Date: 4/8/24 4:41 pm From: Judy Griffith <9waterfall9...> Subject: Birds and Wildflowers from Easter to Eclipse
This morning while hunting morels I noticed the first Yellow-throated Warbler and Northern Rough-winged Swallows had arrived, and on his run Don heard a Yellow-throated Vireo. During the (99.2%) eclipse here we watched our first two male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds check out the Trumpet Honeysuckle and feeders that I put out in anticipation of their arrival.
Merlin app claims to have heard an Eastern Towhee and a Broad-winged Hawk which I missed, but never noticed the Louisiana Waterthrush chipping at the creek or the trills of Chipping Sparrows.
Pine Siskins have returned in vocal gatherings after leaving in late March, and Lincoln’s Sparrows, who usually display shy behavior out in the fields by diving quickly into the brush to hide, have started eating birdseed ON the deck and in areas next to the house with White-throated Sparrows and brightly crowned Chipping Sparrows for the first time that I have ever noticed.
By Easter both Northern Parula and Black & White Warblers were singing from treetops with Pine Warblers, and Eastern Bluebirds were considering which nest box or maybe cavity tree would work for them in the front yard - for the first time since the freeze in 2021. Louisiana Waterthrushes and Eastern Phoebes have gone pretty quiet because they are also nesting but of course Carolina Wrens sing to their eggs throughout the day as they come and go.
The first White-eyed Vireo announced its presence yesterday and Ruby-crowned Kinglets sing enthusiastically throughout the woods and fields. For some reason this spring there have not been as many Golden-crowned Kinglets as usual.
On Easter we observed docile honeybees entering and leaving their hollow tree that had fallen downhill toward the creek and we could see layers of honeycomb through the cracked trunk. On our way we flushed an observant Great Horned Owl sentry from a ledge in the bluff as we passed 70 feet below. Unfortunately a mob of American Crows mustered to chase the bird almost immediately, but a few minutes later the Owl returned to a hidden spot in the bluff and the Crows dispersed. The female GHOW may be nesting near the sentry in their ancestral grotto, but they are all carefully hidden from our view, as their plumage is extremely well camouflaged with the variations of hues in the geologic layers of stone.
This week the Robin’s Plantain began to bloom in the native plant gardens beside Woodland Phlox, Solomon’s Seal, Jacob’s Ladder, Wild Geranium, Virginia Bluebells, and Bloodroot. Mayapples are spreading in the fern garden and elsewhere with their wonderful patches of green umbrellas. Morels emerge here and there in the woods, one among creekside boulders where the Cottonmouths first come out to sun their winter bones in springtime.
Judith
Ninestone, Carroll County
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