Gold Fever–September 27, 2013
The Goldenrod is blooming, filling the area with bright yellow flowers.
It not only lines the pathways, but can be seen deep amid the brush’s vegetation. Goldenrod is sometimes blamed for causing hay fever, but its pollen is too heavy and sticky to be blown very far. The wildflower is pollinated by the bees and other insects, instead. Ragweed, which blooms at the same time, is most likely the guilty party.
Another one of nature’s surprises, which I’ve mentioned before, is that the Little Blue Heron isn’t blue as a juvenile. 
It is born with solid white plumage and can easily be confused with snowy egrets, whose company it often keeps. It takes up to a year before the young bird will begin to obtain its trademark slate blue plumage, and it is a mottled mess as it’s doing it. This juvenile was deep in the brush. Its bluish, black-tipped bill was the give away. Hopefully the young bird will continue to hang around and we can watch its transformation to maturity.
I’m impressed with the number of snake sightings I’ve had, and I’m convinced there is a healthy abundance of them in this salt marsh. 
With the one today, I have now seen a snake in virtually every area of the peninsula–from the south end to the north end, and all along in between. Of course, given the nature of a salt marsh that should not be a surprised. In fact, I would be more surprised if I had not seen many.
Green Thought: “Nature is the ultimate technology; a technology we are still too immature, arrogant, possessive and careless to care for responsibly.” ― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
