Jefferson salamanders are the earliest vernal pool visitors, arriving even when there’s lots of ice.

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Tonight, they’re calling for frost – hopefully the last frost – in cold spots.
Hummingbirds have been reported in the past few days not far from where I live. They typically arrive here around May 15th. It’s been a bit colder than normal here in the past month, making a person wonder what’s up.
What a tail! Nothing like a gorgeous comet to take a person out of this world. Just after dark, just below the big dipper, in the northwest.
A robin was singing shortly after 4 am this morning, followed soon after by a veery. I’ve read that the timing of bird awakening is correlated to the size of its eye. Big eyed birds are the earliest risers.
The tufted titmouse at our feeders (they get taken in at night) has now been joined by another. They rarely used to be here but in the last few years have become reliable companions.
Burlington had never seen more than 4 straight days of 90 degree heat in June. Yesterday was the 5th straight day. Today will be the sixth.
The temperature was -12.8 here last night, the coldest night of the winter thus far.
The big damselflies called ebony jewelwing make it hard to walk the brook any faster than at a snail’s pace. The black wings of the males are pretty, but it’s their shining emerald abdomens that stop you in your tracks. They occur in masses here along the top of a new beaver dam.