This morning a male Indigo Bunting appeared outside our
kitchen window. I won't say that he was at my feeder
but he certainly was in the near vicinity of it. Yes,
my wife gets excited about Indigo Buntings too.
Yesterday I spent a little time banding before the
thunderstorm chased me home. On the way to that
location I found my first Eastern Kingbird of the year
and also a field with what appeared to be "territorial"
Horned Larks and a pair of Savannah Sparrows. The male
(Savannah Sparrow) was singing persistently (and
silently to me) and a female (?) appeared to be sticking
close by him. The banding still reveals an abundance of
White-throated Sparrows around, a few White-crowns,
towhees, cardinals, and cowbirds. A more interesting
find was the pair of Bobwhites that I flushed twice in
the area although didn't net.
On Thursday I made a quick trip to Bath County,
Richardson Gorge at the north end of Lake Moomaw and
found Louisiana Waterthrushes, Solitary Vireos, and one
Spotted Sandpiper among other species. On the lake
itself were Wood Ducks and a lone Red-breasted
Merganser. However I was mostly looking for the
wildflowers which were blooming in great profusion. I
will not list them or the butterflies here for fear of
getting my fingers slapped, but as someone else noted
the trilliums are in bloom.
Clair Mellinger
Biology Department
Eastern Mennonite University
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
mellinac@xxxxxxx
(540) 432-4409
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