In about a week I'll be flying out to Arizona where I'll resume guiding with a short nightbirds tour. It's certainly going to feel odd flying and all that.
Around here, we're still seeing new spring arrivals every day and I'm guessing we're within 2 weeks of the peak of migration. Here in Hannibal, I had a fun encounter with this NORTHERN PARULA which probably arrived to his territory within the past week:
Still, one of the most vocal, obvious warblers back on territory are the LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES. I found a different set of birds yesterday including this inquisitive guy:
I can't say I know my snakes very well but iNaturalist has been a great tool. This sunning dude is a COMMON WATERSNAKE:
I was hiking in a forest near here when I stumbled on this big, showy plant. I had no idea what it was (which isn't surprising really). Turns out it's JETBEAD, a non-native exotic in the Rose family:
iNaturalist also helped me identify these as DROOPING TRILLIUMS:
