The newest wave of migrating birds has now reached Connecticut, and my visit to the Bent of the River Audubon sanctuary this morning was definitely colorful! Male Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks all made appearances, and I was happy to get to see all these gorgeous creatures for the first time this year. The sudden explosion of diversity in May really is amazing!
And of course, the warblers have arrived as well. Several Blue-winged and Prairie Warblers were singing all over during my walk this morning, although I only got brief glimpses of these little yellow birds. A male Black-and-white Warbler also showed up to sing his song and creep nuthatch-like around a tree:
I am always amazed by this bird's outfit. So many stripes!
Late in the morning, I got stuck in a battle zone. Two male Hooded Warblers were calling constantly and chasing each other around a group of small trees (jousting over prime breeding territory, I assume). I've only seen Hooded Warblers once before, and that was at a distance, so I was pretty excited at the chance to hang around these birds while they postured and tussled. Again, these are some amazing outfits:
"Hooded" indeed, although this bird's headgear reminds me more of a balaclava. I guess "Balaclava-ed Warbler" is a bit of a mouthful.... In any case, these were some punky birds:
I love all that yellow (and the hood that looks like a beard from below):
Hooray for little birds with loud voices:
Whichever male wins this territory, hopefully there will be Hooded Warbler babies in these trees before too long. More Hooded Warblers, please!
Speaking of making babies, I was happy to see at least one Eastern Bluebird pair setting up their home:
And while the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were courting when I visited last week, they've now moved on to the nest-building stage. This nest is a nice little cup of lichen and spider webs, which the male and female are taking turns shaping:
That's the male gnatcatcher working on the nest in the above picture, with his severe dark eyebrows. Maybe someday I'll get a picture that shows off these eyebrows and their angry expression especially well, but here's a more placid portrait of this male in the meantime:
Here are a few more assorted sights to round out today's visit. A Chipping Sparrow, mid-song:
A Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), looking a bit like a flying pincushion with that pointy proboscis:
And a Red Trillium, already gorgeous but made even fancier with red-striped sepals that I don't think I've ever seen before:
May is an awesome month!
Apparently I've been going to the wrong woods for spring wildflowers for years now! Well, "wrong" isn't quite what I mean; I still get to see Trout Lilies and violets and trilliums and other cool things at all my usual haunts. But today I visited the Bent of the River Audubon sanctuary, where I saw tons of wildflowers that are by no means rare in Connecticut but that I've missed entirely until now.
Like, for example, Bloodroot, whose blooms were closed when I first arrived:
But which opened into luminous beacons as the morning progressed:
I think these flowers are even prettier in the shade of the forest floor:
There were Dutchman's Breeches, fancy little flowers dangling over wonderfully frilly leaves:
And carpets of tiny Spring Beauties:
This little flower is definitely worth admiring up close:
I was already familiar with some of the other flowers I saw, but that didn't make them any less awesome. A few Red Trillium plants bore nodding blooms:
I think these are some of our most beautiful wildflowers, and I'm very glad I got to see them again:
I also admired the Trout Lilies, of course, stout dark plants in the sun:
And wispier individuals in the shade:
I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing these plants:
So yeah, this is a pretty amazing place for wildflowers. And some other early spring sights made this morning's visit even better. A few Northern Rough-winged Swallows are setting up nests in holes in the riverbank:
I had way too much fun watching these birds perform their aerial acrobatics above the river as they jostled for territory:
A couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were foraging at the edge of the woods, and the female got close enough for some pictures:
Pretty bird:
When I caught up with these birds again later, the male was busy putting on a performance. He would fluff up his feathers and stretch his head down:
The female fluttered from branch to branch all around him, and he kept turning to face her. Bird courtship is so strange and interesting:
What do you think, Ms. Gnatcatcher? Is he fluffy enough for you?
In another part of the woods, a few Palm Warblers worked their way through the underbrush:
One of the last creatures to make an appearance during my visit was this large (multi-foot-long) black snake, who wound its way across the path:
At first, I thought this was a Black Rat Snake, but on closer inspection (and after a bit of research) it turned out to be a Northern Black Racer. How cool, a new snake for me! This website gives a good description of the differences between these two species of large black snake; this creatures' smooth scales were the biggest clue about its identity, since Black Rat Snakes have slight ridges on their scales. This snake rattled its tail against the dead leaves to warn me away -- an awesome behavior I'd never seen before -- but my zoom lens let me get a portrait before the snake disappeared into the woods:
With so many awesome plants and animals, I'm hoping to return to the Bent of the River again soon. I'm very curious to see what will show up here in the coming weeks!
My friend Megan was visiting today, and we've had such fun exploring the woods together before, we decided that a woods walk was in order. I hadn't been to the lakes at Naugatuck State Forest in quite a while, and there's always something cool to see there, so off we went!
But when we got to the forest, we saw several cars parked at the entrance, more than I'm used to seeing on a weekday morning. And when we actually walked into the forest, we saw even more cars... and cranes... and porta-potties... and trailers.... The whole area, which is usually very quiet, was filled with whirring engines and bustling people, and we were quite confused! As it turns out, they're filming a horror flick about a giant person-eating fish right on these lakes -- seriously! -- and they'll probably be at it for a while yet. Well, how about that. It's a pretty crazy and interesting thing to be happening, but not exactly conducive to nature-viewing!
Thus dissuaded from our original goal, but not disheartened, we changed plans and drove off to the other end of the forest, where the meadows were filled with wildlife and, critically, empty of camera crews.
It turned out to be pretty much the perfect day for a walk. We watched lots of birds foraging in the trees, including this lovely little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, who was fluttering up and down after insects and flashing the white feathers in its long tail:
I got to show Megan the Nodding Ladies'-tresses that I first found blooming here last year -- whose dainty blooms we admired on hands and knees -- and Megan sniffed out (literally, by scent!) some wild grapes for us to munch on. (Mmmm!)
A few sights were new to both of us, like this dark purple mushroom (possibly Cortinarius iodes) hiding in the underbrush:
And these bright and cheery Purple-headed Sneezeweed blooms (Helenium flexuosum):
Dragonflies of all sizes coursed over the meadows, Chimney Swifts flew in circles over our heads, and we watched a pair of American Copper butterflies flying close together to land on a plant to snuggle (will there be American Copper caterpillars arriving soon?):
So even though we didn't end up where we thought we would, an enjoyable time was had by all. I love showing off the wonderful places around here, and it's always fun sharing these things with friends. :)
