Tree Swallow Nest
What an amazing collection of feathers! What a beautiful nest!

The female is still sitting on the six eggs. They are a week overdue to hatch and I'm hoping it is just because of the cold weather we had last week. It's been warm for the past few days, so maybe there will be some hatchlings soon.

Citizen Scientist At Work
The post that tells what Citizen Science is all about is here.

A description of our Citizen Science assignment is here.

This morning we spent two hours in the fields and woods of the Kalamazoo Nature Center identifying plants. Most of the spring wild flowers are finished now and there really isn't much in bloom. Just having leaves makes identification difficult, so going was slow.

The highlight of the morning was when I grabbed a largish plant at the edge of the path and it turned out to be nettle. That identification was easy. How many plants can set a whole hand throbbing and tingling? I really need to be more careful.