April 10th. Net-winged Beetle (Family Lycidae, Dictyoptera aurora). Cleared for take-off.

 

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe).

 

 

 

 

 

Male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) grooming.

 

He was one of four hanging out together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hummocks are totally green now.

 

A pair of Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) flying by fast.

 

 

 

 

 

Late afternoon at Cranberry Bog, a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is nesting...

 

...on the same little island...

 

...that geese have used for many years.

 

April 12th. A male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) balancing on a reed stem.

 

 

 

American Robin (Turdus migratorius).

 

 

 

A pair of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are at the marsh, but no sign of a nest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a brief view of an American Beaver (Castor canadensis).

 

Green leaves of Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) in a trail side ditch...

 

...with fallen Red Maple blossoms makes a nice arrangement.

 

Highbush Cranberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is starting to bloom.

 

American Hazelnut (Corylus americana) male catkins and pinkish red female flowers.

 

The female flowers are about the smallest things my camera can capture.

 

Read more here: https://the-natural-web.org/2013/03/10/signs-of-spring-hazelnuts-in-bloom/

 

Cherry, Plum, Pear?  Rosaceae at least.  I couldn't identify it in 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2020 and still didn't know...

 

...until UConn's Dr. Sarah Taylor came through with an ID for me today. It's Cherry Plum, Prunus cerasifera.

 

 

 

 

 

Periwinkle or Myrtle (Vinca minor).

 

Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia, the garden hybrid between F. suspensa and F. viridissima) at the Route 85 parking area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens) is better than I've ever seen on the trail - west of the Brownstone bridge.

 

 

 

Note the Chironomid Midge sheltering inside the flower.