5-19

5-19
The tiny white-palated flowers of Blue Toadflax are starting to open.
Blunt-leaved Sandwort AKA Grove Sandwort is having its day.
And a yellow clover-like plant, perhaps Black Medick, is flowering in sheltered areas.
John

Blue Toadflax

Grove Sandwort

Black Medick

5-18

5-18
This morning an Indigo Bunting was staking his claim to the territory I was walking through.
The showy mustard relative called Dame's Rocket is opening a few flowers.
And Flowering Dogwood is at its showy peak.
John

Indigo Bunting

Dame's Rocket

Flowering Dogwood

5-17

5-17
Lance-leaved Violets are starting to flower. The Non-game and Natural Heritage Program of the VT Department of Fish and Wildlife lists this species as threatened in Vermont.
The solitary blossoms of Bunchberry are unfolding. Bunchberry is in the Dogwood family and its common name refers to the clusters of red berries it eventually produces.
And the showy pink flowers of Early Azalea with their gracefully conspicuous stamens are putting on a grand show in roadside thickets and along riverbanks.
John

Lance-leaved Violet

Bunchberry

Early Azalea

5-16

5-16
Autumn Olive is flowering. This is an escape from cultivation and can be quite a pest in thickets and along field crops.
The first Moccasin flowers of the season are open. I checked three known locations before finding two that were open!
And Black Chokecherry - a shrub that seldom grows much more than 4 feet tall - is flowering. This is a species that likes dry conditions. The closely related Purple Chokecherry likes bogs and swamps.
John

Autumn Olive

Moccasin Flower

Black Chokecherry

5-15

5-15
Virginia Dwarf Dandelion is in flower. This diminutive plant likes dry sandy soil and disturbed areas.
Pale Corydalis, another plant of dry rocky places, was growing nearby.
Also in flower, but not shown Swamp Buttercup.
John

Virginia Dwarf Dandelion

Pale Corydalis

5-14

5-14
The 5 petaled, bell-shaped, yellow flowers of Striped Maple are open. Male and female flowers are usually in separate clusters. Striped Maple bark is winter food for rabbits, beaver, moose and deer.
John

Waterfall in Dummerston

This waterfall is actually in Dummerston, way up on Stickney Brook Road

5-13

5-13
Wild Sarsaparilla is a sub-shrub, it has a woody underground stem with a knobby, above-ground, leaf-scarred tip. The plant produces one compound leaf divided into 3 segments each of which is further divided into 5 leaflets. Under the leaf is a leafless flower stalk with 3 (or more) ball-like clusters of greenish-white flowers.
Choke Cherry is also opening flowers.
And one of the 50 or so Hawthorns known to occur in Vermont is in flower. Perhaps Eastern Hawthorn, although Hawthorns are notoriously hard to identify.
John

Wild Sarsaparilla

Choke Cherry

Hawthorn

5-12

5-12
The tiny white 5 petaled flowers of Thyme-leaved Sandwort and the large glossy yellow flowers of Bulbous Buttercup were both putting on a show today.
And a moth called Kent's Geometer was flying last night as was an Eastern Panthea, a species that seems to be having a perpetual bad hair day.
John

Thyme-leaved Sandwort

Bulbous Buttercup

Eastern Panthea

Kent's Geometer

5-11

5-11
Bouncing BEt has opened a single flower where heat reflects from a cement wall, and Tower Mustard is opening its little yellowish-white drooping blossoms.
The day's warmth had Six-spotted Tiger Beetles active. Tiger Beetles are carnivorous.
And last night moths called Comstocks' Sallow and the Scribbler were airborne. Larval hosts for Comstocks' Sallows are Black Spruce, Pine and Hemlock. Larval hosts for the Scribbler are Alder, Birch, Maple and Willow.
Yellow Warblers and Common Yellow Throats were among the day's notable birds.
And in a swampy area one American Toad was trilling - hoping to attract a mate.
John

