Saw my first Trilliums of the year today. probably a total of 100 or so, and the peculiar thing is all of them were white. "Calves brain" mushrooms are up in force, they are edible I hear but I've never tried them. I look for morels, I think it was you WFR who had morels in a thread a couple of weeks ago? No sign of any yet, it is early here though. Another week or 2 should bring them out. They are not easy to find here in NH and can be very year to year. At least thats my limited experience. When I do manage to find a few, a trip to a brook becomes the order, for brook trout and morels fried up in cast iron is nothing short of heavenly, a dish of the Gods. I don't think I've ever collected more than a couple of handfuls at once, I've never seen a lot of them in an area. Blacks and yellows only, I've also never seen gray morels here.
I found a good sized patch of lady slippers tonight, just the foliage. That seems unusual, early for them. I am wondering if I have the ID wrong, but I don't think so. I'll stop by the spot a couple more times and see if they spike. We've had one of the very best springs I can remember here, as far as the weather goes. This may be the very best spring during my life, the weather here in mid New England has been really spectacular, as other forum members from around here will no doubt affirm. Absolutely beautiful, this spring will be remembered for a long time no doubt. We'll be talking about it in the old folks home someday.
Critter watching has been above average too. Deer, moose, etc. There are already a few moose with new calves around that I know of. Thats early too. Today I was up on a ridge in a small nearby valley, nothing except trees out there, between 2 towns along a dirt road. A pretty fair sized forest for central NH. I was watching a pair of ravens for about 20 minutes, playing mid air chase, right over my head at tree top level. They knew I was there no doubt but it didn't bother them. They flew around chasing one another, or in vast circles, one going clockwise and the other counter clockwise, and when they would meet one of them would turn upside down in flight and they were kind of grabbing at eachother as they flew by. They were obviously having a lot of fun. Ravens are really interesting birds to observe, with a special intensity in Indian lore that is very interesting, much of it I think is probably true.
I have been listening to Barred owls I can hear up along that ridge, and only just have an idea what 5 acre piece their nest probably is in. Its new turf for me this spring and what I should do is find an area to set up in and call with a squeaker, that or just use an entire can of deep woods off on myself and take a slow morning long hike. To find owls, locate the area they consistantly call at sunset from, then take a very slow and quiet walk in to the area during the day. In general an owl will leave the nest at about sunset, and will usually first perch on a favorite nearby limb, and vocalize a few calls. Maybe for several minutes. They will usually be within sight of their nest. A small pair of binoculars can be a tremendous help. Pay attention to the trees, and look for a tree with a lot of white droppings on the trunk or bottom limbs or both. They can't digest the bones and fur of their prey, and these they throw up in the form of pellets, which you should find on the ground under the tree. Pick them apart with sticks, and you will find intact skulls of mice and other small creatures, moles, shrews, etc.
The black flies are out in force here. I think even they are early too.
Ok my rant is over. Ahhh, spring!!!