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Yesterday the spicebush bushes started blooming at Crow's Nest—a welcome sign of spring. We're a little ahead of Mariton but not by much.
I echo the sentiment Tim writes below: every day there's something new but sometimes you have to look for it. Now that I see Dutchman's breeches are blooming at Mariton I figure they must be here also.
On the First Day of Spring, I was checking easements in the Poconos. One of the easements that I checked that day still had extensive patches of deep snow in the woods. And while my colleague at Crows Nest, Dan Barringer, is posting wildflower sightings on the blog, I am just beginning to see activity here at Mariton.
All kidding aside, the flowers are going to burst forth soon. This year, I think that their appearance will be explosive. Here is a patch of Dutchman's Britches along the Woods Trail that was not there on Wednesday. I know the Hepatica is up, I just didn't walk that trail this afternoon (and they weren't blooming on Monday).
The Coopers Hawk is back and can be seen daily near the Nature Center. Last year a pair nested in the pines above the Center and raised two young that were visible throughout the summer. As I posted earlier, the bluebirds in the yard have built a nest. Other pairs should be nesting this week in the meadow.
I encourage you to get out this weekend. Visit Mariton, Crows Nest or a park near you. This is the time of year when new flowers bloom every day, new birds arrive, and trees push forth their new growth. It is a time of subtle changes and riotous colors (both flowered and feathered). Every day there is a new treasure waiting for your encounter. It is a time after a long winter to recharge your creative batteries, soak up some Vitamin E and rediscover the dynamic beauty of Nature.
When I checked the nest boxes this week, one of the boxes housed a completed bluebird nest. I don't want to be too repetitive, but I like to post photos of the different nests. In conversations with visitors to the Nature Center, many people have nest boxes, but don't realize they can check them once a week. They know what species are using the boxes in the yard (where they can watch the birds coming and going), but don't realize that by learning to identify a few nests, they can tell what species are using the boxes that they can't see from the house.
This is a bluebird nest. Notice it is made completely of dry grasses. It will usually be about 3 - 4 inches in depth, with a deep bowl shaped in the grass. Hopefully next week I will post a photo of a few blue eggs in this nest. If you haven't cleaned your nest boxes out you need to do it now. You want to provide a clean environment for this year's residents. If you have a nest box in the garage that you have been meaing to put up, this weekend would be not be too late. If you visit Mariton listen (and watch) for bluebirds in the yard around the Nature Center and in the meadows. We are hearing their singing a lot right now.
Today I saw hepatica blooming in the woods, and just one spring beauty so far. The mayapple foliage is poking up, something it wasn't doing yesterday. Spring is happening fast now!
Another place we visited in Pittsburgh was the National Aviary. Maureen and I highly recommend it. In the Aviary, you basically walk a loop inside the building. Some species you watch through glass. Information about the species' habitat, location, and diet, is posted on the wall. Then, there are large habitats that you walk through, where the birds fly freely around you.
Staff and volunteers did wonderful presentations in these large habitats. Some of the birds are trained to eat from your hand, or catch food tossed into the air. It was awesome. There was a presentation in one of the Habitats every half hour, and the presentations lasted about 20 minutes. So, you just walked from one presentation to another.
A number of children were visiting the same day we were there. It was fun to watch their faces when a tern swooped down and grabbed a wax worm from their fingers. The photo of me feeding the terns was unfortunately blurred. Here I am feeding a large pigeon. (I am sorry, I can't recall the species or where exactly it lives in Asia. Too many birds at one time. Now I know how beginners on our bird walks feel!) After attending all of the presentations, we strolled through the building again. Everyone else was attending a presentation in another part of the building, so we were able to sit quietly and watch (and listen to) the undisturbed birds. I wish I had taken my binoculars.
While the experience with the birds was awesome, I can't say enough good things about the staff and volunteers. It takes a lot of manpower to run this operation. People presenting. People caring for the birds. People preparing food for the birds. People cleaning cages. People training birds. People raising chicks (without imprinting) of rare species for release into the wild. Plus people in the hallways to answer questions. Each of them shared their passion for birds, and thus infected their audience. Maureen and I give this a big thumbs up.
