Kalmia in prime.

May 27. 

May 27, 2016

To Kalmia Swamp with Sanborn. 

Fringilla melodia’s nest in midst of swamp, with four eggs, made partly of usnea; two stories, i.e. upon an old nest, elevated one foot above the water; eggs with very dark blotches. 

Kalmia in prime, and rhodora. Apparently the oldest-blossomed kalmia the palest. 

Saw probably a deer mouse jumping off by the side of the swamp; short leaps of apparently ten inches.

The pyrus (smooth-leaved) out apparently a day or two. 

See men fishing, one or two, and often perceived the meadow fragrance. 

My three kinds of birch sap have now become more acid, especially the white and canoe birch. The black birch is milder and more agreeable. With sugar it is an agreeable drink. I prefer it to cream-o’-tartar water. This is the real birch wine.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, May 27, 1856

Fringilla melodia’s nest in midst of swamp, with four eggs, made partly of usnea; . . . eggs with very dark blotches. . . .See June 14, 1855 ("A song sparrow’s nest in ditch bank under Clamshell, of coarse grass lined with fine, and five eggs nearly hatched and a peculiar dark end to them."); June 9, 1855 ("A song sparrow’s nest low in Wheeler’s meadow, with five eggs, made of grass lined with hair. ")  See also A Book of Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Song Sparrow (Fringilla melodia)


Kalmia in prime, and rhodora. . . . See May 26, 1855 ("To my surprise the Kalmia glauca almost all out; perhaps began with rhodora. A very fine flower, the more interesting for being early."); January 9, 1855 ("Make a splendid discovery this afternoon. Walking through Holden’s white spruce swamp, I see peeping above the snow-crust some slender delicate evergreen shoots . . . the Kalmia glauca var.rosmarinifolia.").   Note: the Kalmia glauca var. rosmarinifolia is known as rosemary-leaf laurel or alpine bog laurel (Andromeda Polifolia) H. Peter Loewer, Thoreau's Garden: Native Plants for the American Landscape 32-33

Often perceived the meadow fragrance. . . . See May 27, 1855 ("The meadow fragrance to-day.”); May 15,1856 ("Perceive some of that delicious meadow fragrance coming over the railroad causeway.”)

I stop at Bristol pond take a picture then hear a Baltimore oriole confirmed when I see it high in a tree singing. ~zphx 20160527