4-15 Hairy Rock Cress

4-15
The 4 tiny petaled white flowers of Hairy Rock Cress are opening and Gil-o'er-the-Ground, AKA Creeping Charlie, can be found if one searches carefully.
Also seen, 3 garter snakes, all within a few feet of each other. Probably just emerging and still a bit lethargic.
John

Hairy Rock Cress

Gil-o'er-the-Ground

Garter snake

4-14 Dutchman's Breeches

4-14
Dutchman's Breeches are opening a few flowers in sheltered sun warmed nooks.
And a woodchuck enjoys the new green grass of spring!
John

4-11 fungus

4-11
This very photogenic (but unidentified) fungus adorned a dead limb.
On warm banks Myrtle is starting to flower.
Draba Verna, commonly called Spring Whitlow Grass, a mere inch high now, is opening its first tiny white flowers.
John

fungus

Spring Whitlow Grass

Spring Whitlow Grass

Myrtle

4-7 Beaked Hazel

4-7
Tiny twisted scarlet flowers and yellow male catkins dot thickets of Beaked Hazelnut.
Saxifrage can be seen on sunny ledges.
Tree swallows are back at the Retreat Meadows.
Painted Turtles basked on old tires nearby.
Also seen but not pictured - Great Blue Heron and a Gray Comma butterfly.
John

Beaked Hazelnut

Saxifrage

Tree Swallow

Painted Turtles

4-6 Bloodroot

4-6
Bloodroot has been poised to flower for two days, but waited out the cold winds and precipitation.
Hepatica is also opening a few flowers in sunny locations
John

Bloodroot

Hepatica

3-28 Flicker

3-28
A flicker visited my suet feeder this morning but lurked behind the feeder. Also, a red-shouldered hawk has returned to my neighborhood circling and screaming beyond camera range.
John

3 -25 Woodcock

3-25 Woodcock were "peenting" in the fields near my house last night!
John

3-24 Phoebes and Coltsfoot

3-24
Phoebes are back in the area. This one was along the West River in Brattleboro.
Coltsfoot is in flower on a sun-warmed roadside. Only Skunk Cabbage flowers earlier.
John

Phoebe

Coltsfoot

3-15 Grackles and Cowbirds

3-15
Today grackles and brown-headed cowbirds joined starlings and red-winged blackbirds under my feeder.
Along the West River a song sparrow lurked in a thicket but was not yet singing.
John

3-14 Wolf Spiders

3-14
Wolf spiders were active atop the snow today. I saw at least 5 while crossing my field this morning.
John

Carrie Walker in Dummerston sent me this picture How crazy is this.

3-11 Red-winged Blackbird

3-11
A Red-winged Blackbird showed only the yellow edge of his red epaulette while sampling the fare at my feeders this morning. It was the first I'd seen this spring.
John

Owl Perch

The statue of Aphroditie beside our fish pond made a good perch for this owl to watch goldfish swimming in the half-frozen water below.

Yes, owls can catch fish (or so i see on YouTube).

Cheryl Wilfong

3-9 Winter Stoneflies

3-9
Winter Stoneflies were active in cornfields along the Connecticut River this morning. Aquatic for most of the year they emerge and breed in mid and late winter.
John

2-15 Bluebirds

2-15
Six male bluebirds accompanied a small flock of goldfinch visiting my feeders. The bluebirds appeared to be eating cracked corn both in suet mixture and scattered loose on the ground.
John

Icicles on the bank of the Ashuelot River

Well, the Ashuelot River does not run through Dummerston, but i saw these fascinating icicles in Swanzey NH on Christmas Day.

Cheryl Wilfong

Sightings on Canoe Brook Road

I know this isn't the usual nature sighting, but i couldn't resist :)

Cheryl Wilfong

12-20 Grouse Locust

12-20
Grouse Locusts ( Short-horned Grasshoppers) were active - if a bit lethargic- early this afternoon.
John

11-27 Snow worms

11- 27
Some cutworms and earthworms chose to take their chances atop the snow this morning. Snow would not seem to be a good medium for wither … but … ?!?!
John

cutworm

earthworm

Beautiful Buck

We had a moose in our front yard on October 24. Probably the same moose that John saw in the West River 3 weeks earlier?

On Friday, this beautiful buck visited my garden.







And, in other news, Bill is training chickadees to eat out of his hand.