May phenology

By Sylvia Marek

Prairie smoke at Holy Wisdom Monastery

Phenology is a science focused on observing and recording biological events from year to year and their relationships to the change of seasons and climate.

These are the “normal” phenology events we expect to see here and in the Madison area this month. We would love to hear about what you are seeing on the grounds of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Please comment on this post with what you are observing, where at Holy Wisdom and the date you observed the event.

May

May is a month of peak migration for warblers, vireos, thrushes, flycatchers, sparrows and many others.  It is a month of cheerful birdsong, nest building, nestlings and fledglings.  The fragrance of flowers fills the warm air.  Tender leaves unfold and shade the ground.  The woodland show of sun-loving spring ephemerals (Dutchman’s breeches, etc.) is almost over. Broad-leaved, shade-loving flowers (mayapple, etc.) bloom next in woodlands.  The parade of native wildflowers begins to bloom on prairies.  Young mammals scamper about.  The chorus of frogs increases and American toads trill and ”purrrrr.”  Insects buzz, hum, dive, dart and flutter.  Fifteen hours of daylight to enjoy nature.

“When you first really see a bird you have your own life of adventure before you. You
become a member of an old and honorable clan formed by all those men and women
whom, in the past and present, have found in birds a kind of fulfillment and an
endless challenge.”
–Virginia S. Eifert

Resident Birds

• The following are incubating eggs or raising young: Chickadee, Cardinal, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, House Finch, House Sparrow, the Woodpeckers, Turkey, Crow, Red-tailed and Cooper’s Hawk.
• Great Horned, Barred and Screech Owl nestlings leave their nests and can be seen branching often during the day.  Listen for their begging hissing calls.
• Bright Yellow male Goldfinches gather in loose flocks and warble sweet songs. They do not nest until July.

Early Migrants

• March and mid-April migrants such as Bluebird, Robin, Tree Swallow, Phoebe, Song Sparrow, House Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Bald Eagle, Mallard, Geese, Woodcock and Sandhill Crane are also incubating or raising young.

May Migrants

• Many of the following arrive from the southern U. S., Central or South America: Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, Thrushes, Sparrows and many more.
• May is peak warbler migration. As many as 35 species of these brightly colored insect-eating birds can be observed in the Madison area.  Most warblers stay a few days or weeks, then travel north to nest. Some warblers that nest here include Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Redstart Ovenbird, Prothonotary and an occasional Black and White Warbler.
• Other migrants that will spend the summer are nesting now: Chipping, Field, Lincoln’s, Swamp, and Clay-colored Sparrows, Dickcissel, Sedge and Marsh Wren, Catbird, Thrasher, Kingbird, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore and Orchard Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested, Least and Willow Flycatchers, Wood-pewee, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Towhee, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Wood Thrush, Flicker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Kestrel, Osprey, Grackle, Starling and of course, others.

Winter Visitors

• Most left in April. A few Juncos, Siskins, Purple Finch, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows can be seen and heard. They will depart for northern breeding grounds by the end of May.
• For more information about birds, check my April phenology. Also, check eBird for reports from other birders.

Plants

• Plants can bloom earlier or later depending on changing weather patterns. It seems lately warmer and dryer conditions in winter has had an effect on earlier spring bloom times. Can you think of any other reasons?

Woodland Native Wildflowers

• Most true sun-loving spring ephemerals bloom before the canopy fills out with green leaves. Seeds are produced, food is stored in underground parts, and above ground parts die back. You might find a few Dutchman’s breeches, trout-lily and Virginia bluebells in bloom. The early show is almost over in the woodlands, but not just yet. Partial shade-loving broad-leaved plants bloom, set seed, and keep their leaves during the summer. This later floral display includes:  mayapple, jack-in-the-pulpit, wild geranium, wild ginger, wood phlox, wood and rue anemone, prairie and white trillium, bellwort, columbine, early meadowrue, Solomon’s plume, Solomon’s seal, starry Solomon’s seal, early buttercup, baneberry, blue cohosh, Virginia waterleaf, Canada, yellow, and other violets.

