April was a month of sudden emergences: the early spring flowers truly sprung into bloom, catching the sun before the canopy shades them.

If April was the time of sprinters, early May was a time for heavy lifting, of biomass bulking up, led by the trees leafing out, as in the young maple below.

Many of April's flowers are past. The flashy yellow Marsh Marigolds, for instance, are gone by.

New species are coming into bloom. Here is Wild Oats, or Sessile Bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia).

Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius).

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) was among the first of the spring flowers. Now only the uniquely shaped leaves are apparent.

Dandelion (Taraxicum officinale).

An early honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). Sadly, no scent.

A fiddlhead, probably of ostrich fern.

Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea).

My polarizing filter cuts surface reflections to reveal the below-water petiole of this pond lily pad. (FYI, all reflected light is polarized.)

Trying out my new fish-eye wide-angle lens on the bridge over Jeremy River.

The trees still have a ways to go (these photos were taken on May 5th), but the understory is quite lush already - taking up as much sunlight as possible before the canopy brings constant shade.

A male Baltimore or "Northern" Oriole (Icterus galbula) in Raymond Brook Marsh.

A Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), also in Raymond Brook Marsh.

Canada geese and goslings (Branta canadensis); where else but Raymond Brook Marsh.

Pink Lady's Slipper orchid (Cipripedium acaule) in bud (May 7th).

Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata). The plant gets its common name from the finely segmented leaves.