Taking a Walk on the Wild Side

Yee hah! This was supposed to be Wednesday's post but, thanks to I don't know what, our Internet was down for almost all of yesterday.  So, my streak has ended.

It was a good streak while it lasted.  1 month and 8 days.

But now, onward, to the subject of Urban Rail Trails.

You just never know when you are going to take a walk on the wild side when you take a rail trail walk in an urban area.

(not yesterday:  91 degrees. We're heat wimps here in Binghamton.  No, this was on Sunday.)

I took my camera, and made the 4 mile walk, to see what I could find.

There were a lot of chipmunks-seem to be a lot this year-but chipmonks are so common (and fast) that I didn't unsling my camera.  But then this little beauty caught my eye, on the shoulder of the trail....

Here's a snapping turtle. (the trail, for a little bit, is next to a small wetlands).  I don't know if this was an egg laying female, but a bike rider came up to me and said "That's the second one I saw today".  I did think his/her neck was at a bit of a weird angle.  And by the way, I used my zoom to take this picture!

A little further up the trail, my nose caught a luscious scent.  Soon, these came into view.

Rosa multiflora.  And, sadly, these are invasive, and can become a real pest to the homeowner.  It provides wildlife habitat, but crowds out native plants.

Still, they sure smell nice.

Finally, two views (above and below) of something called Dame's Rocket.  I never knew this plant until I moved to NY.  Now, this flower means "June" to me.  They come in shades of white and pink/purple.

Yes, you never know what you will find on an urban rail trail.