Early spring is a baffling season; it can be almost 70 degrees one day, and snowing the next. This seemingly confused time of year is often referred to as “stick season” or “mud season”. While both are usually true, if you look (and listen!) closely, you’ll see that even this early stage of spring is a time of growth and renewal. Year-round resident birds are claiming breeding territories and singing for mates, and migratory birds are returning from their southern wintering grounds. Insects are emerging (including those pesky ticks and mosquitos!), and plants are pushing out new leaves and flowers. As a naturalist, I find this to be one of the most exciting times of the year. Practically every day, something new is happening!
The eastern bluebirds are here all winter, but by late March the males were already checking out and staking claim to nest boxes in the fields. American woodcocks are calling at dusk in the wet meadows around the Rosenburg Center. They make an adorably nasal call referred to by ornithologists as “peenting”. Black-capped chickadees are singing their “spring’s here” song. Turkey vultures, tree swallows and eastern phoebes have also returned and more species are on their way.
The forest floor is also starting to come back to life. The miniature yellow flowers of round-leaved violets (Viola rotundifolia) are blooming. The whole plant is only a couple inches tall, with flowers less than a half inch across. Trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens), also known as mayflower, bucks its name is happily starts blooming in April. And although I haven’t seen them flowering yet, the yellow trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) have started to push out their leaves in great numbers. Their name is inspired by the trout-like vermiculations that pattern their leaves.
And speaking of flowers, did you know that most of our common trees have flowers too? Tree flowers do not typically have showy flowers with colorful petals like many of our herbaceous flowers, but they are nonetheless critically important. They provide a crucial food source of nectar and pollen in early spring, before many other plants bloom. Red maple (Acer rubrum), silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) are already flowering. Others, such as American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red oaks (Quercus rubra), and sugar maples (Acer saccharum) will jump on the flowering band wagon later in the season.
Insects are also emerging. On an early April walk I encountered a question mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) flitting across the Lower Loop trail. Question marks overwinter as adults, so a warm April day will bring them forth. Wasps, flies, moths, and insects of all kinds can now be seen flying about. My favorite recent find was a species of stink bug (Brochymena arborea) resting on the trailing arbutus leaves. While many signs of spring are highly anticipated, it’s also worth a warning that warmer spring temperatures bring out some of our less desirable creatures as well. The deer ticks in Hopkins Forest have been out in force the last couple of weeks, so be sure to get back in the habitat of regular tick checks after spending time in the forest.
Given the “renewal” theme of the season, it seems only fitting that after a more than 2-year hiatus, the Hopkins Memorial Forest blog is also being given new life now. Check back regularly for more information about forest ecology, student experiences and general goings on in the forest.
Written by Elise Leduc-Fleming, Hopkins Memorial Forest Manager
April 10, 2025