5/12 first Orchard Oriole
5/12 first Vesper Sparrow
5/13 first Indigo Bunting
5/18 first Sedge Wren

5/5 first Lincoln's Sparrow
5/5 first butterfly - Mourning Cloak
5/5 first Brown Thrasher
5/9 first Baltimore Oriole
5/9 first Ruby-throated Hummingbird
5/9 first Gray Catbird
5/10 first Yellow Warbler
5/10 first Ring-necked Pheasant in a long time
5/10 first Barn Swallow
5/11 first Palm Warbler
5/11 first Common Yellowthroat
5/11 first Ovenbird

4/28 first House Wren
4/28 first Rough-winged Swallow
5/1 first Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Everything is about a month later than last year.   We've had colder temperatures, and more snow this year.  These pictures are from the last - we hope - snowstorm, on May 2nd.  I think we got about 11 inches - hard to measure because it was so wet and heavy.  I would measure it; then it would snow like crazy for a few more hours; but when I went to measure again, it had only gotten about 1/2 inch deeper.  This is the driveway, looking through the willows.

The creek in the snow

The road at 9:30 that morning - this is the road they plan to drive sand trucks on???

Willow flowers

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - looking like he's wondering why he decided to come back to Wisconsin.  Hummingbirds and Orioles have arrived too, but they waited until after the snow.

The snow was sliding off our metal roof in huge avalanches - they were very loud and shook the whole house.  The cats got tired of running for cover, and spent the snowy days in their cave behind the couch.

Two days later - May 4th - it started to melt.  By the end of that day it was all gone.

The flowers were ready to go.... willow flowers

Common Whitlow Grass on Sumac Prairie - not really a grass, but in the Mustard family.  It's usually the first non-tree flower I find blooming in the spring.  It's an annual, and the whole plant is only about an inch high.

Sand Cress - another early flower on the sandy bluff prairies

Birds Foot Violet - almost ready to bloom

Bloodroot

And the first butterflies - I've seen several Mourning Cloaks, and this Spring Azure.

Spring comes to Center Valley

This is one of our black squirrels.   Black squirrels are a melanistic form of the more common gray squirrels.  In the 1600s and early 1700s in New England, the black form of these squirrels predominated.  But because of human hunting pressure, the gray form, which is better camouflaged, became more common.  This article tells the story.  We don't see nearly as many squirrels at the farm as we do in the city - they have many more predators here - but about half the ones we see are black.

And, finally, the mothing season has started.  The moths are also about a month behind.  This is a Gray Spring Moth.

Reddish Speckled Dart - a new one for the farm

Garman's Quaker - also new for the farm

Another visitor to the moth lights - a Giant Water Bug.  They're quite intimidating - 3 inches long with evil-looking pincers.

4/21 first Yellow-rumped Warbler
4/24  first Wilson's Snipes winnowing over the wetland
4/26 first Field Sparrow
4/27 first Eastern Towhee

Center Valley in the snowstorm

A few days later, I found crocuses in the yard of the old farmhouse, trying hard to bloom through the snow.

Later that day, the snow had melted around them, and they had opened their blossoms in the sun.

And the snow in the valley was almost gone.

I always look for the first native flowers on Sumac Prairie - it's a very steep south-facing slope, and it gets warm and dry before anywhere else.  These were the only green leaves I could find last week.  I think they're the beginnings of some of the tiny native annuals that will be the first flowers to bloom.

Now that we've got a wildlife camera looking at the creek, we're realizing how much activity goes on there.  This is a pair of Hooded Mergansers - a species I'd never seen at the farm before.  They've been here all week, hanging out in the pond behind the beaver dam.

Another unusual bird we've seen this week is an Osprey.  It spent several days fishing up and down the creek.

We also have a pair of Belted Kingfishers - I hope we have enough fish to feed everyone!

And finally, the woodchuck has emerged from the cliff behind the house.  A sure sign of spring.

4/16 first Ruffed Grouse drumming
4/16 only the second Osprey I've seen at the farm;  it was flying up the creek, stopping to hover and then moving on
4/16 Sandhill Crane flew up from wetland
4/16 first Hooded Merganser ever at the farm - seen on the wildlife camera in the creek
4/17 Osprey still hanging around in the wetland
4/17 first White-throated Sparrow

(4/7 first Infant Moth)
4/8 first Great Blue Heron
4/8 first Northern Flicker
4/8 first Tree Swallow
4/8 first Ruby-crowned Kinglet
4/9 first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
4/10 first Fox Sparrow
4/10 first Chipping Sparrow
4/13 first Brown-headed Cowbird
4/13 Hermit Thrush

The birds seem to think it's spring, in spite of the weather.  The early spring migrants have all arrived - Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, American Woodcocks, and American Robins.  Even some of the later migrants that depend on flying insects have braved the storms.  I've been seeing Phoebes hunting around the house and over the creek for the last few days.  Here's the first Bluebird, hunting insects on Indian Grass Point.

An American Woodcock caught by one of the wildlife cameras.  It was doing its mating display at the edge of Pat's Prairie.

This is a patch of woods that I don't usually spend much time in.  It's been heavily logged in the past, and it's grown up in mostly small Aspens, Elms, and Box Elders.  But the Robins love it.  When I went past it a few days ago, there were hundreds of Robins in the trees, on every fallen log, and on every spot where the snow had melted.  The woods was alive with them, hopping and chirping everywhere.

Until last week we still had at least a foot of snow in most places.  Animals, especially deer, were working hard to find areas free of snow where they could find food.  We saw dozens of them grazing on the steep south-facing slopes of the hills where the snow wasn't so deep.  This one was napping on the hill just above the house.

Another deer, and a couple of Wild Turkeys grazed nearby.

Finally, last week, the snow started to melt.

Snowmelt filling the creek

Western Prairie almost snow free

Center Valley

After walking past it all winter long, I finally spotted a Cecropia cocoon right at the edge of the driveway.  I'm going to rear Cecropias this year, so I brought it back to a cage on the porch.  If all goes well, it should hatch in mid-May.

I found my first shed of the year.  The deer must have just lost this one.   After sheds have been on the ground for a while, they get nibbled and they don't look so perfect.   I've collected a few sheds over the years, but I leave most of them where I find them.  They're important sources of calcium and magnesium for mice and other small mammals, and I like knowing that everything gets recycled.

There are more willow flowers blooming, but not many other flowers.

I've finally started seeing a few moths.  This is the very first one of the year - an Infant Moth on the driveway in one of the few moments of sunshine.

A Ctenucha Moth caterpillar - also on the driveway.  Usually I see these caterpillars often during the winter - whenever the air temperature gets above about 20 degrees.  But this is the first one I've seen for a long time.

I've put sugary bait on tree trunks on a few of the warmer nights, and put my moth lights out a few times.  The bait is more successful than the lights at this time of year.   Here are a few of the early spring moths that came to my bait.

Three-spotted Sallow

Morrison's Sallow

And two that came to my lights.

White-spotted Cankerworm Moth (a terrible name for a nice looking moth)

Roland's Sallow - a new one for my farm list

3/31 very ragged juvenile Golden Eagle flying north in East Center Valley
3/31 first American Robin
3/31 Pine Siskin - first I've seen for a long time
4/1 first Song Sparrow
4/1 first Turkey Vulture
4/4 juvenile Golden Eagle circling Big View bluff
4/4 first Golden-crowned Kinglet
4/4 first Eastern Phoebe
4/5 first Tundra Swan flock flying over
4/6 first Wood Ducks in the creek