Red-bellied Woodpecker and Wild-ginger at Lambton Woods / May 4, 2019

This week has been full of wet days and we had another this morning with 10 degrees and constant drizzle.

I was hoping for my first oriole, grosbeak or vireo of the spring. No luck though I did hear a Spotted Sandpiper by the Humber River.

Species list: double-crested cormorant, Canada goose, mallard, spotted sandpiper, mourning dove, belted kingfisher, hairy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, tree swallow, rough-winged swallow, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, winter wren, American robin, ruby-crowned kinglet, house sparrow, red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, common grackle, northern cardinal,  American goldfinch, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow.  (27 species)

Some of the birds looked drenched including this female Red-bellied Woodpecker:

Red-bellied Woodpecker (female)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (female)

Other birds that I was able to photograph:

Northern Cardinal (male)
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker (male)
Brow Creeper
Canada Goose on nest
Common Grackle
Northern Flicker
Song Sparrow
American Robin
Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Canada Goose

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Some park scenes:

The Wild Ginger is in flower here:

Wild-ginger (Asarum canadense)

Wild-ginger was used by Native Americans as a seasoning. It has similar aromatic properties to true ginger but should not be used as a substitute because it contains an unknown concentration of carcinogen aristolochic acid which can create tumours in humans.

Wild-ginger (Asarum canadense)

Other botany:

Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Red Trillium (Trillium sessile)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
Forsythia (Forsythia intermedia)
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
Flowering Almond (Prunus grandulosa)
Horsetail (male)
Black Currant (Ribes nigram)
Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

This morning’s group:

NATURE POETRY

IN the wondrous star-sown night,
In the first sweet warmth of spring,
I lie awake and listen
To hear the glad earth sing.
I hear the brook in the wood
Murmuring, as it goes,
The song of the happy journey
Only the wise heart knows.
I hear the trilling note
Of the tree-frog under the hill,
And the clear and watery treble
Of his brother, silvery shrill.
And then I wander away
Through the mighty forest of Sleep,
To follow the fairy music
To the shore of an endless deep. 
B

William Bliss Carman (1861 – 1929)

Miles Hearn

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