Spring Sampler

For good reason spring is my favorite season: longer days; wildflowers blooming; warm, but not hot days (usually); migrating waterfowl and warblers; emerging green leaves; bear cubs and butterflies – what’s not to like.

It’s a great time to be out in forest and field, something I try to do each and every day. Visit any woodland or large park in the spring and you’ll find something interesting that’s well worth a close look.

Here it is, a sample of spring in my corner of the world –

That American lady is battered because it's migrated north with the spring after spending the winter in warmer climes. The warblers and the swallow spent the winter in Central or South America, now they're  on the way back north back to nest and raise the next generation. Those blooming wildflowers were dormant all winter and have to flower, set seed and store resources before the trees' leaves fully emerge. Poison ivy is beautiful spring and fall, just don't plant it around the house.

Spring will soon end and we’ll be into summer, with its heat and humidity.

Mid-day in the Marsh

Ask virtually any wildlife photographer and they’ll say that mid-day is absolutely the worst time to try for photographs of most wildlife, be it mammals or birds. But, when you have a planned get-together for coffee with friends in mid-morning and an early evening meeting, mid-day is all you have. And so at 2:00pm I donned camo clothing and set up at the edge of the marsh.

The marsh has open water, dense stands of cattails, a scattering of willow, boxelder and silver maple trees in the drier spots, areas dominated by emergent shrubs like buttonbush and a border of shrubs. The great variety of vegetation supports a wide variety of wildlife.

There I sat awaiting the arrival of whatever wildlife happened along. The first critter to appear was a muskrat that swam the edge of the open water and then repeated the circuit – a male looking for a mate perhaps –

Meanwhile an eastern phoebe used a nearby willow as a launch-pad from which to sally forth to snatch insects from the air –

The first duck to make an appearance was a male green winged teal that landed on the far side of the open water –

While I was watching the teal, there was a commotion off to the side. There, two large snapping turtles were busy propagating the species –

Ducks flew over, including a pair of mallards –

And several male wood ducks landed in the open water, then proceeded to enter the area of emergent shrubs –

A tundra swan far down the marsh came closer and stood in a shallow spot in the open water – it preened a bit, stretched and proceeded to fall asleep –

I was very late for lunch so I packed up and walked along the edge of the marsh on the way back to the car. There in the open water was a pair of northern pintails, the male is often described as the handsomest of ducks –

They tipped up to feed, showing why they’re called pintails –

It had been a good mid-day in the marsh.

Blues

Spring is a time that blues make a welcome appearance: blue sky, blue birds, blue flowers –

and the small butterfly known as the spring azure –

The spring azure is the most common butterfly in northcentral Pennsylvania during the spring. Along any unpaved road, especially one with puddles lingering after April showers, there will be numerous spring azures –

These are small butterflies, with a wingspan of about an inch (25mm). The upper portion of their wings is a bright light blue while the undersides are grayish with small black spots and streaks.

Female spring azures have a wide black margin on their upper wings –

Since these butterflies are often quite abundant, males are often seen in numbers “puddling” on the edge of puddles or on feces to obtain minerals that are vital to breeding –

Spring azure larvae feed on the buds, flowers and fruit of a wide variety of trees and shrubs.

There are two other related species of azure that occur in our area, the Appalachian azure and the summer azure. These butterflies are on the wing later in the spring and summer and are almost indistinguishable from the spring azure. It appears that the taxonomy of the azures is complex, so we can just enjoy seeing these small butterflies that bring color on the wing to forest and field.

Good Weather for Ducks

When I was a boy and it was a rainy day, my grandmother always said that it was good weather for ducks. And so on a cloudy afternoon with rain in the forecast I headed for a wetland that’s a favorite with migrating ducks and therefore one of my favorite spots in the early spring.

When I got there, I parked the car, walked about 300 yards to the edge of the wetland, donned my leafy camo jacket, hood and gloves and settled in to wait.

photograph taken on a different day

About 15 minutes later a light rain began and shortly afterwards the first bird arrived, a male green-winged teal –

He didn’t stay long, flushing and flying far into the wetland. The next arrivals were several American coots; coots aren’t ducks, they’re actually rails with a duck-like lifestyle.

The rain increased a bit so I put a rain cover on the camera and lens even though they’re both rated as weather sealed (one user of the same gear takes them in the shower to clean them).

As the rain fell a number of wood ducks arrived, some flew in while others swam from an area of flooded shrubs. Male wood ducks are often said to be among the most beautiful of ducks –

On the other side of the open water a lone tundra swan swam with several mallards and a couple of wood ducks –

Another male green-winged teal flew in to land near a coot –

A while later the rain increased and the sky darkened; the wood ducks began to leave, a few at a time –

 

And, since my clothes were wet through, I left too.