Lockdown Learning

Well this post doesn't really fall under my usual categories. We're into our second full week of working from home and the first week of the Columbia shut-down orders. It's amazing how quickly life can change so drastically. I just found out this weekend that they are cancelling our Master Naturalist class this year. We will have the option to take it next spring but I am pretty sad about this. I was really looking forward to learning and sharing my knowledge with you.

Watching people posting online about exploring their neighborhoods and backyards and seeing signs of spring all around, I thought I would share with you some of the sights we saw recently walking on the Timmerman Trail. I took a bunch of pictures and am using them to help myself identify and learn plants and animals. Thankfully, we received our books for the Master Naturalist class so we have been using them to learn the names of the plants we find.

Crab-apple tree

Wisteria (non-native, invasive species but it sure does smell good!)

Common Wild azalea (smells wonderful!)

wild blackberry vine, probably a Sand Blackberry

Yellow or Carolina Jasmine (also spelled jessamine, has a good smell, a vine)

Thistle (not flowering yet but looks pretty cool), possibly a Sandhills Thistle

A yellow flower, possibly a Woolly Ragwort, I'm having difficulty identifying it. The plants were pretty tall.

May-apple (flowers hide under the leaves)
 

New fern growth

Bright blue beetle that flew in front of us. I was surprised he let me take a picture of him!
I believe it's a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle because of the spots on his back.

Box turtles (we saw 2 of them)


Poison ivy (watch out! it's out already)

neat mushrooms on a fallen tree

Vinca Vine (find the hidden frog!)

here he is (possibly a southern toad? hard to see details)

Eastern Rat snake (not poisonous!)

These weren't on the Timmerman Trail but on another trail we hiked,
Coral Honeysuckle vine

red buckeye (they can get pretty tall, we saw some around 6 feet tall)

We also saw a white lily but it was too far away to take a picture of. I think it was an Easter Lily. It isn't like our domestic Easter Lily but it was pretty. Here's a link to a picture of one.

Hope this encourages you to get outside and explore the plants and environment around you!
Location: Timmerman Trail, Cayce, SC 29172, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Going Greek

Well, it's one of my favorite times of the year in Columbia. Football season, fall and...the Greek Festival! If you live in the area and haven't been, you need to make it a point to go. It's a great festival with lots of great food and some real friendly people. Now, disclaimer, it gets crowded! They usually take up one block with booths, games, entertainment stages, and food vendors so every free space there is can be filled with people. I recommend going during one of the off-times. Like take a late lunch or an early dinner. Or even an early lunch. They're open from 10 am - 10 pm Thursday through Saturday. They also have Sunday hours. But while you're there, try and make it a point to tour their church. It was just built in the last couple of years and they are always working on adding new artwork. It's beautiful. You can sit there and study all of the Greek Ikons and learn about the history of each painting. Greek Festivals are great family activities and I ...
Read more

Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

Image
2020 Hiking Post 4 You might remember how last May, we visited the  Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site . Recently, we returned there so we could explore the park more. This site is the only SC State Park where Confederate soldiers fought Sherman's troops as he made his way from Savannah to Columbia. There is a short trail (less than a mile) that takes you around the battleground and shows you the battle and what conditions were like at the time. There are still earthen rifle pits and other embankments that the soldiers built. Lots of informational signs along the way. Rifle pit mounds Retreat Trail There's also another trail that marks the route that the soldiers took as they retreated and a cemetery that has the dead from the battle. The park is free and has good visuals of how the battle took place and who was involved in it. There is also a community center and some neat events that take place throughout the year that show you what life wa...
Read more

Charleston Area State Parks

Image
2019 Hiking Week 41 Charles Towne Landing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto , Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing . We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip.  Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of...
Read more