Round Lake Nature Notes: June 2019

I really do love the month of May. There's so much to see and do. Migratory birds come back to the area and wildflowers pop up in the woods and along trails. It's time to play in the dirt and plant vegetables and flowers. Although temperatures were up and down, many days were rainy and cloudy, and there was some thunder and hail, I still had to get out to see what and who was around. Besides Baltimore Orioles coming to my feeders, I also had a pair of Indigo Bunting for the very first time visit my yard. I didn't run for my camera because I just wanted to watch them and see what they were doing. The male disappeared in the garden while the female stayed on the honeysuckle bush. He probably was looking for insects to eat. After a few minutes they left together. A little later I saw a male Indigo in Pat's field at the end of Cleveland Avenue. The field is a good spot to see Eastern Bluebirds and catch Red-tailed Hawks perched up in tree tops. I saw a first of the season sighting of a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird on the evening of May fourth. Two males have been fighting over exclusive rights to the porch feeder most of the month. One chases after the other and then puppy guards the feeder by watching from a close by apple tree branch. In our parks, woods, and trails, we have many warblers and woodland birds. I have heard and/or seen, Wood Thrushes, Ovenbirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Catbirds, Veery Thrushes, Eastern Wood Pewees, Common Yellow-throat Warblers, Great-crested Flycatchers, and Red-eyed Vireos. Many wildflowers are also around in the Peck Avenue woods and trail edges such as, Wild Geranium, Woodland Phlox, Trout Lilies, Red Trilliums, Jack-in-the-Pulpits, May Apples, and False Soloman's Seal.
I got back to the Ballston Creek Preserve on May eleventh and there were still just three Great Blue Heron nests. One heron was sitting in a nest. Two were standing together in a nest, while the third nest was empty. Two herons stood in trees near the nests. I will go back again to check on this now small colony. It is the smallest I've seen here.
I made a first time visit to Coldspring Preserve in Northumberland. It's a Saratoga Plan Preserve. There were a lot of wildflowers at the trail's beginning and a Hermit Thrush back in the woods. I was hoping to see a Blanding's Turtle which is a threatened species in the area but didn't come across one.
A return trip to OK Slip Falls in Indian Lake was wonderful. The falls were twice as big as when I saw them four years ago. Painted Trilliums lined the trail along with flowering Hobblebushes. We followed moose tracks on the way out for over a mile but no sighting. Enjoy the rest of Spring!