I had less than two hours to visit a local park before visitors arrived, so I went for a walk in Winston Woods to see what signs of spring I could find on a warm, clear April morning.
First Butterfly of Spring in Southern Ontario
There are two types of butterflies I hope to see in early spring even before the first ephemeral flowers emerge: Mourning Cloaks and Eastern Commas. Both can over-winter as mature butterflies and both can spread their wings and soar when the temperatures rise to about 10 C or higher–even if there is still snow patches here and there on the forest floor.
On this trip, I found several Mourning Cloaks. There is one spot in the park that they favour. Perhaps it is a bit warmer or more sheltered from the breezes. Perhaps there are more of the trees they prefer for their eggs. I’m not quite sure but I was glad I stopped and waited there. After a while, the first one floated up from the leaves and patrolled around.
After a few minutes, on a patrol, the butterfly I was watching sent another up. Together, they flew in tight circling spirals very quickly up to the top of the tree branches. They then flew apart and one came rapidly back down to its favourite sunning spot near me.
If I had to guess, I would say this tight circling behaviour shows two rival males in action, each trying to get the other to cede a favoured spot. But I am not quite sure. It could also be a male and a non-receptive female.
Early April Birds Include the Year-round Residents, a Winter Visitor and the First Spring Arrivals
There were not many types of birds in the woods that April morning but the ones there were all busily trying to find food.
More than 15 American Robins were busily flipping over leaves especially near the pooled spring melt water. Some had quite bright rusty red chests. Others had much paler. All of them sported mud on the tips of their bills. While some Robins over winter each year, most of these were probably early migrants.
A pair of Downy Woodpeckers were checking each of the logs and saplings along the trail. Soon they will start to nest, and they were staying fairly closely together.
A small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos were boldly hunting across the glades. Usually Juncos fly off when I get too close but these ones seemed to hungry to care.
At least one Eastern Phoebe was hunting insects on the wing. It didn’t stay near the water pools but instead was high up in the trees moving quickly around the lot. I had noticed quite a few fat, slow “house” flies sunning on the tree trunks. It’s possible the Phoebe was noticing them too.
Several times, a small group of Golden-crowned Kinglets passed by overhead, working through the Red Maple buds and blossoms. I didn’t get a photo worth sharing but I enjoyed hearing their calls.
Just as I was heading for the gate to the park, I saw my first Hermit Thrush for the year. It was racing along a log, paused to look for food and predators, then hopped off into the leaf litter. Its rusty tail practically glowed against the dull brown leaves and it made me very happy to catch a glimpse of its bright black spots before I had to leave.
Spring is here and it only gets better from here!
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