What to See This Week

The wetlands are busy this time of year. Take a walk through Dutch Fork Wetlands for a chance to see tons of waterfowl and songbirds alike! A group of blue-winged teals were hanging out in the first pool. Blue-winged teals are dabbling ducks, ducks that tend to stay at the surface of the water and dip beneath the surface without diving to find food. 

Wood ducks are elusive. Although they are fairly common and I see them just about every time I visit Dutch Fork Wetlands, they are very shy and are quicker to flush than many other waterfowl. Aside from being an exceptionally beautiful duck, they have some interesting quirks about them. Wood ducks are cavity nesters, sometimes nesting up to 60 feet high in a hollow tree! 

Keep an eye out for female red-winged blackbirds. Red-winged blackbirds are sexually dimorphic, meaning the males and females look different. Females may look more like a large, streaky sparrow than a blackbird. While spring has certainly begun, this morning was quite chilly and left some of the birds puffing out their feathers to keep warm.

One of the most common birds you will find utilizing the nest boxes around The Arboretum is the tree swallow. Tree swallows are early to migrate with some showing up at the beginning of March. They are swift fliers that hunt by catching insects mid-flight. They have a sleek appearance with a pure white belly and a metallic blue-green back. 

It isn’t just birds thinking about babies this time of year! The Bird-Watching Garden is home to a groundhog that lives beneath the fountain. She is often spotted looking for food around the garden but a few days ago she was seen running back to her den with a mouth full of dead leaves, likely to make a warm, soft area within the den for babies.

Redbuds are hard to miss this time of year with their vibrant flowers. The flowers are interesting enough on their own but the way they grow is fascinating. Redbuds exhibit cauliflory, a term referring to when plants produce flowers and fruits on old branches or even the trunks of a tree. This is a feature most often seen in tropical plants and is very rare in temperate regions aside from our native redbud!

Serviceberry is a beautiful native shrub or small tree that is currently in bloom. The white flowers are popular with pollinators, but the wildlife value doesn’t stop there! The fruits that ripen in June are a favorite food of many birds and mammals including cedar waxwings and chipmunks. Serviceberries are a great option if you want to swap out an invasive Callery pear for a plant with similar ornamental value.

Some of the most well-known bees like bumblebees and honeybees are generalists and will visit just about any flower. Pictured here is one of many native specialist bees: the spring beauty mining bee. All you must do to spot one of these mining bees is visit a patch of spring beauty flowers and wait! Look for their “pollen pants” formed by special hairs on the bee’s hind legs that hold pollen, they will be a pale pink just like spring beauty pollen.