Meadow Birds and Flowers

Late this afternoon, I drove over to the meadows in Naugatuck State Forest to see what's going on there -- I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of our more colorful migrating warblers (which might be any day now), and this seemed like a good place to check in case they'd started showing up already. There were no warblers there today (not even Palm or Pine, which I saw in the woods last week), but there were plenty of other things to see.

The fields were covered with Trout Lilies, a plant I didn't expect to find there, and they were already past their prime -- I seemed to have missed seeing the Trout Lilies in full bloom this year, unfortunately. Other flowers made up for that lack, though, including big patches of tiny Bluets:

And these brilliant Ragweed blossoms (I didn't think to check the shape of the basal leaves on these plants, so I don't know exactly what species they are):

These are such cheery little flowers, and perhaps aside from the Goldfinches, they were the brightest things around:

A few Chipping Sparrows were around and in very high spirits (they even got into a big fight at one point). These birds only recently returned to Connecticut from their winter homes, and I'm happy to see them again!

I also got to hang out with a pack of very puffy, very active Black-capped Chickadees as they foraged and preened in the low shrubs:

And just look at all the little leaves on that tree! Oh, spring!