Nature Happenings

  • Project FeederWatch ends this month, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw

  • If it's an irruptive year, Snowy Owls depart for the Arctic.

  • Caspian Tern, Barn Swallows, Purple Martins, Wilson’s Warblers and Common Yellowthroats arrive.

 

  • Red-Breasted Nuthatch courtship behavior begins.

 

  • Kildeer eggs are laid and incubated for 24-26 days.

 

  • Great Blue Heron egg-laying begins in April with incubation lasting 28 days.

 

  • One of the first native butterflies to emerge from its overwintering chrysalis is the Sara Orangetip.

 

  • Rufous Hummingbirds arrive from Mexico.

 

  • Listen for Ruffed Grouse drumming in the lower-elevation mixed woodlands.

 

  • Two beautiful camas species (Camassia Quamash and C. Leichtlinii) are blooming now.

 

  • Cliff Swallows come from southern South America to build their mud nests under eaves and bridges.

 

  • Western Tanagers and Black-headed Grosbeaks arrive from central Mexican forests.

 

  • Lyrids meteor shower, late-April.

 

  • Earth Day, April 22.