Northern Mockingbird | the Intown Hawk

Plants are waking up and everybody’s nesting. The dawn chorus is especially loud and full of courtship and the claiming of territory. Frogs are beginning to call at night. Native bees are busy and there’s plenty in bloom to provide nectar and pollen. On warmer days the honey bees in the hive on the Nature Trail are active. No hummingbirds have been seen here yet, although there are reports of sightings close by, and butterflies are still scarce. This will change soon.

Eastern Bluebird

Blackberry

American Robin

Brown Thrasher with nesting material

Brown Thrasher nesting in Carolina Jessamine

Flowering Dogwood

American Bullfrog

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Carolina Chickadee

Eastern Towhee

Moss Phlox

Northern Cardinal

Native Honeysuckle

Wild Turkey (photo courtesy of Chris Nilan)

Northern Mockingbird

Rhododendron austrinum azalea

Song Sparrow

Veronica

January was an unseasonably warm month. Lots of bird activity with many of the usual suspects and one unexpected rare appearance by a Wilson’s Warbler (see our recent January 14 post). In addition to the photos below we had visits from a Great Blue Heron and a Red-tailed Hawk. The Northern Flickers in the photo below were engaged in a territorial fencing display, which we have seen one other time.