late May - early June time capsule for these pictures, as you can see from the newly emerging greenery surrounding the birds.   

The big field where Baloo and I walk just about every morning is a fabulous place to look for birds.  The brilliant Baltimore oriole stands out against the fresh spring greens so dramatically that he had to be included in the walk down our little memory lane.  

I tried to entice a pair to hang around my yard with offerings of grape jelly, but they didn't like the nesting opportunities my yard afforded, so they moved along and I just admire them while passing through the field on our daily walks.

This oriole is sharing his perch with an eastern kingbird (who will appear again in later time travels). See what I mean?  While Baloo has his nose to the ground looking for rabbits and ground squirrels, I can have my nose to the skies in search of festive feathers!

The Thrill of the Trillium

Thanks to the few people who were brave enough to answer the riddles of the Northern Sphinx. Those who responded get their way! Everybody I heard from wanted me to go ahead and post out of season photos, so I'll start with these. (Loading up the time-travel capsule to late May - early June.) About the time I let things lapse for most of the summer, trilliums were blooming all through the woods where Baloo and I walk.  

The most common one around here is the Trillium Grandiflorum.They are grand, indeed!  

One of the lovely things about these spring ephemerals is that they change color as they age, blushing a very pretty pink after going through the white phase.

Here is a picture of three blooms of different ages. Whole hillsides can be covered with these blossoms creating quite a breathtaking scene. 

In this picture, you can see the subject of June's Stampeaz invoice image. No, it isn't the big, black puppy face in the foreground - look closely for a bit of pink just to the left of his nose.  The protected pink lady slipper was one of my mother's favorite wildflowers.  I expect there will be more detailed pictures in the coming days, but Baloo had to put his two whiskers' worth into the post, right? 

The Northern Sphinx

The Northern Sphinx has some burning questions to ask anyone who cares to respond.

First, have you missed the invoice image spoilers?  Do you want to see more of them revealed here on the blog or keep them as a surprise when your package arrives? 

Second, do you want me to go back in time to the photos I took during the spring, or just forget about them and go on from here?  There are some good ones, but they are totally out of season at this point so I don't know if I should prepare and share them or not.  

Here's a golden opportunity to help shape the nonsense that gets posted here for the next little while.