FLORA & FAUNA

Black Walnut trees putting out their leaves and flowers. The flowers are drooping finger-like catkin*. There are both male and female flowers on the same tree. The male are more plentiful and slightly longer.

Catkin ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catkin*

Painted Turtle crossing the road on my way to Swan pond. These turtles are the most widespread native turtle in North America. This would be a female looking to lay her eggs in a nest on dry land.

This is the fruit of the European Hornbeam. There are nut(let) type seeds forming at the base of each leafy bracket. This tree also produces catkin flowers, both male and female like the Black Walnut. It's name derives from the very dense hard wood it produces.

This tree I grew from seed some forty years ago. Got the seed in some park in NYC where I worked.

If you look close you can see the dark green nut(let) at the base of the leafy brackets.

Coming back from Swan pond I stopped to get a picture of a Wild Turkey and her chicks or poults.

Pictures came out blurred. You can just make out the chicks to the right of the mama as she chases them into the woods.

info source ... wikipedia / bernheim.org / bobklips.com

camera ... Nikon D3500 ... 70-300 mm lens