Happy Easter

 

I met this eastern cottontail rabbit on my street yesterday. Timely appearance, rabbit. May everyone's Easter be happy and peaceful. 

Pine Warblers

 

I was in the New Jersey Pine Barrens again a few days ago. I saw things I have not seen for a year, including butterflies and basking turtles. As usual, it was quiet among the trees, making it easier to hear... 

Pine warblers! They are back. It's easier to hear them singing than to see them, but this fast moving busy bird stopped moving long enough for a photograph. Would you like to hear the song? Click here. Or go take a walk in the woods. Click to enlarge. 

Spring Comes to the Pine Barrens

This is one of my favorite spots in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I was there about a week ago. See the small sandy yellow beaches on the far shore? It's just the kind of place that some of the area's special plants grow. And just in time for spring... 

New pitchers on the famous purple pitcher plants! 

The new one is bright red. They persist through winter sometimes; the white papery one on the left is last year's. Click to enlarge.

Each pitcher is a modified leaf. They form tubular cups that fill with rainwater..

See the spiky hairs on the big hood above the open mouth of the one on the riight, rear? They face down and direct insects downward toward the water. The lip on the edge is waxy and slick. Insects fall in, drown, and their nutrients are absorbed by the plant. 

It's a uniquely Pine Barrens sign of spring. 

Spring Equniox on Friday

Despite the cold gray weather I saw open daffodils in my neighborhood today, including this one. Just a few were open, the others are still swollen buds. Maybe they are waiting for astronomical spring to begin on the equinox this Friday. 

Meanwhile, a little daffodil poetry from A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young... 

 

 Daffodowndilly

 

 “She turned to the sunlight  

And shook her yellow head,

 And whispered to her neighbor:

 ‘Winter is dead.’”

Daylight Savings Time Has Begun

Daylight Savings Time started last night while we slept. Our clocks spring forward by one hour, and sunset today in Philadelphia will be at 7:01. Click to enlarge. 

It's Spring!

 

It's the first day of meteorological spring. 

Here are some signs I've seen in the last week. Crocus! 
 

And snowdrops or Candlemas bells. 

And vernal witch hazel. 

Click to enlarge.  

It's nice to see colors again, right?  

And hopefully we've had the last of this for a while. 

Snow Geese in the Marsh

 

Between the melting of the last snow and the arrival of today's storm, there was time for one nice day of birdwatching at Edwin Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on the New Jersey coast.

Snow geese are visiting the marsh now. Click to enlarge.

They were mainly feeding with their heads down in the grass. 

This group suddenly all looked up toward the same direction.

Then they took off. Note the pretty black wing tips.

They made a racket of honks and cackles.  

Picked up speed.

Gained altitude.

Reached the clouds. 

And finally disappeared.