Two weeks of hot weather reconfigured rattlesnake demography at the dens I monitor. I had more than 100 snakes yesterday, most of which were along traditional migratory corridors. Only one snake was near the portal of the main den, the rest were on their way into the wide world; more than half were on the south side of the water fall, having crossed the plunged stream. Three snakes were opaque (blue-eyed and less than a week from shedding) one had already shed, which was quite early, weeks really; Timber rattlesnakes haven't begun to shed in either the lower Hudson Valley or the mountains of western Maryland. Shedding sites are ancestral—year after year I find their discarded skins draped over jumbles of rock like loose pieces of Cellophane. Great-crested flycatchers hang around these sites to gather strips of old skin to line their nests; but, as of yesterday, either flycatchers haven't arrived or somebody's issued a gag order.

Smaller snakes, including yearlings born late last summer, are out and about.

Except for the noticeable absence of great-crested flycatchers, spring has sprung and caught up with itself. Dutchman's breeches are melting back into the woods, elderberry is flowering, columbine is seeding, tree leaves are full and the hillside shaded, which is why snakes are in full egress. Bladder bush is blooming and cottonwood is casting seeds. Skinks are out; I've seen all age groups: blue-tailed juveniles and dull-brown adults. 

Singing: black and white warblers, myrtle warblers, red-eyed & blue-headed vireos. Wood ducks, black ducks, and ring-billed gulls. Peregrines were calling and a raven carrying an egg passed over head.
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