Almanac for May 2008

Natural events, happenings, and fearless predictions based upon 25 years of observations at Hidden Pond. Your observations may vary! Hidden Pond is not responsible for errors, erratic behavior or other whims of nature.

• 1st week: Maple leaves as big as your fist mean it's safe to plant corn. Young possums, as many as 13, emerge from mother's pouch. Pink lady's slippers in bloom, covered with oak pollen. Black locust trees bloom with white pea-like fragrant flowers. The call of the gray tree frog, a ragged drawn-out chirp, may be heard coming from tree tops. Winged maple seeds litter the sidewalks. Leaves are usually all the way out by now.
• 2nd week: Spectacular luna moths emerge from the cocoons in which they spent the winter; mate, lay eggs on walnut, persimmon and hickory trees, then die. Young cardinals and robins fledge (leave the nest). White-eyed vireos arrive. White-throated sparrows gather in flocks; they sing "sweet, sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada" which is where they will be going any day now. Spring ephemerals (wildflowers that appear only briefly) have withered and been absorbed back into the forest floor.
• 3rd week: Full "Flower Moon" May 19. Ox-eye daisies are in bloom. White pine trees release clouds of pollen which is carried from tree to tree by the wind. Tulip poplar trees also are in bloom, but their tulip-like flowers are pollinated by insects, and so do not release pollen . Honey made from these flowers is dark and strong. Tiny American toads about one centimeter long, the result of this year's spawning, leave the water; many no doubt will be eaten by birds.
• 4th week: Honeysuckle and multiflora rose, two invasive but fragrant plants fill the air with perfume. Mountain laurel is in bloom. Snapping turtles lay eggs in sunny places, sometimes hundreds of feet from water. Shad bush or service berries ripen; robins and catbirds seem reckless in their determination to eat every last berry. First lightning bugs (actually beetles) appear at nightfall. They include movement with their flash, which for some species gives the impression that the beetles are constantly ascending. Bull frogs lay eggs; their tadpoles will take a year to develop into frogs.

Hidden Pond Nature Center, Fairfax County Park Authority

8511 Greeley Boulevard, Springfield, VA 22152. Phone 703/451-9588