Phenology notes: Week 1 of April 2011

Coming to Bethlehem on Monday (April 4th) I noticed that the forsythias were in full bloom and that there were many more daffodil flowers this week.  The star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) trees are blooming (the earliest of the magnolias to do so each year) and one type of the cherry trees by the public library off of Church Street are have some of their flowers open.

On campus today, I saw that the Scilla (of the hyacinth family) were blooming.

The weather is still fluctuating, we are getting a lot of precipitation (April showers) and it is still pretty dreary.  The colorful blooms and the return of brightly colored birds can certainly cheer us up though!

The first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been reported in Pennsylvania this week.  See their progression northward at http://hummingbirds.net/map.html.


Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Photo by John Wasilosky)