Calendar of Natural Events

January

• Deer start losing antlers
• Great blue herons check out nests
• Great horned owls and bald eagles start nesting
• Waterfowl feed in Aikens swamp and the tidal wetlands

February

• Bluebirds check out nesting cavities
• Buds on red maples start to swell
• Herons sit on nests
• Song sparrows and cardinals start their spring songs
• Spotted salamanders return to vernal pools
• Spring peepers and chorus frogs start calling
• Waterfowl still active in the swamp and wetlands
• Wood ducks check out nesting cavities

March

• Alders bear catkins
• Azure and cabbage moths start flight
• First wildflowers bloom such as bluets, mustards, Whitlow grass, chickweed, violets
• Green sprigs of cattails and arrow arum appear in the wetlands
• Osprey return to nests
• Pickerel frogs start calling
• Redbuds, spicebush and serviceberry bloom
• Some early neotropical migrants return (such as the yellow-throated warbler and green tree swallows)
• Swarms of midges appear
• Turtles start to bask on logs on warm days
• Waterfowl start migration north
• Zebra swallowtails, falcate orangetips and mourning cloaks flutter along the trails

April

• Big push of neotropical birds head south. Prothonotaries, gnatcatchers, yellow warblers arrive.
• Bullfrogs and green frogs calling
• Dogwood blooms
• More flowers bloom such as black locust, cross vine, garlic mustard, spring beauties, etc.
• Ruby-throated hummingbirds return
• Shad start migrating
• Turkeys begin nesting

May

• Beaver kits are born
• Blackberries and may apples bloom
• First bluebird brood are fledged
• Turtles move out of wetlands to lay eggs
• Vireos, tanagers, kingbirds and orioles return

June

• Fawns are born
• Lizard tail starts to bloom in wetlands
• Turkeys hatch

July

• American lotus bloom in the wetlands
• Black rat snake lay eggs
• Butterflies and dragonflies are abundant

August

• Dogwoods and sumacs are fruiting
• Monarch butterflies migrate
• Purple martins start migration south
• Squirrels start cutting nuts
• Winged sumac and black gum show first fall colors

September

• Blue-winged teal migrations start
• Bucks start to rub off velvet
• Fall mushrooms appear
• Hummingbirds migrate south
• Night migration of songbirds
• White-throated sparrow and juncos start arriving

October

• Beavers rebuild lodges and food caches
• Fall colors peak

November

• Blackbirds start to flock
• Waterfowl return to wetlands

December

• Waterfowl still arriving in wetlands