Brown Headed Nuthatch

A pair of Brown headed nuthatches have started a nest in the 3rd nest box near the shed!

Here is a video of when they nested in our backyard at College Station in Athens.

April 5th: First Migrant

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher in the backyard yesterday afternoon. Also finches and siskens have dispersed.

Pine Pollen Has Begun in Full Force

House Plants in Bloom

Yard Blooms April 5th

Redbud
Holly

Green and Gold

Christmas Fern


Dogwood

Columbine


Bluet

Azalea

Dogwoods in Bloom

Also, 2 of the 3 nest boxes are occupied by chickadees. No movement or materiel in the third box.

Bluets

Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) are in bloom in the front yard. They are native to this area.

Nest Boxes

As of today, 2 of the 3 nest boxes are occupied by Chickadees. Both are bringing in nesting material. The one by my office window brought in fur for lining.

Last year they were on eggs by April 15th.

Buckeye Butterfly

We had a Common Buckeye butterfly in our backyard today:

These butterflies prefer open, sunny areas with low vegetation and some bare ground. Males perch during the day to watch for females, flying periodically to patrol or to chase other flying insects. Females lay eggs singly on leaf buds or on the upperside of host plant leaves upon which the caterpillar feeds (including plants from the snapdragon, plantain and acanthus families). Adult butterflies live for about 10 days. Their caterpillars are solid black in color and spend most of their time alone eating leaves. Upon reaching adulthood, common buckeyes feed on the nectar of such plants as aster, chickory, tickseed and peppermint. The Common Buckeye is found throughout the southern United States and north along the coasts to central California and North Carolina; as well as south to Bermuda, Cuba, and southern Mexico.

Sources:
Amazing Insects
Encyclopedia of Ohio History

Yellow Butterfly Roosting on a Yellow Leaf

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)