Yesterday was the first day I saw bloodroot blooming throughout the preserve. While working in the woods I saw butterflies: Mourning cloak and eastern comma. And last night was the first night I heard the trilling of the American toad.
A few weeks ago, Maureen and I took a short vacation to Pittsburgh, PA. One of the places we visited was the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. We have to return, because the museum closed before we could take in all of the exhibits.
One of the exhibits that we found fascinating was "The Scoop on Poop". It was filled with interactive stations and lots of humorous and interesting facts about the scat of different animals. It also dealt with the ways that humans view and use waste in different cultures. I highly recommend it.
Anyone who has accompanied me on a walk knows that I stop to examine the scats that I find on the trails. Foxes use scat to mark territories, and often poop on a raised rock to advertise. Using a stick to break up the scat, one can see if a fox was dining on squirrel or cicadas. In this photo you can see a candy wrapper in the scat, along with squirrel hair. (Fortunately the discarded wrapper passed through the digestion system.) If I find corn in raccoon scat, I know how far it was foraging, and so get a sense of home range.
Because of the taboo of poop, kids react hilariously when confronted with scat examination. They become interested, however, when they realize that scat tells a story. Children seldom see turkeys or deer or foxes while on a field trips to Mariton. But tracks and scat are tangible evidence that those animals roam the very trails where they are standing. It adds a new and fascinating dimension to a walk in the woods.
Thank you to the volunteers who showed up Saturday morning to cut vines in a hedgerow. The weather turned nice and we got half of the hedgerow finished. It goes much more quickly when there are people cutting on the inside and outside of the hedgerow.
While monitoring easements in the Poconos, I witnessed a woodcock's courtship ritual. The American Woodcock (Philohela minor) is a round little sandpiper that prefers wet, brushy swamps and woods. One evening outside my motel room, I heard the characteristic peent coming from a drainage beyond the parking lot. I have witnessed the woodcock's courtship dance many times, but will never tire of this wonderful display. (Mariton is too dry for woodcocks to breed, though I have seen them in the woods during migration and floods.)
Near sunset (and sunrise) in the spring, the male finds an open area with very little ground cover. He then sounds a nasal peent. He makes a quarter turn and peents again. He repeats this until he has made a few revolutions. Then he flies into the sky in broad circles which get narrower as he ascends. All the time that he is climbing he emits a mechanical twittering sound. If you are positioned right you can watch him silhouetted against the night sky. When he reaches the apex, he plummets to the ground in tight circles. While he descends, listen for his warbling. When he lands, he repeats the process with a buzzy peent. Hopefully, a female is attracted to the calling before it becomes too dark for him to display. If so, they fly off together. If you are in good woodcock habitat, you can witness this each dawn and dusk during mating season.
There is no better description of the woodcock's mating ritual than Aldo Leopold's. Find a copy of A Sand County Almanac and under his April entries you will find Sky Dance. Leopold was both scientist and artist. He captures the wonder of nature while contemplating the science of managing it. It is a timeless treasure. I re-read my copy of A Sand County Almanac often. I refer to as I would a compass, and it reminds me why I have chosen this line of work.
The world tragically lost a young outdoors man. Peter Kodama, who volunteered at Mariton as a young teen, recently passed away. Peter recognized at an early age that he loved nature and the outdoors and set his course in that direction.
Peter was a wonderful young man. His enthusiasm was infectious. His intensity was powerful. He had a sly sense of humor. His hunger for knowledge was voracious. His smile and laughter lit up his surroundings.
Peter would often ride his bicycle the four or five miles from home to look up something in the Nature Center Library, or borrow a book. He would often find me and shower me with questions. We would have spirited conversations about the different things we had both observed while afield.
My life is much richer for having known Peter. The Earth is a better place because Peter always marveled in its beauty.
