White Trout Lily against a blue sky.
The thing that strikes me walking through the woods right now is how empty they are. Where are the White-throats and the Hermit Thrushes and the early warblers? After closing up this morning and finishing the data entry I took a slow, leisurely walk along the Fox Den and Carolinian Trails. A few Song Sparrows, an occasional woodpecker and nuthatch, furtive robins making nests and the very occasional flash of a junco’s tail. And that was it. And yet the buds are opening (on some trees anyway) and today’s sunshine pushed the Trout Lilies and Bloodroot to open.
Banded this handsome male Purple Finch yesterday and listened to it (or another one) this morning.
This emptiness is reflected in our banding totals: 22 and 11. Yikes! But….our overall species count is climbing…somehow. We encountered 55 species today, but nothing out of the ordinary. (Although yesterday we had the first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the year singing in the tree tops.)
The warmth and sunshine have the Trout Lilies opening.
Ruthven is a good place to find the white variant of the Trout Lily.
April 27th; Banded 22:
2 Mourning Doves
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Field Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed junco
3 Red-winged Blackbirds
7 Brown-headed Cowbirds
1 Purple Finch
3 American Goldfinches
Species Count: 48 spp. We found this “interesting” plastic marker on the leg of a female Brown-headed Cowbird that we originally banded in 2013. I have no idea of where the marker came from….or why it had been applied.
April 28th; Banded 11:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Tree Swallow
1 Northern Cardinal
3 Chipping Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
4 American Goldfinches
Species Count: 55 spp.
Rick
Lovely blog. I’d like to follow it but I don’t see the Follow by Email widget.