This week in the woods, white spotted sables have been showing up in meadows and (as in this photo) unmowed lawns. These tiny (about 2-centimeter wingspan) daytime moths will be flying until July. Their caterpillars feed on goldenrod.
Blackburnian warblers are very hard to see, on account of the males’ tendency to vocalize (a high, fast, whispery song) while perched high up on top branches of trees. Their nests are high up, too. However, seeking them out is worth the effort, because they really are some of our most beautiful summer birds. We most often see them in mixed forests; we spotted this one flitting around some oaks at the edge of a hemlock stand.
Starflowers are blooming – many (not all) flowers bearing seven petals. These perennial wildflowers are pollinated by native bees, but they also spread rhizomatically, and it’s common to find a small colony of them.
American giant millipedes, also called iron worms, are part of the forest recycling crew, feeding on decomposing plant matter and helping to aerate the soil as they tunnel through. As big creepy crawlies, they tend to freak people out – especially when they show up unexpectedly in basements - but unlike centipedes, which bite, millipedes are harmless herbivores and they’re also just really cool – they’re one of, if not the, first creatures to walk on the land and breathe air, with a lineage going back over 420 million years. Some early species were much bigger than the ones we see now; for example, a couple years ago, researchers in England announced the discovery of a fossil of a nine foot, 326 million specimen. Imagine finding that in your basement.
This doesn’t appear to be a great year for pink lady’s slippers, at least not in the patches that we’ve visited, which are looking pretty sparse. However, now is the time to seek out these beautiful orchids. Pink lady’s slippers our most common Cypripedium species, but showy lady’s slippers (which are taller, and grow in fens and bogs), yellow lady’s slippers and the exceptionally rare ram’s heads will also be blooming soon. In all cases, one should be careful not to disturb these orchids, which have special soil needs, are uncommon-to-rare, and can require many years to produce a flower.
The month of May is coming to a close, but thanks to the cool spring we’ve been having, Canada mayflower is just coming into bloom. This small, lily-like plant is shade tolerant and deer resistant – and given enough time, can spread extensively, which makes it a good candidate for native shade gardens.
What have you noticed in the woods this week? Submit a recent photo for possible inclusion in our monthly online Reader Photo Gallery.