Spring Azure

Late this afternoon, a Spring Azure Butterfly, small and pale blue, fluttered around our back yard. They’re often the first butterflies to emerge in the spring, and this one was an airy, spirit-lifting spot of color against a background of woods that are still bare and gray.

The day began cloudy and cool, but around noon the sun came out and the air warmed quickly. Redbuds and Bradford pear trees are beginning to come out in bloom, and the feeder and all around our yard were lively all day with birdsong and activity, all the usual suspects.

Late in the day, a Brown-headed Nuthatch came to the feeder when it was briefly unoccupied, grabbed a quick bite and took it to a nearby limb. A Downy Woodpecker approached it there, as if to claim the food, but the Nuthatch flared its wings and the Downy backed off. We hear the Nuthatches’ squeaking calls often, but they rarely come to the feeder. This one came back at least one more time for another quick bite.