Bouncing Bet

Tower Mustard

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

Comstocks' Sallow moth

The Scribbler moth

5-10

5-10
American Copper AKA Flame Copper butterflies are airborne. Host plants for the larvae of this species are Sheep Sorrel and Curly Dock. Multiple broods occur: two in the northern part of its range, four or more in the southern part.
One expert has suggested that as the larval host plants of this butterfly are introduced European weeds. The butterfly may also be introduced, making the common name American Copper a bit inappropriate.
Hummingbirds, Ovenbirds and Kingbirds were among the notable avian hordes today.
John

5-9

5-9
An occasional Red Clover is lifting its head in the meadows, Bird'-eye Speedwell is tilting its very distinctive face to the sun and Yellow Wood Sorrel is popping up in lawns and waste places although its cloverlike leaflets are not yet very evident.
A Catbird and two Baltimore Orioles were in my yard today, but wouldn't pose for pictures.
John

Red Clover

Bird's-eye Speedwell

Yellow Wood Sorrel

5-8

5-8
Morels have made their annual appearance under my apple trees.
Hooked Crowfoot, a buttercup relative, is starting to flower as is the Common Tall Buttercup.
Wild Chervil is coming up along roadsides. This invasive is becoming a major pest in our area. As of a 1969 survey there was only one Vermont collection and the species was considered accidental. Now roadsides and field margins are being taken over by it. You should not come into contact with the sap of the plant and care should be taken in its removal.
And today a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly was airborne… the first of many that warmer weather will bring.
John

Morel mushroom

Hooked Crowfoot

Common Tall Buttercup

Wild Chervil

5-7

5-7
European Gooseberry, a garden escape, is starting to flower.
Red Baneberry has opened its squat raceme of long stamened white flowers. The very similar White Baneberry AKA Doll's Eyes has racemes taller than they are wide.
Dangling pairs of green bell flowers grace Hairy Solomon's Seal.
And large male catkins and small fuzzy female catkins are visible on Sweet FErn bushes. Sweet Fern produces a nut which is said to be crunchy and delicately flavored when young.
John

European Gooseberry

Red Baneberry

Hairy Solomon's Seal

Sweet Fern male and female catkins

5-6

5-6
Cherry - probably Pin Cherry - is at its full fragrant best and a rather dingy Fox paused just long enough for me to snap a quick picture.
John

5-5

5-5
Fringed Polygala - AKA Gaywings and also as Flowering Wintergreen because of its broad evergreen leaves - is opening a few flowers. Fringed Polygala is a member of the Milkwort family. According to my field guide occasional flowers are white.
John

5-3

5-3
Common Cinquefoil is starting to open a few flowers, garden escape Forget-me-nots are blueing wet ditches and roadsides and Golden Alexanders need just a bit of sunshine to open the rest of their golden florettes.
John

Common Cinquefoil

Forget-me-nots

Golden Alexander

5-2

5-2
Despite the day's cold rain Bugle was opening leafy spikes of powder-blue flowers. Bugle is a mint family escape from gardens.
Pale violet Great-spurred Violets are also open. These are northern flowers. New England is near the southern limit of their range.
John

Bugle

Great-spurred Violet

5-1

5-1
Canada Violets AKA Tall White Violets can reach 16 " tall and the back of the petals are purple tinted making it an easy violet to identify.
Acid soils in moist woods and along stream banks support populations of Painted Trillium, another easy to identify species.
Wood Betony AKA Lousewort grows in dry woods and borders. It is said to occur in two colors, yellow or red.
And an Easter Mockingbird was demonstrating his virtuosity from a perch near the West River this morning. Mockers have their own song as well as a repertoire of imitations and will even sing on moonlit nights. They are also notorious bullies of other songbirds including Blue Jays!
John

Canada Violets

Painted Trillium

Wood Betony

Eastern Mockingbird