Color-themed Hike

Another Sunday off, another Sunday walk.  Today's walk had an unexpected color theme - burgundy.  I didn't even notice until I got home and downloaded my photos...

 Brook-side alder (Alnus serrulata)

Sporting spiffy reproductive structures.  The long structures are the male bits, the smaller parts up top are the female bits.  If you want to figure out the proper botanical terms, go for it :)

A fern, probably in the family Ophioglossaceae.  

The rest we saw were green, but this one was growing right out in the trail and had its burgundy on.

 

 Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) bud waiting patiently for spring.

 A cricket frog (Acris sp.), either an Eastern or a Coastal Plain.  

Both live here. When this little fellow hopped, I surprised myself by catching it with a blind grab into the water.  I handed it off to Treebread so I could get a picture of how tiny it was.

Such a cutie.  Nothing beats a frog to put a smile on my face.

I have a few other images to share, but they will have to wait for another post.  They didn't conform to the color theme.