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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND Installment #---Visitor # (Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week) |
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| Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Chipping Sparrow American Goldfinch |
Northern Cardinal House Finch Mourning Dove This Week at Hilton Pond |
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Perhaps the first trees to flower each spring at Hilton Pond Center are the Red Maples (Acer rubrum). Their pinkish flowers are soon replaced by winged fruit in the same hue. Technically called "samaras," the seeds (right) are joined in pairs but as they ripen break apart with the slightest wind. The seed's propeller-like wing allows it to descend like a helicopter-- often some distance from the parent tree--which helps assure that the new maple seedling isn't competing for space with its own parent. Because of this aerodynamic means of propagation, Red Maples are sometimes able to colonize old fields and recently timbered areas, making them one of the first trees to show up in vegetational succession. (Photo © Hilton Pond Center)
The year's first Ruby- throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)--a male with a bright red gorget--showed up at a Hilton Pond Center feeder at 9:15 am EDT on 3 April. An hour later, we made the first capture of the year--possibly the same bird--and banded it as #T86441 (right). As usual, we also colored marked the bird with a GREEN breast mark in the hope it might be sighted elsewhere. The earliest hummer on record at Hilton Pond Center was a male banded on 27 March 1991. (Photo © Hilton Pond Center)
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by