Spring blast & Tainter Hollow

It hardly seems that Buster could grow so fast but he has.  In 7 short days he has grown so much!

Bonus!  Buster has not been an escapee as of this blog writing.  He has been easy to catch so far also.
He should be banded this weekend.  At least that is on my list of to do's.

On the 16th I took an early morning walk and to my delight I found the maidenhair fern just curling up out of the moss in the rocks.

The photo to the left was taken on the 16th and the photo on the right was taken on the 18th.  The ferns are really trying to take off!
Again these below were taken on the 16th.

Same ones on the 18th.

I should have thought ahead and tried to get the same exact angle but alas this is the first time I've tried a comparison photo.  
I doubt I can get the same angle every time.
However tomorrow morning I hope to try and see what another two days along with some light rain has done.

Yesterday I thought I'd take a drive down to Tainter Hollow and take a look around at Tainter Creek and the DNR land that is located there. 

It is a very unique piece of public land.  The valley is very steep with a beautiful trout stream that runs through it.
However if there is a heavy rain, Tainter Road always suffers washouts and sometimes closures.

The above photo is Tainter Hollow Rd after a 6 inch rain in 2014.

When I pulled into the little turn around I stopped the Jeep and literally jumped out.  I saw Virginia Bluebells, Wood Anenomes, Trout Lilys, and Dutchman's Breeches.
All are ephemeral flowers.

Ephemeral means short lived.  In other words, you have to keep an eye out for them in the Spring because they blossom then are done. 
I've never been to Tainter Creek at the exact right time before to see the expanse of these flowers until yesterday.

I was totally floored and in awe.  
Trout Lily:

Virginia Bluebells on the left Wood Anenomes on the right:

A sea of Anenomes:

Dutchman's Breeches:

When I got home from Tainter, I called my new neighbor and told her about all of the wild flowers I'd found.  She asked if I'd show her where they were and if we could do it when she got home from picking up her kids from school.

I guess my enthusiasm was evident in my voice and did take them to Tainter Hollow.  The children got to see a Great Blue Heron fly right over us, they got to explore and find beaver dams, and we even saw a pair of Canada Geese.

I was so happy to share this place that rarely gets visitors.

I hope to get to Tainter again this weekend to see if I can catch the bluebells  and the Trout Lily fully open before they do their magical disappearing act.