Nature Happenings - April

Project FeederWatch ends this month, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw

• Whip-poor-wills arrive in the first half of the month.
• Wintering sparrows begin to head north; the White-throated are usually the last to go.
• Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks arrive at inland breeding sites.
• Painted Buntings begin to arrive late in the month.
• Spring migration brings the American Redstart, Ovenbird, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore and Orchard Oriole, Red-eyed Vireo early in the month and the Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted and Blue Grosbeak later.
• Mature male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks arrive about three days before the females. First year males usually arrive last.
• Indigo Buntings arrive.
• Lyrids meteor shower, late-April.
• Earth Day, April 22.

From Our Friends at UF IFAS

•  Birds

  • Sooty Turns take over Dry Tortugas for nesting.
  • Bobwhite quail nest now through September.
  • Migrant warblers concentrate on coasts after cold fronts.
  • Watch for hummingbirds feeding on blooms of columbine, buckeye, and others.
  • Grosbeaks, warblers, tanagers, orioles, and thrashers begin returning to North America

  Mammals

  • Black bears begin moving after winter's inactivity.
  • Long-tailed weasels, minks, and river otters will be born April through May.
  • Endangered Gray Bats return to Florida caves to raise young.
  • Manatees move up the Wakulla and St. Marks rivers

  Amphibians

  • Pine barrens treefrogs begin calling.

  Reptiles

  • Most Florida snakes begin mating rituals.
  • Beginning of Sea Turtle nesting season on Florida beaches.
  • Alligators begin moving about, seeking new territories and mates

  Fish

  • Largemouth Bass move into shallow water in Lake Talquin.
  • The cobia migration is in full swing in the Panhandle

  Insects

  • Plant extra parsley for black swallowtail butterfly larvae to eat.

  Plants

  • Blooming wildflowers and pitcher plants blanket the wet savannahs of the Apalachicola National Forest