There are wildflowers whose presence in the Spring is so momentary that they are referred to as 'ephemerals'. My favorite of these transitory spring surprises is the Eastern Spring Beauty, or Claytonia virginica. (Named after an American physician named John Clayton who collected several plants in Virginia) It is a delicate and tiny plant with nodding buds and pink-striped petals, whose discovery is for me a true serendipity because I have only seen it a handful of times.
Last night however, I pulled over the car to look closer at a patch of small flowers on a hillside and eureka!, not just Spring Beauty, but a whole patch of them! My husband, the unwitting passenger on this particular expedition, did wonder why he suddenly found himself travelling in reverse and his wife abandoning ship in the middle of this particular back road.
Spring ephemeral wildflowers are triggered to grow before the trees fully leaf, and their flowering parts disappear quickly, so if you miss those brief moments, only the life in the roots remains of their presence. This was a truly remarkable and memorable sighting.
Bloodroot is considered by many to fit into the category of 'spring ephemeral', and while many are still blossoming, the earliest blooms have now dropped, their leaves are many times larger, and fruit is now appearing.
Another candidate is the Large-flowered Bellwort, sometimes called Merrybells. It can be as tall as 75cm (abt 30 in.) but most of the ones that I have seen are about half that. They look wilted and the bells always hang down.
Some lists include trout lilies; the white ones are already dropping their blooms and the yellow ones are just blooming now...
Or bluebells which will likely blossom this week..
Or the trillium which will be at its best on dappled hillsides in the next week. No matter the criteria used to define these early spring plants, the common thread remains the brevity of their time in bloom, making them I think, unique and precious.
Then comes the day when you realize that the songbirds have returned! The canopy is busy with brightly coloured birds and the air is filled with new melodies. This time before the trees are fully covered with leaves, gives a short period when the the sun showcases the beautiful colours of the new arrivals. I heard the warble of this male Rose-breasted Grosbeak first, then had to search a ways up to find him.
The male Baltimore Oriole is so splendid. His mate is much more muted in colour and very shy. They will soon weave an amazing hanging nest from an upper branch and start a family. Most times these nests will not be visible until the leaves drop again. Orioles fly up from Central America to breed here, as do the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks; quite a journey.
The Gray Catbird arrives at the same time, having journeyed from the coastal areas of Central and North America. They are sleek in their sedate grey feathers with a black cap, but I love that they have this little rusty red patch under their tail that is just a little cheeky. They do sound just like a cat meowing but they also are able to mimic other bird songs and create a more than a little confusion for the listener.
I also spotted my first Eastern Phoebe this week...at least I think so. The Phoebe is part of the flycatcher family and they are all quite similar, so I was never sure if I had seen a Phoebe or a Wood Pewee or a species of other flycatcher. I have been know to refer to them as 'UBB's' - ubiquitous brown birds.
Many of the birds migrating north to breeding grounds are Warblers. They are often only in Southern Ontario for a few days and then continue north again. My first bird guide had a separate section for warblers labelled 'Confusing Spring Warblers' as well as 'Confusing Fall Warblers' which is not an auspicious start to bird identification. Turns out that it is difficult to tell if some birds are even warblers in the first place because of their similarities to other groups like vireos. As well, their spring colouring differs from their fall colouring and males differ from females as well as each other depending on their age. I will therefore say that I believe that the bird above is an adult male Yellow-rumped Myrtle Warbler in his spring plumage..and hope for the best.
I will also take a bold leap and say that this is an adult male Palm Warbler, and further, a Spring "Western" Palm Warbler. Whew! It would be really easy to mistake one of these for a sparrow or a finch especially in its more muted fall plumage. This was a brand new sighting for me.
This is my favorite warbler, perhaps because it is readily identifiable and it can be seen in this area all summer. It is an adult Spring Yellow Warbler, a petite bit of 'feathered sunshine', once called the Summer Yellow Bird. I read that Cowbirds, who do not incubate their own eggs, are more likely to leave an egg in the nest of a Yellow Warbler. Odd, given the disparity in size between the Cowbird and the tiny Yellow Warbler and thus likely their eggs.
In the world of green things, seemingly bare ground continues to produce magical things like this sweet Yellow Violet in the forest...
and my favorite Freckle Face Violet in our front garden.
Green umbrellas are opening their shoots in the forest and on hillsides...
Horsetails are sprouting,
Scouring Rush spreading their branches,
and ferns unfurling.
Fuzzy branches of Staghorn Sumac are showing buds,
the magical Tamarack tree, the only conifer to lose its needles in the fall, is now producing fresh new ones,
and stands of Japanese Knotweed are pushing up bamboo-like stalks topped by leaf sets that look like arrow heads.
Flowering shrubs are opening their blooms,
like magnolias..
including this gorgeous Saucer Magnolia.
Bergenias are blooming in what looks like a more delicate rhubarb patch,
and I saw these Lenten Rose, a less commonly seen Hellebore, blooming in a small garden in Glen Morris.
So what is it about these moments in May that is magical? I don't need a reminder of the transience of life, because each day brings evidence that life, peace, health and security can be fleeting. Maybe for me, these moments of beauty, sound and discovery are more like an energy shot; a boost of joy and hope for the soul, a vitamin supplement for the spirit.
The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.
Harriet Ann Jacobs
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