As
winter fades to a memory and spring arrives in fits and starts there’s always something
interesting to be seen in the natural world:
Day 1 – Last week’s snow has been melting
rapidly, but there’s still quite a bit on some north-facing slopes and shaded
spots. Two recently arrived male robins were disputing ownership of a territory
containing a large snowy area. There were certainly no worms or other
ground-dwelling things to eat; until
their battle, both birds had been fluttering along the trunks of nearby trees –
apparently gleaning something edible, but I couldn’t determine what that was.
Day 2 – HP
spoke of a small spotted fawn that he’s occasionally seen at his place and
which he believes must have been born in January. If he’s correct, and I think
he is, the question of how the fawn survived below zero temperatures and 18-24
inches of snow begs for an answer – as does how the doe found sufficient
nutritious food to produce enough milk to feed the fawn. The fawn’s survival
isn’t assured in spite of the warmer weather since most of the easily available
browse has already been devoured by hungry deer.
Day 3 – It’s not unusual to see migrating
common loons on the river, but it was exciting to find two of them swimming
together. Many years ago, on a day in early May, a friend and I counted 104
common loons on a large lake in the area. It was hard to get a good count of
the birds since some were repeatedly diving and resurfacing; 104 was our most
accurate count – Wow!
Day 4 – Walked to an old hill farm in the Big
Woods and wondered about the hard life the folks who lived there must have
lived. The house would certainly have had a beautiful view across a large
valley and distant hills. But the poor soils and steep fields couldn’t have
provided much of a living before the farm was abandoned during World War I.
Some of the fields were subsequently planted with Norway spruce, a European
species that does well here, others were allowed to grow up to pioneer tree
species like bigtooth aspen and red maple.
Day 5 – Spring’s
here, but some winter birds still haven’t departed for their breeding grounds
in the north. This winter large numbers of pine siskins came south to spend the
winter in northcentral Pennsylvania. I saw them on the elk range, and feeding
on black birch seed in the Big Woods, and a substantial flock paid daily
visits to our feeders. Now, almost all of the siskins have departed, but we
still see an occasional siskin near the house.
Day 6 – The
male red-winged blackbirds arrived in the last few weeks and, now that the
wetlands have thawed, are busy staking out their territories in the cattails.
Their red epaulets seem to glow even on a morning of April showers.
Day 7 – Mitigation wetlands are constructed to replace wetlands that have been altered or destroyed elsewhere. On an afternoon of heavy rain, in a nearby mitigation wetland, stood a great egret - a closer look revealed there was not just one egret, but also another hidden among some cattails.
It's not unusual to see great egrets in northcentral Pennsylvania in the summer, but this was by far the earliest I've ever seen them here.
That's a great shot of the two robins sparring. Actually all of your photos are fabulous. I've yet to see a common loon but I hope to one day. I've been counting frogs lately and there were 29 in our little bog by the house the other day. And countless tadpoles. It's been fun. I hope Spring keeps bringing you more beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteVery nice chronicle of the season. Spring is my favorite season too.
ReplyDeleteAlways nice to see the Egrets.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post and report.. I hope the fawn survived.. The Loons are awesome birds, I would love to see a big group of them.. The Pine Siskins is a sweet bird, I love them.. Great photos! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post.. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful shots. I especially love the last one of the egret.
ReplyDelete