Prairie Flowers

• The parade of native flowers on prairies begins with pussy-toes, pasque flower, prairie smoke, wood betony, bird’s-foot violet, spiderwort, shooting star, golden Alexander, Canada anemone, penstemon digitalis, lupine, creamy baptisia, white baptisia, Black-eyed Susan, puccoon and ragwort, followed by many more throughout the summer.

Trees

• Trees that usually bloom in late April and during May are wild plum, serviceberry, chokecherry, black cherry, maple and oak species, blackhaw, hackberry, shagbark hickory, elm, box elder, aspen, cottonwood and conifers.
• Tiny flowers open and fragile leaves emerge. The woodland canopy becomes a palette of pastel pink, yellow, and green. During your walk, look up and observe the flowers, their pollinators and birds.

Shrubs

• Some of the following bloom in April but most in May.  Red-berried elderberry, fragrant sumac, snowberry, nannyberry, arrowwood, ninebark, pagoda, silky, and red-osier dogwoods, chokeberry (Aronia), and bladdernut.

Insects

• Butterflies that spent the winter in chrysalids now emerge.  Look for spring azure, common blue, pearl crescent, whites and sulphurs, and yellow and black swallowtails.
• Butterflies that overwinter as adults lay eggs and die include mourning cloak, comma and question mark. Look for the red admiral depositing eggs on nettles. American painted ladies can overwinter as an adult.  Most migrate south and when they return, the female lays eggs on pussy-toes and thistles, then dies.

Other Insects to Look for

• Queen bumblebees searching for a nursery nest to lay her eggs.  Also, solitary, sweat and honeybees.
• Ichnemun and other wasps such as mud dauber and paper wasp.
• May, deer, bee, flower and sweat flies.
• Ants enlarging their nests and tending aphids.
• Six-spotted and other tiger beetles. May beetles (June bugs) emerge.
• Grasshoppers hop and black field crickets chirp.
• Dragonflies dart and damselflies flutter.
• Leafhoppers have spines on their legs, and they leap. Spittlebugs are squat and hop. Spittlebugs overwinter as eggs and hatch in spring.  The tiny nymphs create and live in a foamy mass of bubbles.
• Tent caterpillars devour fresh leaves.
• Fireflies blink and twinkle at night in late May.
• Mosquitoes start to annoy and bite!

Mammals

• Newborn mammals include gray squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk, coyote, fox, mink, muskrat, raccoon, skunk, opossum, woodchuck and spotted fawns.
• Male deer (bucks) continue to grow velvet-covered antlers.
• Bats are active at night.

Other Happenings

• Migratory Bird Day (second Saturday in May).
• Great month to listen to Cope’s, Eastern gray, green and leopard frogs, and the trilling of American toads.
• Snakes and turtles bask in the sun.
• Earthworms are active at night and during rainy days.
• Mosses and ferns are all shades of green.
• Pennsylvania and Sprengelii sedges bloom.
• Mushrooms to look for:  chicken-of-the-woods, fairy rings, inky cap, Dryad saddle, oyster, morel and scarlet cup.
• Crabapples, apples and lilacs bloom and fill the air with sweet fragrances.
• Dandelions and creeping Charlie bloom attracting bees and other insects.
• Time to dig garlic mustard.
• TICK (bear, deer, black legged) season. Take precaution. Stay on trails and check after an outing.

And I leave you with the following:

“Feel the love of God; then..you will find a magic, living relationship uniting the
  trees, the sky, the stars, all people, and all living things; and you will feel a
  oneness with them”
–Paramhansa Yogananda

Sylvia Marek is a highly trained and experienced naturalist. She works for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and is a first rate birder.

Please share the biological events you notice while at Holy Wisdom Monastery below (remember to include what you see, where and when).