May 6th. Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). First Orioles and Towhees around.

 

May 7th. Batimore Oriole (Icterus balbula).

 

 

 

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis).

 

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens).

 

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) blossoms have gone to seed.

 

 

 

With flowering complete, Coltsfoot leaves from which the plant takes its name have emerged.

 

Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is in full bloom.

 

If only all these flowers matured into berries!

 

Red Maple (Acer rubrum) seeds are maturing.

 

 

 

And Red Maple leaves are beginning to unfurl.

 

Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum) is nearly done blooming.

 

Pink Lady's-slipper Orchids (Cypripedium acaule) are showing buds.

 

Winter Cress (Barbarea vulgaris) in the mustard family (Cruciferae of Brassicaceaa depending on when you learned your Botany).

 

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) leaves are shiny with the oil that blisters the skin of those unwary enough to contact it. Look carefully before you step off the trail! Better yet, don't step off the trail. (This is another plant whose Latin name has changed over the years. I first learned it as Rhus radicans, then Rhus toxicodendron.)

 

A female Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) perched with its wings spread enough to show the blue upper sides normally viewed only in flight.

 

Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata) up close...

 

...and at a distance. The plant is unrelated to others with the Toadflax common name. This one is in the Sandalwood family; others in the Snapdragon and Lily families. Bastard Toadflx is a parasite, taking water and nutrients from the roots of nearby plants.

 

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum).

 

 

 

 

 

Violet (Viola sp.)

 

Violet (Viola sp.)

 

Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).

 

 

 

Probably a Cuckoo Bee (Subfamily Anthophorinae of the Apidae).

 

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) flowers are long past. Now the leaves have unfurled.

 

Gill-over-the-ground (Glechoma hederacea).

 

Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora).

 

Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea).

 

Pond Lily (Nuphar variegatum).

 

About the last of this year's Grape Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis) moths, this one is in pretty poor shape. Last week they were flying near most grapevines I passed on the trail.