We decided to head out to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens again today, just like last Saturday! There was quite a bit new as many displays were setup for the annual Winter Walk of Lights. Some plants have been removed to make room, though there was still plenty to see. But, unlike last week, we didn’t see a single Eastern Bluebird! We did find a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker though, something we haven’t seen very often!
We arrived at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens not long after opening time, around 10:30. The biggest visible difference in the gardens today was the work being done to prepare for the yearly Winter Walk of Lights. It starts in a few weeks on Friday, November 8th. This large box still contained some Christmas Magic to be installed!
This area, currently occupied by mushrooms and what seems like eggs, was formerly a rather elaborate setup called the Bold Garden with plants and flowers.
Some of the trees are starting to prepare for winter as well. A bit more than our last visit, but overall most of the plants are still quite green.
We passed by a few more decorations as we took our usual path down the hill from the entrance.
We noticed that the fountain was not as tall as it has been during our last two visits since it was installed.
Its a bit hard to remember which flowers we’ve already photographed recently. This one did not seem familiar. After looking this up with Google Lens, it might be a Dahlia, specifically, “Knockout” Mystic Illusion.
The US Botanic Garden posted on Facebook about this variety, or probably more correctly, cultivar.
Like our last visit, the bees were busy enjoying the flowers.
Other flying creatures, like this moth or something similar, were also quite busy.
We came across a Song Sparrow! It didn’t sing today but was content to just perch on a rusting garden structure.
As we continued on, we spotted the Canadian Air Force coming in to land with their sea planes! Or, would that make them the Navy?
Even these ruins had decorations! There were quite a few small deer here! There was even a large bull, though we didn’t actually photograph him. Maybe we should have…
We were a little surprised to find a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker! Although this is our 21st time finding this species, this is our first sighting in more than two years. That’s not necessarily a useful statistic though as we don’t go looking for birds as often as we did before.
We found a mushroom at the bottom of the hill by the large pond, Lake Caroline.
We aren’t the only people who photograph the fountain!
This is more or less the photo I was trying to take.
Last week, we photographed some flowers that seemed like Asclepias Curassavica, also known as Tropical Milkweed, or possibly Asclepias Lanceolata, also known as Red Milkweed. This may be something similar? It seems to be all yellow, maybe a bit orangish, unlike the ones we saw last week which appeared red and orange.
These might be Gomphrena Globosa, also known as the Globe Flower.
Apparently. daisies, chrysanthemums, and asters are all from the same family, Asteraceae. So how do we tell the difference? Apparently, only asters are native to North America.
As we continued to walk, now reaching the southwest corner of Lake Caroline, we spotted a Turkey Vulture soaring above.
Much closer to the ground, we found a much smaller bird, a Carolina Chickadee! It briefly perched on a branch out in the open.
There aren’t too many flowers in bloom right now on the southern side of the pond. According to Google Lens, these small flowers may be asters.
We passed by this nest box, apparently, #13.
As we got closer to the east end of Lake Caroline, we looked to the northwest to see the fountain as well as all the Canada Geese that we saw flying earlier. There are 15 of them!
Looking to the east from the path between Lake Caroline and Lake Gardiner, the eastern pond, we spotted a Halloween cat on a bridge. It was, clearly, afraid of something!
We saw more signs of Halloween ahead of us.
During our recent visits, we spotted Eastern Bluebirds trying to look into these Purple Martin nest boxes. We did not see any Eastern Bluebirds here today. So far, we haven’t seen any! Quite different from our last visit when they seemed to be everywhere!
Looking in the same direction, we saw some signs of fall. Perhaps a bit of Thanksgiving?
We continued on past the northern tip of Lake Gardiner, spotting more signs of Halloween as we walked.
The Count even made an appearance! I couldn’t remember his full name but apparently it is Count von Count!
The lotuses on Lake Gardiner have degraded even more since our last visit as it is well past their blooming season.
A number of black cats were by hanging out between the path and Lake Gardiner.
As we crossed the bridge that leads to an island within the pond, we looked to the north to see one of the lotuses that failed to bloom. It degraded significantly compared to last week when it still looked like a flower that could open at any time.
This island had more signs of Halloween.
This skeleton was enjoying the gardens quite a bit! So relaxing!
As we approached the two chairs on the south side of Lake Gardiner, we spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring above! The adults of this species are easy to identify by their red tails.
We also found a Black Vulture soaring even higher. At least, it seemed to be higher, it could have just been further away.
A tiny bit of color here. It should get better in the coming weeks.
We noticed this lotus leaf which had fallen into the water. It was just floating around, being blown by the wind.
We decided to walk up to the top of the Spiral Mound. This little hill, to the northeast of Lake Gardiner, gets its name from the gently ascending spiral path that leads to the top. There are various plants up there as well as a wide bench.
These were also up there. Maybe the same species that we saw earlier in the gardens, possibly Globe Flower?
The two extremes of our telephoto lens, 100mm and 400mm. We were hoping to be able to find some more birds from up here, particularly the ones that enjoy the large trees on the east side of Lake Gardiner, but didn’t really see much activity.
We walked across this Halloween decorated bridge earlier.
We didn’t spot any birds but did see more signs of Halloween as well as Thanksgiving.
It was pretty windy at times! But we definitely enjoyed seeing the leaves coming down, it really felt like Autumn!
We’re not sure what this plant is. These were up on the hill.
This plant was kind of spikey, or maybe hairy?
We headed down from the Spiral Mound and started to head back to finish our visit. On our way back up the hill to the entrance, we spotted Santa! Ho ho ho!
We did find an American Goldfinch in dull winter colors!
At the top of the hill, but still within view of Lake Caroline below, we heard some noise. It turns out there was a wedding at the Gazebo!
We spotted the mushrooms that we saw when we started our visit as we walked the remaining distance to the entrance, ending our visit.