The forest floor is lightly frosted with drifts of Spring Beauty. Melina found a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) foraging at the edge of the parking lot; the first Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) made his appearance.
Ten boxes have active nests, plus one with one cold Wood Duck egg that appears to be a false start. Box #68 is due to hatch out this week.
When I was out with Dirk last week, we looked at crayfish chimneys. We’re always glad to see evidence of crayfish (our most common is Cambarus diogenes) in the wetland, because they are an indicator species: they can’t tolerate certain water contaminants. In turn, as detritivores, they recycle decaying organic matter into the food web. And the question came up: what’s with the chimneys? what purpose do they serve? Turns out that authorities are not quite sure. It may be simply that the crayfish needs to do something with the mud it has excavated as it burrows down to the water table, so it leaves it at the entrance.