cleaning

Spring season is moving slowly, but one of the first things people focus on is Spring cleaning. 

For many birds spring seems pretty stressful. The finches are are almost constantly fighting territory battles now

This towhee did not want to be photographed, these birds are not so good at holding still for pictures, unlike the robins, who seem to hold still just so you can snap a good close-up

These structures should be popping up everywhere pretty soon. Many birds incorporate trash they find to build the nest linings. If they reuse old nests then insect pests will become a problem, so usually they build a new one each year.

Can you see it yet? (Hint): You are looking for ears.

A large pack of skittish coyotes was out today on the ditch, very leery of people. Urban biologists who study them get understandably annoyed about the constant coyote fear from the general public and suggests I call them "songdogs" instead, helps with the perception.

Possibly they were displaced from this nearby field that had just bulldozed a grove of trees that likely had a den underneath. I always find it strange when I see $600 "live edge" tables being sold, while literally tons of trees are simply chipped into landfill.

Sometimes, the limbs are thrown into the ditches. These ditches would normally have water by now, but the drought has delayed water for a month. So now, those ditches are slowly filling with human junk.

Grass isn't so bad, but the MRGCD is still going to have to pay someone to clear this stuff out in a month when they charge the ditches

FInally, along with the green plants growing, other colors are creeping in. Yellow flowers have started to pop up in the "weeds"

These tiny flowers attract many daytime insects.

The first butterflies have started to appear; the mourning cloaks are usually after the cabbage whites, but I haven't seen those yet.

This overflow pond is a sign of things to come, hopefully. I would LOVE to see salamanders out after the first spring rains

The robins are foraging and feasting on moths. They are slowly leaving, but the last few are good at their usual good job of posing for pictures.

A new bug species; a flea beetle. I don't know much about these guys, but beetles are a huge part of the insect world, and there are SO many species.

More fungus gnats, but Inaturalist seems to call everything a fungus gnat, so I might have to ask some entomologist friends about this one.

It is strange to still see the canada geese on the village green, but they have had the place to themselves all year, so they likely have no reason to leave yet.