The Orioles are Back!!

The Orioles came back yesterday, April 30! That's one day earlier than last year. Here's a picture of a male Northern Oriole eating grape jelly at a feeder in our garden.



I heard a House Wren calling this morning, too. So, spring is really here.

For anyone interested in phenology, the Toads are really early this year. They usually don't start singing until mid May or later. This year, they're about a month early. Here's a photo of what they're up to in our pond. The eggs are the long, squiggly black strings.



The wildflowers are blooming early, too. Here's a picture of Bloodroot in bloom. It's one of the spring ephemerals. It blooms quickly and then the foliage dies back and the plant goes dormant in late June, only to remerge again the following spring. They're called "Bloodroot" because the inside of the root is red.