The Forest Ablaze

For three perfect evenings just before the summer solstice, my wife Mary and I walked the same route through the Pennypack Preserve.  As we neared the parking lot near the Visitor Center, I noticed that beams from the low-setting sun were penetrating deeply into the woods and setting it aglow. Naturally, I didn't have my camera with me the first evening, and I forgot to carry it along on the second as well.  But, I didn't make the same mistake a third time.  On June 19, 2013, I captured these dramatic images, which are even more impressive when they're enlarged (if I do say so myself); click on an image to enlarge it and see what you think.

I'm most satisfied with the first image, but the second, taken just before the beams disappeared, is more atmospheric.  I've been meaning to share them with Pennypack's members and friends here, but kept forgetting that I have the images in my archive.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

Submitted by David Robertson
Executive Director

High Summer

Exuberant Indian-grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Black-eyed-Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), and Queen Anne's-lace (Daucus carota) on a crystal clear morning along the Raytharn Trail

Cicadas are shrieking during the day.  Katydids are sawing away in the trees during the early hours of darkness.  New York ironweed's flat-topped, regal purple flowers and Joe-Pye-weed's dusky magenta globes are heavily laden with swallowtails and bumblebees.  And the first of the early-flowering goldenrods have burst like sparks onto the otherwise emerald meadow blanket.  It's high summer in the Pennypack Preserve!

Walk the northern end of the Raytharn Trail and the portion of the Beech Springs Trail that winds through the low meadows for the best of the late summer show!

Submitted by 
David Robertson, Executive Director