Alder flea beetles, ¼-inch long and metallic blue-green, are evident on swelling alder buds and will soon begin laying eggs / Male whitetails are quickly regaining the fat they lost over the winter and during last autumn’s rut / Warbler arrivals may include ovenbird, magnolia, parula, Blackburnian, and northern water thrush / Several invasive species leaf out early. The pale green leaves of non-native honeysuckles are visible before those of most other shrubs

The dark-colored eggs now being laid by American toads contain melanin, which helps protect them from over-exposure to ultraviolet light / Bank swallows are digging 2- to 3-foot-long burrows in steep sand or gravel banks. They are colonial nesters: usually there are from 10 to 100 other burrows nearby / Don’t be discouraged by your lawn: dandelion flowers can be dipped in flour, fried, and eaten / Queen bumblebees are laying their first clutch of eggs

Very young plantain leaves are good in salads; soon they will become stringy / Tree bats are returning; migration may be synchronized with the first moth hatches of spring / The veery nests being built now incorporate a base of dead leaves and are large compared to the size of the bird / Baby opossums will be weaned soon. Their first 60 days were spent in the mother’s pouch / Starflower, a low plant that is found in the north all around the globe, is blooming

White-spotted sawyers are beginning to fly. They will be out through the summer and are often mistaken for Asian longhorned beetles. They have a white spot at the top of the wing covers, where the covers meet in the center of the body, which the Asian beetles lack / The season’s first spotted fawns are born. Mature does that entered winter healthy and well fed will produce twins / White ash leaves are finally opening, well after most other trees