Skunk Cabbage & Crocus In Connecticut

 When  Skunk Cabbage melts it way above the frozen earth in February or March, it is one of the first green signs  of Spring in Connecticut, but there are many other flowers that tell us Spring is here. Another early favorite is the crocus.
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Mud Flat Spring by  James Stevenson This is a perfect book to read  with a skunk cabbage spring expedition (as my granddaughter calls a walk into the woods). It is short with jaunty poems that sound and look like Spring.

A Robin Wintering In Connecticut

Sometimes Nature reminds us that even the very familiar can be special.  Even though the robin is a common backyard visitor and often the  harbinger of Spring known to every child,  this  puffed-up, haughty fellow sitting in my evergreen  on this very cold February morning reminded me how Nature can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary if we are willing to take a moment to appreciate it. You can see the look in my visitor's eye. Can you hear him saying? "I know I am the most handsome..."

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Sharing The Wonder of Birds With Kids by Laura Erickson

Eastern Gray Squirrel

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This Eastern Gray Squirrel knew where to find his acorn breakfast. First, he tunneled through the snow to get a stronger whiff to locate the nut. In one experiment, the scientists hid the nuts for the squirrels. The rodents found just as many acorns as  they do when they store their own winter cache slightly below ground. This  proved that it is smell, not memory, that leads a hungry squirrel to his meal.

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The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri




http://www.amazon.com/Busy-Little-Squirrel-Nancy-Tafuri/dp/0689873417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265771663&sr=8-

Mystery Bird?

Recently I glimpsed a bird flying away from my feeder which borders a Connecticut forest. I only saw it from the back. But as it flapped it wings fairly noisily to escape, it flashed  yellow stripes  beneath each wing.  It had  white and brown mottled coloring on its back and wings.  It was bigger than a songbird, but smaller than a turkey vulture; possibly the size of an owl or hawk? Nothing seems to match this description. Any ideas or pictures?

The Red-Headed Woodpecker In Connecticut

The red-headed woodpecker is endangered in Connecticut. The DEP suggests keeping snags, or dead trees to provide maternity nests and storage cavities for their acorns. Prescribed burning by well-meaning forest management in Connecticut appears to disregard this need.

A Black Deer In Connecticut?

Do you think he is black? Unlike the very rare albino deer which is white or not white, the black deer's dark coloration can range from gray to very black. Some say it is more rare than an albino. It is the melanism, unusual darkening of body tissues caused by excessive production of melanin; especially, a form of color variation in animals.
Some more video of black deer.
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White-Tailed Deer (Early Bird Nature Books)
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, William Munoz

A White Squirrel?

My son spotted a white squirrel in our yard today. We live in Durham: it is in the southern, central part of Connecticut. Like most of us, his first thought was albino. But this white squirrel is not an albino; according to biologists, it is a genetic mutation of the eastern gray squirrel. Its dark, not red, eyes reveals its true identity. They are, however, fairly rare. One observer in Ridgefield, Connecticut suggested that the other squirrels did not like him. How did he know this? Well, it seems that another gray was always chasing him.
Other interesting animal coloration included the piebald dear which brown and white patches making it look, more like a cow than a deer.
Share you other interesting sitings with my readers.

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A new picture book, A Little White Squirrel's Secret: A Special Place To Practice, by Penny Hunt and others, captures the white squirrel's beauty and his triumph over being different.

Is It Spring Yet?

No. But I can dream, can't I?

Dancing With The Stars

Is she ready?