A Look at the Season's Main Events
By Virginia Barlow
April
“If it thunders on All Fools’ Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay.” / Pussy willow roots are in ditches or wetlands, and the shrub responds to the first signs of thawing / Male flowers of beaked hazelnut are casting pollen; the tiny, bright purple female flowers are only evident at close range / The first warm, rainy night in April sends spotted salamanders and wood frogs to their nuptial pools / Garter snakes may be sunning on the warmest of warm days
The dog begins to shed / Phoebes return. The plaintive song of the male is a welcome sign of spring / Hepatica is blooming. Because of the shape of its leaves, it’s also called liverwort, and though it was long believed to cure liver ailments, there’s no evidence that it does / Queen bumblebees are collecting pollen from the flowers of red and silver maples / Clean your birdhouses – bluebirds, chickadees, and tree swallows are looking for accommodations
Many of the wind-pollinated trees and shrubs – quaking aspen, balsam poplar, bigtoothed aspen, speckled alder, willow, elm, boxelder, and red maple – are in full bloom / Grouse are drumming now. One of their predators, the great horned owl, cannot hear low-frequency sounds / Loons return to inland lakes from coastal wintering areas / Sapsuckers have returned. Their drumming is distinctive – a series of fast knocks followed by a few slower, erratic ones
Peak of early spring flowers: trillium, ginger, and trout lily / Oak catkins are dangling / Raccoons are the most likely raiders of grouse nests. Squirrels, skunks, chipmunks, weasels, foxes, and snakes are other possible grouse egg predators / Cluster flies are introduced from Europe; they are now laying their eggs on the backs of earthworms / Check for fiddleheads / Hermit thrushes are back / When the water temperature reaches 50˚F, perch begin to spawn
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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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© 2005 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
