Morning settled in with a light frost that outlined green leaves on the ground and traced patterns on still pools. The branches above were far from still as birds indulged in the drama that is often superseded by the dance of survival other times of the year. A male brown-headed cowbird puffed up in display for the female next to him on a branch. She, unimpressed, kept sidling a little away. Nearby, an expectant robin father held vigil while the female hunkered down in her finished nest. They have little to fear from the nest parasitism of the cowbirds, since robins often remove offending eggs instead of incubating them. An ongoing yellow-bellied sapsucker dispute periodically erupted into a squeaky argument complete with slow chase. A quieter chase involved a silent hermit thrush being harassed down the driveway by his larger cousin, a robin. This thrush has farther to travel before he can carve out his own territory. In our woods the summer flutist will be the wood thrush.

Also in the canopy, the drama of tree reproduction proceeded with only visual fanfare.


[Aspen flowering]

Up and coming flowers:

[Blue cohosh]


[White trillium]


[Bloodroot]