A Look at the Season's Main Events
By Virginia Barlow
May
Birds sing most enthusiastically at dawn, perhaps to let it be known that they made it through the night and still control the territory. Or they may hope to catch the ear of migrating females that arrived during the night / Alder flea beetles, ¼-inch long and metallic blue-green, will soon begin laying eggs on swelling alder buds / Turkeys lay eggs in shallow scrapes and before incubation begins will cover the eggs with leaves when leaving the nest
Low frequencies penetrate obstacles better than high frequencies, and wood warblers that sing from low perches sing at a lower pitch than blackpoll, Blackburnian, or bay-breasted warblers, which are singing now from the treetops / Rose twisted-stalk, named for a sharp bend in its flower stalk, is in flower / The lovely trillium smells like rotten meat for a reason: it is pollinated by flies / New oxeye daisy leaves are good in salads, although strongly flavored
Females of only a few bird species sing. Now you might hear a female oriole, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, or mockingbird – but that’s about it from the female side / A single brown thrasher may have 2,000 songs in his repertoire / Baby opossums will be weaned soon. Their first 60 days were spent in the mother’s pouch / White-tailed deer will soon give birth, but it’s hard to tell whether a female is pregnant. If well fed, they all have round bellies
Mimics, such as mockingbirds and starlings, learn new songs throughout their lives / Northern two-lined salamander eggs have hatched. The larvae will spend two (occasionally three) years in streams / Beavers shift their diet to herbaceous plants such as cattails, pickerelweed, and water lilies. They will subsist on bark again next winter / Butternut trees in bloom / Scorched-looking foliage on larch is probably the result of feeding by the larch casebearer
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These listing are from observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on you latitude, elevation - and the weather.
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© 2006 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
