The Marsh Project Week #16

Sometime in the last week, a green explosion took place on the trail. 

Trees that seemed bare last week are now in leaf- the green is lovely to see, but it makes the birds harder to find.  I can hear them chirping in the branches, but they're now hidden by vegetation.  Crowpoison, one of the first wildflowers of spring, is now in bloom.  Every so often, a pearl crescent butterfly lands on one for a few seconds then flies off.  Spring is here. 

I make my way to the tall blind; I have a few hours to spend outside on this gorgeous late afternoon and I'm internally debating what I want to do.  Hang out at the blind for awhile and see what appears, or make a quick visit and then move on to another location?  I can't decide.  No matter what I do, I'll be wondering what I would have seen if I'd made the other choice.  For now, I just walk and look around. 

I was out here yesterday as well, and it was a fantastic snake day. I'd seen a cottonmouth, a plain-bellied water snake, and a diamondback water snake.  Today, no snakes are present but several turtles are out sunning on logs in the water.  Most of them, as usual, slide back into the water as soon as they hear me coming but one stays put long enough for me to get a photo.  

As I head to the blind, I hear the peckpeckpeck of a woodpecker, and I gaze up into the branches to see if I can locate it.  Soon enough, a downy woodpecker flies over to another branch- another photo. It doesn't stay there long; after a few pecks it decides to go seek out another branch somewhere else.  

I keep my eye out for butterflies and dragonflies; other than a few speedy common green darners and a faded question mark butterfly, I don't see anything.  Maybe in a few more weeks; I'm getting impatient for my butterflies.  

In the distance, I can hear the squawking of a great blue heron and a belted kingfisher. The kingfisher sounds close and I think maybe it will head my way, but I never actually see it.  

I sit for awhile- I decide to stay put, and see what happens- and breathe deep of the spring air.  Eventually, it's time to head back to the car- and as I walk back, several red admiral butterflies fly towards me, landing on trees and then flying off again. 

Seen on the trail: Red admiral butterflies, pearl crescent butterflies, question mark, common green darner, a few damselflies, downy woodpecker, great egret, great blue heron, mallard, American kestrel, red-eared sliders, belted kingfisher (heard), northern cardinal, Carolina wren, double-crested cormorant.