More white can be seen, but at least it isn’t snow, but blossoms from the wild plum trees giving additional sources of pollen and nectar for the bees.
Bee in Wild Plum Tree
Picture of the Day for May 10, 2023
With the trees beginning to leaf out, the orioles have arrived. And they must have been hungry from their trip north as one sugar water feeder was already empty and the other probably will need filling in the morning too. The Baltimore Orioles young males do not molt into their bright orange color until the fall of their second year.
Baltimore Oriole Arrived
Picture of the Day for May 9, 2023
With the sun out, the Wood Anemone open up tiny blossoms instead of being tear drop shape on cloudy days. The small white specks stands out against the green mat of foliage, but with an oak leaf in the foreground, you can tell the wood anemone are not a big showy flower.
Little Wood Anemones
Picture of the Day for May 8, 2023
More birds have returned adding additional voices outdoors, including the grosbeaks and the loud song from the tiny wrens. And this evening, the humming of tiny wings was heard as the hummingbird danced near the feeder. With their short legs, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird doesn’t walk but shuffles along a perch.
Shuffling Hummingbird
Picture of the Day for May 7, 2023
The road ditch exploded with yellow color from the marsh marigolds blossoms. There was no hint of yellow on Friday but today they were providing lots of blooms for the bees and butterflies.
Springtime Yellow
Picture of the Day for May 6, 2023
A day made a big difference with the wildflowers as the great white trillium opened up, although the blossom is rather small because the deer eat the flower most years before it can put much energy into the rhizome causing smaller blooms or kills off the plant. I wonder how many days this lonely trillium will last before the deer finds it.
Season’s First Trillium
Picture of the Day for May 5, 2023
The Hepatica is the first wildflower that blooms in my woods, but the patch of hepaticas with white blossoms open several weeks later than my pink purple patch so they get lost among the bloodroots. Some of the trilliums behind the hepaticas have buds and maybe open soon if my deer don’t eat them first.
White Hepaticas
Picture of the Day for May 4, 2023
It must finally be spring as several mosquitoes were after me when I was picking branches off my lawn this evening. Plus a few more wildflowers have opened up like the wood violets and these Virginia Bluebells, which is a native wildflower with bell-shaped blossoms.
Blue from Virginia Bluebells
Picture of the Day for May 3, 2023
Yesterday I spotted a butterfly and then I saw a different butterfly today as well as the first dragonfly of the season at my pond. The Common Green Darner is a common dragonfly and are one of the first dragonflies to be seen in the spring. They are a skilled aerial predator and they eat many types of flying insects, such as flies, gnats, moths, butterflies, mayflies, damselflies, mosquitoes, and even other smaller dragonflies.
Common Green Darner
Picture of the Day for May 2, 2023
My lawn had a moving motion to it with all the birds covering the ground the last few days as the returning sparrows and warblers look for seeds. Many of them are the White-throated Sparrow with their patch of yellow and white throat. The White-throated Sparrow and the Dark-eyed Junco have been known to occasionally mate and produce hybrids.
White-throated Sparrow
