Malcolm And I Explore Some Amazing Nature Pt II

(All photos taken by @paradigm42)
One of my great joys in life is to wander nature trails and emerse myself in all the natural wonders around me. I also love capturing mother nature's artistry and beauty through my photography and learning about all the flora and fauna I experience in my wanderings.
More often than not I will bring my puppers Malcolm with me which makes for a fun adventure, though can make taking photos a real challenge lol. I don't always get the chance to take as many photos of a particular subject as I would like before my boy insists we move on.
These lovely small flowers are a prime example of this.. I was unable to get a close up for classification so they shall remain a mystery flower for the moment. I love how the yellow pops against the intense blue of the sky here. Alas summer now is long long past and I will have to wait until next year to see them again.

There is my boy leading the way down this awesome corridor that is a myriad of different types and species of wildflowers. You would not even know there is a creek running along side if it was not for the sounds, the flowers are so thick here!

These pretty flowers are a childhood favorite of mine, called Orange Jewelweed. They are also known as "touch me nots" for one particular reason, though not for why you may think.. When the seed pods of this are fully mature, any slight pressure or even just brushing the pod will make it explode sending the seeds flying in all directions! I absolutely loved finding these when I was a kid and making them explode. :)
The flowers and leaves of this plant are edible, however they must be cooked and rinsed well in a specific way so I would not recommend doing so with out researching how to do it correctly first.
Orange Jewelweed also has some medicinal uses. It has astringent qualities and is used in native american medicine as remedy for Poison Ivy and Oak as well as for other types of rashes.

Here we have a member of the Sunflower family annnd.. that is about all I can tell you about them.. There are several very similar flowers this could be that my non expert eye could not discern it from unfortunately when trying to classify it completely. They are very pretty though and quite abundant in this area.

Once through the lovely corridor of wildflowers, the creek becomes accessible again and my munchkin loves cooling off and exploring the water. Here we see him looking rather interested in something I can't see. Because of the Beagle in him (He is a beagle/pitty mix), I always have to keep him on a lead due to his penchant for chasing any critter he sees including rather large ones such deer and even horses on the bigger trails that allow them. It made our walks very interesting in his more exuberant pupper days lol.

I absolutely love this action shot of him jumping out of the creek. This shot is a kudos to my new phone camera. I got this LG phone specifically for the camera and it has not disappointed! I could have never gotten a shot like this with my old galaxy J3.

As we went through this nifty yet unfortunate tunnel of an invasive bamboo like plant that has thrived and taken over here over the last decade, I noticed something my boy thankfully did not.

While Malcolm was distracted by a scent trail behind me, I met this neat guy! I know some people may be a bit squeemish around snakes and such, I however am not one of them. I have always liked snakes and have no fear of them and was in fact excited to see one so much that I just had to get a closer look while I had the chance.

I would like to introduce you to my friend the Eastern Ribbon Snake. Indigenous to upstate NY and other areas of the northeast, they can be found near bodies of water as they eat mostly amphibians such as frogs. They grow to be 2 to 3 feet long and are good swimmers, known to hunt small fish as well. They are known to be fairly chill and docile which I experienced first hand much to my pleasant surprise during our impromptu mini photo shoot.

There are so many different species of wildflowers here it truly is a feast for the senses! I was not able to classify these beyond that they belong to the Buttercup family, but I hope to be able to better classify them in the future. If anyone knows what they or any of my mystery flowers are, please comment below as I would really like to know.

This I can tell you without a doubt is the lovely and rather useful wildflower Goldenrod. This pretty yet versatile plant is completely edible from flower to root, and has several medicinal uses as well.

I will leave you with this rather nifty, pretty, and fuzzy looking wildflower called Joe-Pye Weed. There are more than a few different types that vary slightly in look but otherwise tend to have similar characteristics.
Though not generally considered edible, they do have some medicinal uses and can be a lovely addition to a garden as their sweet smell is very attractive to pollinators like bees and butterflies.
I hope you have enjoyed the continuation of Malcolm and I on our summer adventure and have left with a smile on this cold wintery day. If you would like to check out the first leg of our adventure you can find the post here:
https://steemit.com/amazingnature/@paradigm42/malcolm-and-i-explore-some-amazing-nature
Wildflower classification info used by me can be found here:
https://wildflowersearch.org/
This post was inspired by the Amazing Nature contest started by @adalger. If you would like to enter you can find the latest contest post here:
https://steemit.com/amazingnature/@adalger/amazing-nature-contest-december-2019-01
I was also inspired by the awesome #wednesdaywalk started by @tattooedjay that is now colaberating with #makemesmile by @elizacheng for a combined challenge. If you would like to participate the latest info can be found here.
https://steemit.com/wednesdaywalk/@tattoodjay/wednesday-walk-make-me-smile-post-riverside-park-south
As always please remember that it is all about the little things in life, and thanks for looking in! :)