For many of us, February is a time to plan for spring. It is a time to order favorite garden seeds – and a time to get spring nature walks on the calendar.
I invite anyone interested to join me on Saturday, April 21, 2018, for a spring walk in Eliza Howell Park (starting at 9:00 a.m.).
April is the beginning of the spring season for wildflowers and EHP always has a variety of beauties. Two common ones are trout lily…
and spring beauty.
By the third week of April, woodpeckers, including the Red-bellied Woodpecker, are drilling nesting holes.
The land snails of Eliza Howell (I am not sure of the precise species) show up in April.
Redbuds and a variety of other flowering trees/shrubs are abloom.
The first butterflies appear at this time of the year, one being the Eastern Comma.
In recent years, some of us have observed a fascinating phenomenon in one spring pond in the park. American Toads have selected it as their breeding pond, congregating here for a couple days in April. Over the following days and weeks hundreds of tadpoles develop in the shallow pond.
These are some aspects of the spring life that we will be observing (and maybe taking some pictures of) on April 21. Everyone is welcome. We will meet about half way around the road loop from the Fenkell entrance.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me: leonard.weber9@gmail.com
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Note: All the above pictures are from Eliza Howell Park and were taken in April 2017 by the author, with the exception of the woodpecker. That photo, also from EHP in April 2017, was taken by Margaret Weber.
Eliza Howell Nature Walks 