4-23 Bluets

4-23
Both Bluets and Spring Beauties have been in flower for a few days but needed today's warmth and sunlight to make them photo ready.
A Polyphemus moth cocoon - heavy with life - will be occupied for just  a few more weeks.
And both Shadbush and American Fly Honeysuckle could be found in flower today.
John

Bluets

Spring Beauties

Polyphemus cocoon

Shadbush

American Fly Honeysuckle

4-22 Squirrel Corn etc.

4-22
Squirrel Corn is having its day.
An occasional Columbine is opening.
Smooth (?) Rock Cress adorns ledges.
Miterwort's tiny snowflake-like flowers dust mossy rock outcrops.
Field Pussytoes - well loved by pollinators - are pushing up out of last year's dead grasses and litter.
John

Squirrel Corn

Columbine

Smooth (?) Rock Cress

Miterwort

Pussytoes

4-21 Pixie Cups

4-21
The little lichen called Red-fruited Pixie Cup brightens sandy or ledgy areas while wet areas are brightened by Marsh Marigolds, AKA Cowslips.
John

Red-fruited Pixie Cups

Marsh Marigolds

4-20 Salamander

4-20
Spring Peepers and Spotted Salamanders were on the move last night.
Phoebes have completed their well-lined moss nests. Egg laying will start soon.
John

Spring Peeper

Spotted Salamander

Phoebe nest

4-19 Violets

4-19
Round-leaved yellow Violets are popping up in rich woods and Great-spurred Violets brightened ledgy hillsides.
John

Round-leaved Violet

Great-spurred Violets

notice the spur on the bud

4-18 Mayflowers

4-18
The patch of Mayflowers was at its flowering peak this morning.
The naturalized garden escape, Myrtle, was dotting dooryards, roadsides and woodlots with its pale lavender.
And Small Flowered Crowfoot, AKA Kidneyleaf Buttercup, has opened just one of its rather stunted looking yellow blossoms.
John

Mayflower

Myrtle

Crowfoot/Kidneyleaf Buttercup

4-17 Ephemerals

4-17
Dutchman's Breeches, Blue Cohosh and Wild Ginger are among the spring ephemerals in flower today.
Spicebush tinted pond margins and damp thickets buttery yellow.
The twisty little red flowers of Beaked Hazelnut dotted dry thickets.
Painted Turtles basked on a mat of cattails.
And a Turkey Vulture that was making a meal of winter-killed Barred Owl took exception to my intrusion but lingered nearby while I took its picture.
John

Dutchman's Breeches

Blue Cohosh

Wild Ginger

Spicebush

Beaked Hazelnut

Painted Turtles

4-16 Dandelions

4-16
Dandelions added a splash of color to the greening world today.
Gil-o'er-the-ground opened a few of its little lavender flowers.
Box Elder bugs swarmed wherever there were box elders.
A Mourning Cloak butterfly was airborne but too erratic in flight for me to find in a camera viewfinder!
John

Dandelion

Gil-o'er-the-ground

Box Elder bug

4-15 Red Dead Nettle

4-15
The little alien invasive Red Dead Nettle was flowering, a Milberti Tortoiseshell butterfly was active - if not very cooperative - and Elms were opening flowers.
John

Red Dead Nettle

Milberti tortoiseshell

Elm flowering

4-14 Red Trillium

4-14
Red Trillium us up and starting to open flowers.
Trout Lily is a few days behind but in a sun warmed spot, sheltered from cooling breezes by the roots of a maple tree, one had opened.
And an exposed bit of woodland ledge was flecked with the little white flower clusters of Early Saxifrage.
John

Red Trillium

Trout Lily

Early Saxifrage

4-13 Daphne

4-13
The early flowering shrub known as Daphne - an escape - is starting to color thickets. Red Maples are ablaze and a Red-tailed Hawk was perch hunting along Green Mountain Camp Road this morning.
John

Red Maple

Daphne

Red-tailed Hawk

4-12 Toad

4-12
Toads are digging themselves out of the ground where they overwintered and heading toward water where they will breed. This one is probably a female. Males are smaller and drabber than the big, colorful females.
And House Wrens are back. Heard - and fleetingly - seen.
John

4-11 Bloodroot

4-11
Bloodroot is popping up around the foundation of my house. When broken, the stem and roots ooze red sap.
John

4-10

4-10
The angle-winged butterfly called the Gray Comma which overwinters as an adult was out in number today, but I was unable to get a picture.
The little day flying moth called The Infant was also active and posed for a picture with a bit of its orange hind wings showing.
And Tree Swallows are back, hawking insects over lawns and fields.
John

The Infant moth

Tree Swallow

4-9

4-9
Colt's Foot, Common Chickweed and Spring Whitlow Grass are all in flower.
An Osprey was soaring over the West River.
Wood Frogs were "quacking" in a meltwater pool near the Retreat Meadow pump station.
Phoebes were singing and investigating their traditional nest site under my barn.
And under a rock that I moved this morning there was a dense cluster of springtails (snow fleas). All were in a 2 inch diameter mass but dispersed somewhat before I took the picture. There were hundreds! Perhaps I had inadvertently unroofed their hibernaculum?
John

Colt's Foot

Common Chickweed

Whitlow Grass

Springtails

4-8

4-8
A few Hepatica are open. Colt's Foot should respond to the coming week's warm weather.
The flowering season has begun!
John

A Butterfly Inside My House

on the windowsill

What's your theory on this?
Frozen broccoli?

bobcat

Len Oppenheim reported seeing this bobcat on Wednesday.