Showy ladyslippers plus (lots of pics)

[cnycharles]

... trying for the third time to create this post without my computer crashing!

Late this week I heard that the showy ladyslippers were in flower very early up north, so I went to remsen bog to see what was up. there are showy ladyslippers, bog candles and grass pinks open, and a few loesel's twayblades still in tight bud. there are usually hundreds of tiny rose pogonia orchids, but it's still too early for them to be in flower. there are seven different orchids that flower in this half-acre or so sized fen through the spring, plus very many other wildflowers. it's on private property but is open for careful visitation by the public

showy ladyslipper or cypripedium reginae. one common name for this orchid is the Queen Ladyslipper.

La Reina Ladyslipper realmente es un ajuste de flores para una Reina, o una señora con la inteligencia, la estatura y el cojinete (por no hablar de la belleza) de Lorena C.! Yo creo que Lorena se disfrutan viendo estas orquídeas mucho, pero la caminata es para estar muy lejos al sur de donde es la orquídea (a menos que ella quiere viajar al norte para ver las orquídeas, así como caminata) (wink)

bog candle (platanthera dilatata) and showy ladyslipper

bog candles have a spicy/sweet fragrance like cloves and honey. tiger swallowtail butterflies love these flowers and will travel the whole length of the flower stem in search of the source of the wonderful fragrance

grass pink orchid. although there is a yellow clump on the end of one part of the flower, there is no pollen present there

loesel's twayblade; this orchid looks like a green lily-leaved twayblade flower but a little smaller overall

sundew

cotton grass; often found in calcareous wetlands

one of the tastier inhabitants of the fen! (believe it or not, I didn't eat it)

a violet next to a red-osier dogwood seedling

I think this is ragged robin (it's not an orchid so not important enough for me to remember! lol)

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Some beautifully colored reginae! Amazing how much is packed into such a small place. Thanks for the look!

 

[John M]

Obviously a very special place. Nice that the owners recognise it's value and allow careful visitation. Hopefully, they also closely manage the area and provide some degree of security from the not so careful visitors.

 

[Wendy]

Beautiful! An area that I would love to visit.

 

[Mrs. Paph]

A little piece of heaven! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[cnycharles]

bugs in remsen bog

I didn't have room in the first post for these two, and they theme well together so here are two more pics

while I was checking out the bog candles, I noticed a blue damselfly (description, not necessarily it's name). not long after, it moved to a cattail leaf near a dragonfly. it was cool out and I couldn't resist trying to get a picture of them, so managed to get fairly close to get a picture or two

Beauty or Beast? At first glance, there's a butterfly commonly found in bogs and fens, resting on this grasspink orchid. when I approached to take a picture, I noticed that there was a white crab spider that had captured the butterfly and was sitting underneath. i've seen many crab spiders on orchids in different bogs and fens; one large crab spider was so good at blending in that it had captured a moth that looks and moves like a hummingbird. amazingly enough when I approached that spider/moth, it dropped the moth it was holding and I saw a few other moths that had been previously captured laying on the ground. for some reason I didn't approve of this spider eating this moth, so I tried to take it away... I was amazed that the spider didn't want to let go, and had such a good hold that we each pulled for a few seconds before it let go (I also wanted to get a picture of the grass pink flower without a spider sitting on the flower, though if you look back at the first grass pink picture you'll see the spider below the flowers down on the plant stem, probably cursing me!)

Hopefully, they also closely manage the area and provide some degree of security from the not so careful visitors.

they actually live about 150 yards up the road. one thing that amazes me is that though this is a very small fen and it gets alot of traffic, the paths people take are usually very carefully around the plants and I don't really see less plants in those spots. maybe it's because it's so soupy that the tracked areas just 'merge' together over the winter. i've been told that people have lost footwear while walking through there, and they didn't even bother trying to find them and get them back!

 

[Clark]

Hola amigo.
Ya got three 'WOWS' out of my wife, not bad for a Saturday night. Bueno trabajo!

 

[cnycharles]

Gracias and hola! Realmente no hablan español, un programa en línea hace la mayor parte de la traducción aunque estoy recogiendo las palabras a medida que avanzo

 

[Lanmark]

Poor moths!

Spider, eeek! :sob:

I could use some bog candles around here.

Fabulous reginae!

 

[SlipperFan]

You beat me to it, Charles. I saw the strawberry plant in the 6th photo and was going to ask if the berries were ripe yet. But you didn't eat it????

Very good photos.

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

Really enjoyed your photos! Thanks. Shame on you for teasing that poor spider. :rollhappy:

 

[NYEric]

Es Lorena una STF'r?
Thanx for sharing; but stop molesting the spiders hey?

 

[rdlsreno]

Cool Pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Ramon

 

[cnycharles]

Es Lorena una STF'r?
Thanx for sharing; but stop molesting the spiders hey?

.. an occasional guest viewer. I believe the moth would think the spider was invading it's personal space, though it would have died either way

dot, I often get 'day old' strawberries gratis from a friends' farm stand when they aren't perfect for selling; I thought it might be nice to leave it for someone else who's day might be made by finding a nice, big wild strawberry! as it is, I still have frozen strawberries from last year so I don't need to be greedy

Shame on you for teasing that poor spider. :rollhappy:

I can't believe the grip that spider had on the moth, and also on the plant! as I was pulling on it, the plant was being tugged forward with the spider in between holding on for dear life! amazing amount of grip in those tiny feet...

 

[JeanLux]

Thanks a lot for that great tour !!!! Jean

 

[Shiva]

Beautiful flowers. Tnanks for letting us share this wonderful place.

 

[likespaphs]

you take such fantastic photos and great descriptions.
thank you!!!!

 

[biothanasis]

Great photos Charles!!! :clap:

 

[cnycharles]

thanks, thanasis. I was thinking about you when I was taking the picture of the liparis loeselii, wishing that it was in flower for you to see and compare with your plant . the flowers will be open soon and I'll post an update

 

[Ross]

Great photos, Charles. Thanks