False Indigo in bloom

Warm. 80's. Some rain yesterday. A few Columbine now blooming, along with Prairie Smoke, Harebell, and the earliest False Indigo. False Indigo are particularly impressive, as they were some of the hardest hit by the late April snows. Grackles join the blackbirds in the garden and at the feeders.

Dragonflies, particularly the gray ones with the black stripes, extremely common.

Prairie Ninebark in bloom

Been incredibly negligent blogger lately, but intend to catch up. Prairie Ninebark just exploded into full bloom; the native bush covered in clumps of white flowers. Seen a few honeybees and native bees around it, but not many, though it's in a good sunny spot. Bit of a dry period lately, with hot, sunny weather lasting most of the week. Peepers cut out, replaced mostly by Tree Frogs and Chorus Frogs. Lots of dragonflies, fleabane in bloom, and Wild Geranium flourishing.

Orioles and Red-winged Blackbirds common at the feeders, and the bluebird couple appear to have completed their parenting for the year and moved out. No hummingbirds spotted yet.

Wildlife Spotted since last update

• American Toad
• Bald Eagle
• Baltimore Oriole
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Blue Jay
• Canadian Goose
• Chipmunk, Eastern
• Cottontail Rabbit
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Bluebird
• Goldfinch
• Gray Tree Frog
• Green Frog
• Grey Squirrel
• Nuthatch
• Purple Finch
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Sandhill Crane
• Squirrel, Grey

Native Plants Blooming Since Last Update:

• Fleabane
• Jacob's Ladder
• Prairie Ninebark
• Rue Anemone
• Swamp Buttercup
• Wild Geranium

I've never been one much for fending squirrels off my feeders. Apparently the local bluebirds feel differently, however. Our local couple dive-bombed a squirrel raiding our peanut feeder, harrassing him for over five minutes until he finally jumped off and made a dash for the tree-line.

Hot and muggy. Near 100 today.

Bumblebee gathering nectar from Wild Geranium

80's! Swamp buttercup and Wild Geranium both burst into bloom in the past few days.

Toads began trilling yesterday, joining the Green Frog and Gray Tree Frog in my pond and the Chorus Frogs and Peepers in the surrounding swamplands. Can hear several other Tree frogs not far off at night. Orioles have found our hummingbird and oriole feeders. Baby bluebirds heard in bluebird house; first family of the season. Tent caterpillars found building large "tents", and tearing the foliage from buckthorn.

Quite warm, temperatures in the mid 70's with lots of sun. Decent gardening weather!

Saw a bald eagle being chased by a pair of what appeared to be Red-winged blackbirds over Carlos Avery on my way to work today.

This evening marks the first break in the clouds we've seen since Sunday of last week. So far the week has been unseasonably cold, with temperatures peaking in the 40's.

Still lots of Red-winged Blackbirds hanging around the feeder, though we've seen the first Baltimore Oriole of the year just today, and the Eastern Bluebirds seem to have set up house in one of the two boxes. Loon calls can be heard from the nearby lakes and ponds, while the Peepers' chorus is still strident.

Last Friday's snow had a horrible effect on the native grape vines we had growing on the trellis. They seem to be making a bit of a comeback, but only time will tell if we see any grape production this year.

Native flowers seem to be doing quite well. Columbine, Blue-flag Iris, Swamp Buttercup, and Meadowrue foliage continuing to flourish (though no flowers yet), Prairie Smoke just starting to pop, stems of Butterflyweed and Bergamot finally starting to pop up. Mohican Viburnum just about to go out of bloom.

Snow Friday night! About a quarter of an inch collected on the grass, all of it melted by around 9 AM. Snow and frost killed back a few of my vines, though there's already new growth on most of them. The ones against the house seem absolutely fine.

Didn't hear frogs again until last night, when I only heard Spring Peepers.