Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend started off with a cold front Friday afternoon followed by a warm rain Saturday morning, and an even warmer Sunday morning, which together brought in some new birds: scarlet tanager and several warblers: black and white warbler, yellow, northern parula, black-throated blue (zoo zoo zoo zree). The morning chorus is getting more complex by the day and harder to differentiate the myriad songsters. On our morning walk we heard and saw a scarlet tanager. Its striking scarlet body and black wings and tail are in sharp contrast to its un-melodic, harsh 4-5 note song. The tanager is still stunning and with trees not yet leafed out, it stuck out in a sugar maple.

A quarter-sized painted turtle crawled across our driveway yesterday. Every spring we spot one of these little guys making their way from an overwintering nest to the big wetland behind our house. They are adorable at this size and we wonder how any of them make it to the relative safety of a wetland, several hundred yards away.

Wildflowers are popping up too, especially with the recent May showers. The diminutive dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius) and Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) were two of my favorite sightings in the Saturday morning rain.

Dwarf ginseng

Jack-in-the-pulpit

And the tulips popped open this sunny Mother's Day morning (hint: don't forget about your mother).