May 20, 2007 Last Sunday Walk of the Season

Today was the last of the Sunday Audubon walks of the season. The 76th year of these walks is now finished. We had just 67 species at the Arboretum this morning. It was cool with light rain at times. Nothing noteworthy on the walk except the absence of Empidonax flycatchers. No Chebecker (Least), nor Willow, nor Acadian. I have been leading these walks for over 15 years and cannot remember a year where we did not have a single empid. The cold has delayed the arrival of many birds this year.

Leading the walks at Holden has other compensations. The gardens were in their full glory today. The Holden Arboretum, is a beautiful garden in the middle of pristine natural areas. To walk this land, both the cultivated and and the natural, at this time of year, is a joy in its own right. Admiring the rich and elegant magenta, pinks, and oranges of the Rhododendron garden, or majestic old growth Oaks and Maples of Bole woods, it is a pleasure to walk the Arboretum.

At home I notice more columbine, both red and purple, in new places in the yard. May, flowers are everywhere in the full spectrum of colors. Under the cloudy skies the pinks and blues and yellows are intense and beautiful.

Activity at the feeders is unusual today. A Baltimore Oriole, comes to the feeder, then, a little later, flutters against the window singing. This is in the library where I am writing. This behavior defies my understanding. My intuition or instinct is that the Oriole wants food. I have no oranges in my fruit bowl. A little later a Towhee on the feeder. Very odd as these feeders are 18 feet off the ground. The cold is hard on these birds. They depend on insects and there are few insects when the temperatures is only in the high 40s. For many years spring has been warmer. A cold spring like this will really challenge the less hardy of the neotropical migrants.