Some spring flowers

This spring is shaping up to be the best one we've had in a long time. Already we've seen and id'd lots of beautiful wildflowers, butterflies and birds.

Here's some flowers we found Friday and yesterday evening. I've identified most of them. If I've mislabeled them or I've left some blank and you know what it is, please let me know in the comments!

Dutchman's breeches

Bloodroot

Hepatica

Twinleaf

Cut-leaf toothwort

Spring beauty

Trillium

Rue anemone

Large-flowered bellwort

Yellow Corydalis

Ground ivy or a violet

Photos from New River Trail -- Byllesby and Buck Dams

Before Chris had to cover the Hillsville 4th of July parade for The Gazette, we took a walk on the New River Trail State Park at Byllesby and Buck Dams. Here's some photos I took during the walk

Chris sitting on a boat launch, waiting to snap photos of dragonflies
(Photos by E.A. Seagraves/Please do not use without permission)

Some type of pea

A honeybee on a pea blossom

I believe this is some type of yarrow

The New River

Blackberries

A fritillary butterfly on a bergamot, or something like that.

And here are some shots taken as I tried to be "creative."

Buck Dam

A structure found at Buck Dam beside the New River Trail

Another shot of Buck Dam

Pine cones, obviously

Oh, look! More pine cones!

And, because I'm so proud, check out Chris' dragonfly photos from the same walk. He has snapped thousands of butterfly and flower photos and he's now branching out to include dragonflies and damselflies.

You can tell the difference between dragonflies and damselflies when they land. Dragonflies don't fold up their wings; damselflies do.

I believe there are all dragonflies: (Photos by Christopher Brooke/Please do not use without permission)

Weekend photos -- May 22-23

Though I had to work Sunday and most of Saturday was spent doing chores, Chris and I did find time to take two 2.6 mile walks on the New River Trail State Park.

Here are some beauties and what I think that they are. Now, my identification skills aren't that great and Newcomb's just isn't my friend, but this is what I came up with. If you have any suggestions or can correctly identify them, let me know in the comments below.

I think the flower below is possibly a campion of some kind. I'm not too sure. Any ideas?

I couldn't find the fuzzy bloom below or anything that closely resembled it in Newcomb's or our other wildflower book. I'm leaning toward an orchid. Anyone?

I'm certain the purple beauty below is a Virginia Waterleaf:

And, of course, this is a Virginia Spiderwort, one of Chris' favorites:

And the very familiar fire pink:

While I was at work Sunday, Chris ventured out and took some more pictures in Carroll County and our yard. Check 'em out:

Mountain Laurel

Bug on a leaf

Tulip poplar bloom

Peony

Titmouse

And, if you were wondering, we did go to see the Embers play at Hillsville's summer concert series, checked out the cars in the cruise in and talked with some artists at the Carter Home's Art Festival. Chris took some pictures for The Gazette.

Flowers in bloom

Last weekend, Chris and I made, what's becoming an annual Easter trip, to the Austinville end of the New River Trail State Park.

Like last year, we recorded the flowers we saw and the number and type of butterflies and birds we saw.

On Sunday we saw:

Flowers --

Cut Leaf Toothwort

Rue Anemone

Bloodroot

Dutchmen's Britches

Fragrant Sumac (or, possible, Spicebush)

Coltsfoot

Butterflies -- 4 blues, 4 morning cloaks, a painted lady, a question mark (or comma)

Morning Cloak

Question Mark (or a Comma)

Birds -- kingfisher, cardinal

Beaver Dam Trail and New River Trail at Pulaski

Hubby Chris, pup Sidney and I usually take our daily walk along the Beaver Dam Trail off of Beaver Dam Road, Hillsville, Va. A joint project of the town and Carroll County, the trail is a little over 2 miles long.

The town's portion runs from Beaver Dam Road along the banks of the Beaver Dam Creek, woods and a couple of horse pastures. We frequently see wildlife, such as turkey, deer, groundhog, butterflies and birds. Among our favorite birds that visit the trail are king fishers, blue heron and cedar waxwings. Here is a swallowtail we saw today:

There's also an abundant of flowers to enjoy, such as this cardinal flower I took earlier today:

You can also find lamb's ear, may apples, jewel weed, joe pye weed and flame azalea among the many flora in the area.

But sometimes we all need a change of scenery, so we've been exploring areas we haven't been to before or haven't visited in awhile.

Among those have been the Pulaski end of the New River Trail State Park in Pulaski, Va., and Historic Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The New River Trail is 39 miles and runs from Fries, Va., to Pulaski. There's also a trail extension that runs to Galax, Va. visitors can bike, hike or ride horses on this trail that runs along the New River. It's built on a former railroad track bed.

Historic Bethabara Park is a National Historic Landmark and is the 1753 site of Moravians, a German-speaking, Protestant settlement. The park offers 183-acres of wildlife preserve with 26 species of birds. Besides the 20 miles of trails, museum, reconstructed village, archaelogical ruins visitors can explore, the park offers a varieties of activities like yesterday's Apple Festival.