week of 3/27/02
 
 
 


The Naturalist's Corner
By Don Hendershot
The recent dip in temperatures was barely a speed bump on the road to spring. As soon as the frost thawed this past Sunday morning and the sun began to warm the earth, the fields we were birding in became alive with butterflies.

Most were yellow, and we were content to I.D. them simply as sulfurs as they wobbled across the fields like drunken lemon drops. A bluish-white individual caught our eye, and we tracked it down to find it was a sulfur also, the white form of the clouded sulfur.

The over-wintering white-crowned sparrows in the fields were beginning to sport their spring finery. A brilliant male bluebird was auditioning for a couple of females in the neighborhood. Field sparrows were singing and chasing through the tall brown weeds and cornstalks. An adult female sharp-shinned hawk patrolling the fence rows was also showing good spring color. Goldfinches were showing splotches of yellow.

Spring migrants are also showing up across the region. Last weekend’s front brought a mixed raft of northbound waterfowl to Lake Junaluska. Lesser scaup and red-breasted mergansers made up the bulk of migrants but horned grebes, wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, northern shovelers and Bonaparte’s gulls were also present.

Tree swallows have been around for a couple of weeks, and one lone northern rough-wing swallow has been reported from Lake Junaluska. Bob Olthoff, who found the rough-wing at Junaluska, also reported a pine warbler from the lake. The large pine trees between Lambuth Inn and the lake shore always attract migrant pine warblers.

Other northern nesting sparrows observed in the fields at Kituwah this past Sunday included white-throated, vesper and fox. The white-throated is a common over-wintering bird there. The fox sparrow likely over winters at Kituwah but is far less common. While most field guides include all of North Carolina in the vesper’s winter range, it is generally absent from Western North Carolina, passing through in fall and spring.

Other migrants recorded from the region that haven’t been noted in Western North Carolina yet include blue-headed vireo, yellow-throated warbler, northern parula warbler, black and white warbler and Louisiana waterthrush. Some of these species, like blue-headed vireo and yellow-throated warbler have been reported from Transylvania County and will be here any day.

Wildflowers are also harbingers of spring. Spring ephemerals play their yearly game of Russian roulette with frigid temperatures as they rush to bloom and fruit before the canopy leafs-out and blocks the sunlight from the forest floor. Hepatica and trailing arbutus at lower elevations are probably already past peak. Trout-lily various species of violets, some trilliums and toothwart are other early wildflowers beginning to bloom. And color is even touching the higher elevations.

On our trip last Sunday we stopped along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Heintooga Road, an elevation around 5,000 feet. Even at that elevation, with snow clinging in the shadows and icicles stuck to rock faces, we found cut-leaved toothwort blooming and trailing arbutus laden with buds.

There may be more frigid temperatures; there may be more snowfalls; but spring will not be denied. One way to immerse oneself in spring is to partake in the annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This year will be the 52nd annual pilgrimage. The popular event has been expanded to an entire week.

Due to the mild winter some early blooming spring ephemerals may be missed but year in and year out the end of April time frame has proved to consistently offer a wide variety of wildflowers. The pilgrimage also offers trips for birds, bats, bears, salamanders and others.

For more information on the Pilgrimage call 865.436.7318 or visit the website www.wildflowerpilgrimage.org.