Nature Happenings

  • Project FeederWatch ends this month, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
  • If it's an irruptive year, Snowy Owls depart for the Arctic.
  • Caspian Tern, Barn Swallows, Purple Martins, Wilson’s Warblers and Common Yellowthroats arrive.
  • Red-Breasted Nuthatch courtship behavior begins.
  • Kildeer eggs are laid and incubated for 24-26 days.
  • Great Blue Heron egg-laying begins in April with incubation lasting 28 days.
  • One of the first native butterflies to emerge from its overwintering chrysalis is the Sara Orangetip.
  • Rufous Hummingbirds arrive from Mexico.
  • Listen for Ruffed Grouse drumming in the lower-elevation mixed woodlands.
  • Two beautiful camas species (Camassia Quamash and C. Leichtlinii) are blooming now.
  • Cliff Swallows come from southern South America to build their mud nests under eaves and bridges.
  • Western Tanagers and Black-headed Grosbeaks arrive from central Mexican forests.
  • Lyrids meteor shower, late-April.
  • Earth Day, April 22.