Shadbush

The shadbush is in bloom!

Also called June berry or serviceberry, this bush can be found along many of our fresh water and marsh areas and is one of our first native wild bushes to bloom. Called shadbush by the Native Americans, it signaled when the shad, a type of herring was running. This would have been very happy news for it meant fresh fish would soon be on the table after a long winter of smoked or dried fish. The name serviceberry comes a little later from the fact that when this bush bloomed those colonists who had passed away in winter could now be buried and a service held since the ground would no longer be frozen...

Fiddleheads

For many of us fiddleheads are a sure sign of spring...

and you know times have changed when a whole bunch of kids, including high school aged kids, just stares at you when you try and explain what a fiddle is....really? They've never heard of a fiddle? I'm feeling really old these days. When I said, you know, like a violin, one girl asked, 'Then why don't they just call them violin heads?'

Anyway, fiddleheads are what ferns look like before they unfurl into their summer glory. Some have a brownish wispy covering, some look quite prickly and all have the shape of the 'fiddle head.' Some, like the ostrich fern, are edible but most are not very tasty which is why some people try them and hate them and others can be downright toxic. The ones you can buy are pretty stale and unless you watch a patch for a year to see which kind they are you may be out of luck. It is not wise to eat a fern, fiddlehead or not, that you are unsure of. The ones pictured above are NOT ostrich ferns and are not edible.

The Trout lily...

Erythronium americanum is also called Adder's Tongue or Dogtooth Violet, depending on who you're talking to. It is in the lily family, not the violet family and it is one of my favorite spring flowers.

It is easy to overlook for it is small and quite subtle. It blooms in early spring through the leaves from last fall and for me, is like a little ray of sunshine on the tired, rusty colored ground.

It is one of those little plants that children find while playing in the woods and as adults we often have fond memories attached to them. For me, this was a plant my grandmother loved and that we had in the woods behind the house I grew up in here in Hyannis. I don't know how many of these sweet plants actually survive in Hyannis these days but look in forgotten swampy type places to see if you can find any. Here's a link with more information about the trout lily.

My Ospreys

These are my Hyannis ospreys. I refer to them as mine because, well, they hang out at my beach. You know, the one I have walked on every day since I was a kid. Okay, so it really isn't my beach in the true possessive sense but over the years I've gotten to know this beach pretty well.....and yes, I often think of it as mine, especially in the off season months when I often have it all to myself.

Over the years ospreys have been in the neighborhood but have never successfully nested here. In fact, there were several unfortunate nesting attempts that ended badly due to, shall we say, electrical complications....The power company has now added a safe platform for the birds and although they attempted nesting here last year it was not successful. This year, the pair has been actively adding to the nest and has been seen copulating so we are hoping there will be eggs soon.

The female has a bit of a brown necklace which you can see pretty well here. Often the male will be on a pole or even on the ground nearby keeping watch when he isn't hunting or bringing his mate her breakfast or dinner. Both can sit on the eggs and both will feed the young but for the most part it is the female that will brood the eggs.

This nest is very exposed but I am hoping they will be able to withstand the winds and rains of the season and be able to raise their family. After all, they will soon be my babies as well and I will worry about them ;-)

To be honest, I am actually part of a group monitoring osprey nests this year so I will be keeping very close tabs on this nest for scientific reasons as well as foster parental ones.

The moving sand...

Almost all of Cape Cod is subject to movement in one way or another but especially our outer edges. Between water, sand and wind our beaches and boundaries are far from static. Sand dunes are especially movable...

Some of them hang around long enough to have beach grass and even bushes grow on them but some sides of them are always open to the wind and are often scraped clean like the sides of bowls by the time spring rolls around....

This bench was anchored with cement posts and depending on the season it is either half buried or the posts are exposed as they are here....

Off to the side of the bench one can find the straying sand here, almost covering a stand of poverty grass...

Just for reference, this is what that poverty grass should look like. This patch was around the corner and had not been covered by blowing sand.....yet....

It is interesting living in a place where the ocean, wind and land are in constant flux....

Migration Express....

Every morning brings new birds to our lovely peninsula and just keeping up is getting to be a challenge. Warblers are beginning to arrive but they don't hit their peak for another week or so. It's time to crack open those bird guides and catch up on your auditory skills! The migratory express is here!

Tree swallows are here....so are barn swallows, towhees and great crested flycatchers....

Eastern phoebes are setting up nesting already and can be heard calling in many neighborhoods...watch for their bobbing tail if you are unsure of which bird you are seeing...and if you hear their scratchy Fee-bee call you'll know for sure.

Hummingbirds are here...can orioles be far behind?

What migratory birds are you still waiting for?

Early morning beach walk....

I love walking the beach early in the morning and I do it as often as possible...

On a day like today the light is soft....the air is soft....

A gull keeps watch from the jetty....

A piping plover shows off its breeding plumage....

Sanderlings poke about for their breakfast....

a sparrow sings good morning to the sun....

and for just a while, all seems right in the world....