Early Spring Sightings at James Farm
With the weather finally on the warmer side, plant and animal activity at James Farm Ecological Preserve awakens!
Observant visitors will notice the spots of blue-purple in the brown mowed grasses of our meadows. This is the grape hyacinth, often cultivated in our gardens and lawns. Thousands of these single stalked flowers are scatted throughout our meadows.
The first butterflies are flying.
An occasional “Blue,” or the reddish-orange “American Copper” flit about our feet along the mowed trail from the parking lot kiosk to the educational shed. See one and you may see two or more chasing each other. These sightings are fleeting as the spring breezes whisk them away just as we try to get a closer look as they rest on a raised blade of grass and flex their wings. They flit away, fly about and then return to the same general area where first observed.
The common European White, the cabbage butterfly, is the first to be seen in the spring, moving swiftly over the meadow and hedgerows, landing at cryptic flowers for nectar or to lay an egg.
Also along the mowed trail can “bee” seen what appears to be a multitude of “ant hills” with raised mounds of sandy soil excavated by ground mining bees. On warmer sunny days, these solitary bees, black with yellow pollen attached, fly at ground level scouting for its own ground nest and quickly enters to tend to its underground galleries for its developing young. They are not dangerous, are weak stingers, and pose no threat. They are, however, good pollinators of our native plants. Watch where you step as you pass over their nesting ground so that you don’t disturb their “home territory.”
Tune your ear to the droning of the occasional bumblebee flying swiftly about. They also are ground nesters and are looking for good housing areas in the leaf litter and investigate sources of pollen and nectar. Soon to come are the Painted Ladies, Tiger Swallowtails and Buckeyes.
As our Black Cherry trees burst their buds and sprout leaves, look for the cottony nest of the Eastern Tent Caterpillars.
Also check out the branches of our trees in the meadow on the eastern side of Cedar Neck Road. The “styrofoam” like egg masses can be seen silhouetted against the blue sky, waiting for the spring plant growth and warm weather to release the small nymphs of the Chinese Mantis that we see on our meadow plants throughout the summer and fall.
Enjoy James Farm
and Good Sightings!