April 19, 2005
Weather
What
an amazing Spring we are having! Periods
of cool, clear air, low humidity, and then spates of heat, high humidity and
torrential rains. We experienced
flooding over the tops of several dams and spillways, especially after the
intense rains of March 26 and April 4.
Weve seen nothing like it in over a decade. For a week the roads were too sodden to drive
on and even after two weeks since the April deluge the Spring Pond, Frog Pond
and Big Bay Pond are still full to overflowing.
Its doing the frog population good!
We need to watch carefully as the water levels go down because woodstorks
are attracted to a body of water that is shrinking. The oxygen levels decline and the surface
area decreases, making it easier for storks to catch fish and frogs.
The
last few days have been blissfully cool, sunny, and pleasant, with a very
sensual northern breeze. It definitely
inspires spring fever its hard to stay inside!
Land Management
All
this rain has had an impact on our burn schedule. Several burns have been delayed, but as of
Saturday the 17th of April we have completed everything we
planned. It has been extremely
interesting burning in humidities of 25% - even two days after a rain the grass
and pine needles are dried out enough to burn extremely hot. It makes for a lot of work for the crew to
protect blooming wild azaleas and red buckeyes, but its worth it. Please come see the buckeyes they are still
in full bloom at the corner near the Gin House (see the mowed area) and along
the western edge of the Wildlife Woods.
There are still a few wild azaleas in bloom they have been stunning
this year more than in recent years and fragrant beyond belief. They have consistently been attracting flocks
of gorgeous swallowtail butterflies of all kinds. Some are still blooming in the
We
are done with burning, but our land management goes on. There are numerous mowing projects to
accomplish this year for brush control, especially winged sumac control in the
Gin House Field. We always can use help
from volunteers with invasive species removal.
Japanese climbing fern, Ardesia,
tallow tree, kudzu, and bamboo are all problem plants we want to prevent from
getting out of hand. It is virtually
impossible to completely eradicate them.
The Butterfly Garden is emerging into its springtime
color and variety and is already attracting lots of butterflies. Were seeing plenty of spicebush swallowtails
and many pipevine, tiger and giant swallowtails. Last week I saw my first zebra swallowtail,
brightly colored and recently emerged.
Last
week Peter, our gardener, happened upon a marvelous sight. He was trimming around the wild azaleas Betty
planted in memory of Rhodie White, and noticed, about 1 = feet off the ground,
two large moths right next to a very large cocoon on
an azalea stem. The next day Cyndi and I
went out to see if they were still there and to try out our new digital camera
donated to us by Betsey and Charlie Cooke.
They were Cecropia
moths. The pair was still there, in flagrante delicto,
mating, both clearly freshly emerged.
One, substantially larger than the other, we assumed to be the female as
she had an engorged abdomen and a wing span of at least seven inches. We got a few nice pictures which will be
posted on the website.
These
moths were impressive, not just because of their sheer size, but their coloring
and pattern was beautiful, their antennae were huge, all their scales were intact,
and their bodies were so furry. They
were gone the next day.
The
assumption also is that the female was the one that emerged from that cocoon
and attracted a male from a distance by means of pheromones that he can detect
with his antennae.
Purple Martins
The
Purple Martins have been absolutely delightful, as they have every year since
1943 when Betty erected the first martin pole right by the back door. They are incessantly entertaining and easy to
observe from the trail or the benches located nearby. They appear to have completed all nest
building and are now sitting on eggs.
Generally, when one walks by, several will look out and watch you walk
by.
Its
really a treat to see them down at the Farm Pond, our only really open body of
water. Sometimes they will circle around
and then go down to the surface for a drink.
This operation is done very smoothly and sedately. Other times they fly in for a bath and there
is nothing sedate about it they fly in at speed, from a height, and splash
right in, submerging for a split second and then on they fly. They do this repeatedly. (Or could they be fishing?)
Martin-watching
really becomes fun when they start to feed their young. They are very intense birds anyway, but
baby-feeding takes all their attention and effort. They appear to collect the largest item of
food per expenditure of energy per hunting trip. Therefore dragonflies are the prey of
choice. Babies wait eagerly, heads
stretching out of the gourds, sometimes up to four per gourd. Feeding is swift, one baby gets the prize, with
tail and wings sticking out of its bill until it can get the
thing down, then off the parent goes.
They are very hard workers, martins.
The Bluebird Trail
Bluebirds
and other cavity-nesters are well on their way to laying or fledging their
first brood of chicks. Bluebird Trail
Monitors
The Gin House Field is full of crimson clover just
beginning to bloom. Most children who
visit get excited thinking the red blossoms are strawberries or
raspberries! The terraces are
prominently outlined in green right now and there is an abundance of pink
sourgrass and lavender toadflax coming out.
Orchard orioles are singing from high in the cherry trees; blue
grosbeaks are chasing each other around; kingbirds, not shy, let you get very
close before moving another few feet away.
Flocks of palm warblers are flitting their tails. Of course there are bluebirds galore, in full
courtship coloring and singing their hearts out. Its a very lively place!
Big
Water
continues to flood out of the spillway and the beavers are just biding their
time until the flow slows down a bit.
The Great Blue Herons are actively feeding chicks that look bigger every
day. The water tupelo trees are leafing
out fast, so come out soon if you want to watch the herons feeding. It is a raucous time: a parent arrives with food and there is much
clacking and barking and other forms of heron jubilation. How two growing chicks and a full grown
parent all remain standing on that small disk of twigs throughout such a chaotic
greeting is beyond me. Its fun to watch!
Miscellaneous Observations
Recently
arrived in their full glory are the Indigo Buntings and the Summer
Tanagers. Both are singing lustily around
the entire place. Cedar Waxwings are
still here, cleaning up every last mulberry and Oregon grape. Wild Turkeys are gobbling in the early
morning; Barred Owls are hooting all day long in the Live Oak Hammock.
Fence
lizards are blending in to their tree bark surroundings; fox squirrels all
shades of silver to black have been spotted in the woods; a few white-chinned
black racers have also made brief appearances.
The Farm Pond alligator is seen frequently now that we have burned the
Upper Pond dam, basking in her own special wallow on the bank. Watch out when you walk by; she will thrash
into the water and startle you. We are
keeping our eye on her.
Another
wood rat has moved into the nest under the outdoor restroom sink. We dont know if it is a male or female. It had a U-shaped wound on its right flank
and limped when it just first appeared, but is now healed and we can identify
it by the scar that remains. At first,
in typical woodrat fashion, it climbed the mulberry tree at night and placed a
large stash of stems with leaves and unripe berries next to its bed. After the Cedar Waxwings began coming through
and knocking ripe berries to the ground, it now collects a pile of convenient
ground level berries for its day-time snacking.
The Bird Window is a wonderful place to watch
the gradual yet profound change of seasons.
The bird population, both species and numbers, is in flux. As of April 1st we have seen new
arrivals such as the Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Springtime
What
a truly lovely spring we are having.
Every year is different and each is wonderful but this year feels so
good! The equinox has passed; we are
heading toward the summer solstice. Thankfully,
many of us can take great pleasure in the beauty that surrounds us and the
serenity nature offers so generously. We
think of Betty, who passed away three years ago on April 16th, and
honor her memory by enjoying and experiencing Birdsong, which was her lifes
work and a gift to all of us from Betty and Ed.
Birdsong is in a springtime state of grace and we hope you will come
enjoy it.
~ KDB
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Revised -- May 13, 2005