Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary, March 19, 2018

When Tom and I opened the van doors we heard the frogs calling for mates, another sign that spring is on its way.

Tom found the first flowers...Harbingers-of-spring.  He didn't come out with me last week when I saw the Harbingers so this was the first time he has seen them this season.  When I searched for them last week, I searched and searched before finding the first one.  Today they were sprinkled throughout the woods.  In another week there will be even more of them.  But, because each little cluster is a quarter inch or less in diameter, they still won't be easy to find unless a person is looking for them.

Just beyond the first water seep, Tom spotted a Purple Cress.  One flower was open wide.

Further on we, found a few more Purple Cress.  Most of them were still in bud but we found this one with multiple flowers.

I saw a few of one variety of Waterleaf.  The leaves were still as small as the ones I found last week.

The most noticeable flowers were the Hepatica.  Even a casual observer would see them.  There will be more and bigger clusters soon.

The pollinators were busy.  See the tiny beetle in the hepatica on the right?

Tom was surprised when he looked at the following photo.  He hadn't realized there was a honeybee in the picture, too.

As we returned to the parking lot, a bird was singing and flitting about in the trees.  Neither of us recognized its song.  Time to get out the bird song CDs.

Trip to Lake Erie, Monday, March 12, 2018

All of the photos in this blog were taken by Tom, either on Monday or on other trips we've taken to Lake Erie.

The day was overcast when we started out and never improved.  Before we left Lake Erie we drove through mist and light rain.  As we headed home Tom drove through two nasty snow squalls.  fortunately, neither one lasted long.  Nevertheless, we had a good birding day.  Ducks aren't bothered by the weather and we birded from the van.

At Magee Marsh we were pleased to see that at least one eagle pair had returned to their nest of previous years.  One eagle was on the nest.  The other was nearby.

Tom offered to drop me off at the boardwalk.  He said he would read if I wanted to walk.  I told him, "No."  There was a mist falling and the temperature was 31 degrees.

There were ducks along the causeway and the red-winged blackbirds were back. 

Northern Shoveler

Red-winged Blackbird


There were ducks at Metzger, too.  We were pleased to see a few Northern Pintails.  We don't see them every year.  Usually we are too late.

Tom decided he would like to go to East Harbor which is about a half hour to the east.  We never have gone to the state park because we didn't want to waste time driving when we could be birding.  however, Tom has been following the Ohio bird sightings on EBird and he said there had been a lot of birds sighted there.

This is what we saw...birds from one shore to the other.  We will go back to East Harbor again.

First Visit of the Year to Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary, March 5, 2018

Someone on Ohio Wildflowers posted a photo of Harbinger-of-spring seen in Franklin County which is in the middle of Ohio.  I hoped that meant Harbinger-of-spring was blooming here in Miami County. Tom thought it was too early to find it but he sat in the van and read while I went searching at Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary..

The first leaves that were big and noticeable were those of Puttyroot. I noted three areas that I will keep checking.  I want to remember these spots or I won't find the flowers later when the leaves have disintegrated.  The stalks blend in with the other foliage.

I was surprised to see Purple Cress buds just barely open.  It could still be a while before they open.  They never seem to be in a hurry.

I turned right at the T in the trail, still on the hunt for Harbinger-of-spring.

Instead, I found a chewed on animal skull...

and tiny Waterleaf plants putting out their first leaves.

On a dead tree trunk, there was a hole made by a Pileated Woodpecker.

And beside a living tree, Hepatica leaves were rising above the leaf litter.

I began to feel that Tom might be right.  By now, I was past the area where we generally begin seeing Harbinger-of-spring.  I decided to go just beyond the spot where the boardwalk crosses a swampy area.  I remembered that the Harbinger-of-spring at Brukner Nature Center is just beyond their swamp. 

And...

No purple stamen showing yet but definitely Harbinger-of-spring. 

I kept searching.  Because the whole cluster of the white blooms are about the size of a pea, they are hard to find.  Usually if a person finds one cluster there are others nearby.

And there it was...peeking up between a couple curly dry oak leaves.  And the stamen were beginning to stretch up.

As I turned back, I found a few more Harbingers and even a couple Scarlet Caps.

.
Tom said, "If I had known the Harbingers were blooming I would have come with you."