Baltimore orioles used to return to these parts in mid-May, but earlier sightings are becoming more common / Adult pear thrips emerge from the soil and fly to opening sugar maple buds / Dandelions may be pests, but a hayfield full of them is beautiful now / With aerial circling and a lot of chirping, tree swallows are claiming nest boxes / Male whitetails are quickly regaining the fat they lost during the winter and during last autumn’s rut / Fiddlehead time

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 who have just arrived / Robin eggshells appear on the lawn / Depending on the water temperature, the first major hatch of mayflies, the Hendrickson, will in turn trigger the emergence of swarms of flyfishermen / Marsh marigolds in bloom / Apple trees are showing pink buds

Showy orchis is flowering in rich, deciduous woods; yellow lady’s slippers in moist woods and marshes / The chestnut-sided warbler has a long, chestnut-colored stripe down its side and is singing pleased pleased pleased to meetcha from shrubby or edge habitat / A single brown thrasher may have 2,000 songs in his repertoire / White-tailed deer

Beavers are giving birth. Beaver kits don’t have waterproof fur until they’re about two months old. Until then, they are preened by the parents, who use a waterproofing secretion from their anal glands / Honeybees may swarm, especially on a sunny day following days of rain or cloud / Unck, the sound of a loose banjo string being plucked, can be heard now through August, mostly at night, from ponds with green frogs / The first batch of phoebes is leaving home