May Miscellany

May is drawing to a close, and I've got a backlog of photos that haven't made their way into a post of their own. They are perhaps not quite crisp enough, or interesting enough, to rate sharing individually (and one was disturbing enough that I didn't want to spring it on folks unawares...consider yourself warned before you reach the end of this post, if you are a sensitive soul!), but worth noting as we move through the seasons along the Sycamore Greenway. 

May is prime time for spotting warblers, as many pass through on their migration north, including the Nashville Warbler (above left). Yellow Warblers (above right) will stay in the area through the summer.

Dangling catkins of Bur Oak, with tender young leaves.

Floral assortment: showy white clusters of Black Locust flowers, tiny white flowers of low-growing Purslane Speedwell, and yellow flowers of Ragwort.

A Pearl Crescent butterfly nectars at white clover. 

Spiky inflorescences of sedges along the trail.

Afternoon sun lights a male Northern Cardinal as he sings overhead. 

Mobbing of larger birds by smaller birds--usually hawks and other raptors being harried by blackbirds, grackles, and others--is often a pre-emptive strategy to call attention to and drive away a threatening individual before it can cause harm. I've often seen a hapless Red-tailed Hawk, perched or in flight, divebombed by much smaller birds. Crows, while lacking the grasping talons and pointy, hooked beak of a raptor, are also subject to mobbing--and with good reason. Crows have a diverse diet, ranging from carrion to insects to garbage and dog food, but they will also take advantage of nesting birds to snatch their tender babies right out of the nest. 

Despite the fierce pursuit of both Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, this crow never dropped its nefarious loot as it sped away from the scene of the crime with its trio of cawing companions.