A Cool Late May

 

Coming to Nantucket can feel like going back in time...literally.  The spring is early here,  with the wood anemones, quaker ladies and starflowers dotting the forest floors.  It's been foggy and gray.  The scrub oak is flowering and the tupelos have not leafed out yet.  The sweet pepper is greening up and the blueberries are blooming.  The beach plums are ready to pop, and the shad is looking gone by.  The cherry trees are blooming,  but many have the pink puddle surrounding them from the wind and rain's pummeling.

The quiet and gray are calming and relaxing. (At least compared to the frenzied hunt for warblers at Mount Auburn Cemetery and the environs of Boston!)

Blueberries

Wild Grape

Wood Anemone

Beach Plum

Beach Plum

Quaker Ladies

Nantucket's April was cooler than the past two years.  I compared the average temperatures in 2024 to 2023 and 2022.  Mean temperature in April 2024 was 45.6,  compared to 47.2 in April 2023 and 47.3 in April 2022.  And heating degree days (days x average degrees below 65) were 582 compared to 536 and 531.  May has also been cooler,  with average temps of 49.4 (19/31 days) compared to 52.1 in May 2023 and 53.7 in May 22.  It would have to average 56.4 for the last 12 days of the month for 2024 to equal May 2023.

I explored my favorite spots:  Squam Farm/Swamp, Stump Pond, Sesachacha Pond,  Sconset Beach and Bluffwalk.  My highlights were the duetting great crested flycatchers in Squam Swamp... it is a season of love!  A male ruddy duck on Sesachacha was in breeding plumage, with a huge white cheek and blue bill (but don't they breed in the northwest?)  The eastern Kingbirds were carrying nesting material.    I heard a White-crowned sparrow singing in Sconset Village. and the sound of common yellowthroats everywhere!  An American Redstart in Wauwinet  eluded us,  and then the Sunday bird group found him.

Towhees are  hopping on the paths and singing from the treetops.    A solitary pine warbler sang in the pines on Sconset beach.  Yellow warblers trilled on most of my hikes.  And yet some of the winter lot remain:  a female bufflehead on a kettle pond in  Norwood Farm, a few northern gannets flying north.

The landscape is pied with light greens and reds and creamy whites.  We searched for,  but did not find mayflowers.  The early blooms of golden heather in the sunny spots point the way to summer. Next weekend is Memorial Day!

Revisiting a beloved landscape seems to open up possibilities.  

Norwood Oak, May 18, 2024