With the nice warm weather we've had in the past couple of days, I went for a walk in the woods this morning, hoping to find the Wood Frogs out and about. Well, it's still too early for them, it seems, but there are some other creatures becoming more active with the warm days and mid-40s nights: Moths!
Last night, I got my first moth-y visitors of the year under my porch light. (Technically, I saw a moth flying outside my window earlier in the year, on January 31st, but it didn't come to the porch light and I didn't get a good look at it, so that only sort of counts.) Two Sallow Moths of some species or other (genus Eupsilia) were hanging around, one with pretty pale orange spots on its wings:
And another with bright white spots in the same place -- this moth careened into me and landed on my shirt, where it actually let me scoop it up in my hand:
What pretty wings you have, little creature:
And this is why I love moths. Up close, this creature reminds me of something big and furry and cuddly, like a yak. (Can one cuddle a yak?) Just look at that face!
The moth stayed on my hand quite calmly for several minutes, cleaning its antennae and vibrating its wings almost constantly (presumably to warm up):
And then it flew away again, off into the night. I feel like I made a new friend. :)
The moths weren't the only insects waking up, either. The porch light was surrounded by little gnats with their dainty feathery antennae, like this one that followed me back into the house:
So there we have it, flying creatures and warm weather (for now anyway). Yay, spring!
While out getting my car's oil changed this afternoon, I found myself near Osbornedale State Park, and it was such a lovely sunny day, I just had to stop by and take a look around. And I'm glad I did, because there was lots to see! The Red-winged Blackbirds were calling (hello, spring!), a Peregrine Falcon soared overhead, and tons of songbirds foraged next to the paths and in the mowed fields.
I especially enjoyed watching a small flock of Eastern Bluebirds flying through the fields and using bramble canes as convenient perches. The females were pretty, like pale blue/brown flags:
And the males were gorgeous:
I mean really, could that blue be any brighter? It was lots of fun watching these guys zoom around the brown fields:
At the edge of the bluebird field, I got treated to a concert by a Northern Mockingbird -- I knew these birds were vocalizing experts, but I don't think I've ever really stopped to listen to one before. Here's a video I took of a portion of this bird's offering:
Mockingbirds pick up songs from other birds around them (hence "mocking"), and so much of this mockingbird's repertoire sounds familiar to me, but I'm still greatly lacking in my bird-song identification skills. Parts of this video sound chickadee-like to me, other parts Blue Jay-ish, but I'm not certain about any of it. Do you recognize any specific songs in this mockingbird's concert?
I have one last sighting from today's walk, and it's poop:
From what I've read, and with all that hair, I'm almost certain this is Red Fox scat, although I'll be happy if any of my more knowledgeable readers can correct me. I kept finding it all along the paths through the fields where I was walking, which makes me think there might be a very active fox maintaining a territory here. It would've been cool to actually see the creature, but it's also just interesting to think that it walked these paths before me, and left some signs to mark its passing.
We're supposed to get some really warm temperatures in the next couple of days (possibly low 60s on Thursday), so you can bet I'll be out in the woods again soon. I'm just waiting for spring to really get going!
OK, some creatures are definitely starting to get into spring-time mode around here!
I woke up this morning to find a handful of Black Vultures -- the less common of Connecticut's two vulture species -- lined up along the roof of one of the houses across the street from our apartment. (Or, more accurately, Paul woke me up, saying, "hey, there's a bunch of really big black birds out here that you might want to see!" I'm training him well.)
First of all, it was strange to see so many Black Vultures here at once (one or two is normal, seven is quite a lot), and I don't think I've seen them perched before -- they're usually wheeling high overhead. So I got my camera to document the unusual gathering, and then it quickly became clear that something even more unusual was going on. For two of the vultures, at least, love was in the air.
(I really feel like I should apologize to the vultures for posting pictures of such a private moment. But really, if they didn't want to be seen, they should've picked a spot a little more secluded than the top of a chimney for their rendezvous!)
The male vulture was clearly doing his best to impress:
He looked quite handsome from here, but I'm not a female vulture, so I don't think I'm really qualified to judge:
The female vulture did seem amenable to his advances, though, and some snuggling ensued (I actually think this is pretty adorable):
The actual mating only took a moment...
And that was it!
Will there be baby vultures soon? Maybe!
So now that Black Vultures have been hanging around in the area and mating, I wonder if they'll stick around to build a nest! The idea is especially interesting considering that Black Vultures weren't documented as nesting in Connecticut until as recently as 2002 -- this is a species whose range has traditionally ended further to the south, but which has been gradually expanding northwards over the years. I have no idea whether I'll see these individuals around here again (and I probably wouldn't recognize them if I did), but it's nice to think they might stay and maybe even raise a family. I quite like these big birds -- and what a thing to be happening practically in my own back yard!
Incidentally, there were tons of other birds around the yard this morning, too -- way more than I've seen at one time in months! A flock of 30+ Cedar Waxwings combed through the trees, plus four species of woodpecker, not to mention noisy flocks of juncos, starlings, and sparrows, and about 20 of these guys hopping across the yard, poking their beaks into the now-soft ground:
Robins are around all winter, but when they start foraging in yards, I'm pretty sure that's a good sign that spring really is on its way!
This fellow was outside my office window yesterday afternoon. My usual reaction to European Starlings is something along the lines of: "yechh, starlings." Aside from the aggressively invasive aspect, I generally just think they look ugly. But every once in a while, in the right light, one of them changes my mind just a little. Oh, starlings.
I keep expecting to see signs of spring in the woods, even though I know it's not quite time for that yet. Just to remind me that winter's still here, the paths at Naugatuck State Forest where I went for a walk this afternoon showed a thin layer of packed snow, left over from the few inches we got last Thursday:
Maybe because my mind is already in spring mode, though, I honed in on the color green during my walk today. There wasn't much in the way of new things growing, but it was nice to notice some of our plants that keep their leaves all winter. As it turns out, there's quite a bit of living green out there among the brown!
The shiny purple-green leaves of Round-leaved Pyrola, for example, dotted the side of this bank:
And this Spotted Wintergreen contributed a lovely blue-green hue to the mix -- one of these plants is still holding on to the dried remains of last year's flower:
Partridgeberry stretched chains of its tiny dark-green leaves across the ground:
My favorite discovery of the day was this lone Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, one of our native orchids, growing in a different part of the forest from where I found it blooming last summer. Its intricately patterned leaves practically glowed from its setting on the brown forest floor:
Isn't this just the prettiest little plant? I'll keep an eye on it to see whether it blooms this year.
The Hemlock trees looked especially green today, making a roof above the path:
And I love the extensive patches of sea-green lichen on this tree -- I've often noticed it, but neglected to photograph it until now:
And of course, what list of green things in the winter woods would be complete without some moss? There are so many different types of moss out there, and maybe one day I'll try to learn to identify them -- for now, I'll just marvel at some of the interesting textures and vibrant colors that presented themselves today:
The only real sign of spring I've seen so far remains the Skunk Cabbage, and those plants are getting stronger by the day, with little mottled maroon-and-yellow balloons popping up all over the swampy areas of the forest:
And what's this? A hint of new-green Skunk Cabbage leaf unrolling as well?
