I did not expect prunus mume to bloom this early. But here it is!

Happy honeybees dancing

Wintersweet is also hosting a big crowd

What a welcome sight! Can't wait until our friends start buzzing about in the spring :0)

Great pics forever!

With 60F or above for the 3rd day in a row today (3/9/26) some scattered flowers on my Arnold Promise witch-hazel finally started to unfurl, and the first few pollinators of the season appeared - including several house flies, a couple hover flies, and one mining bee (Andrena?)

Good news on Monarchs from Mexico in this WWF Report: "This year, scientists found monarchs occupied 7.24 acres of forest compared to 4.42 acres the previous winter—indicating a 64% increase of monarchs" "Today’s reports show that, despite challenges, conservation efforts are making a difference".

Northward migration has begun. Map of monarch sitings since 1 March from iNaturalist:

That is great news!

FAN do you have one of the winter blooming honeysuckles like L. x purpusii? Mine is maybe a week from peak bloom.

Meanwhile my Prunus mume is still in bud, and looks almost 2 weeks from peak. If it peaks around April 1, that will be the latest ever, up there w/the 'polar vortex' winters of 2013-2015. This winter was clearly the real 'Polar Vortex III' - the rest since then were imposters! There have been mild winters here when P. mume was in full bloom in mid February.

Camellia 'Yume' is blooming, while its parent C. yuhsienensis is still in bud. Showing that the C. hiemalis parent of Yume, as expected, pulls its bloom season forward. The earlier C. japonica cultivars like 'Destiny' and 'Korean Fire' are saying 'h-ll no am I waiting any longer' and are starting to bloom, even though the open flowers got damaged by yesterday morning's 25F. Yume's open flowers, as expected, seem to have better frost resistance.

@arbordave, regarding your monarch map, I wonder if the Florida monarchs came from central Mexico? Doubt they'd fly over the Gulf to get there! If from Mexico, they'd have to go across the Gulf coast and then down south in Florida? Seems odd.....

arbordave -- that's wonderful news! Always great to hear something encouraging ;0)

beng - good point, I believe south FL has a small population of year-round (non-migratory) monarchs.

Looking at the map again, I noticed there was one monarch observation out over the gulf (east of south TX) - apparently a fishing boat captain saw that one migrating over open water.

Don't know what they are but did'nt want to disturb them.

I saw a queen bumble this afternoon. If she were smart she'd go back to bed. The only thing blooming is a sole crocus in the middle of the grass. Although I think the maples may be blooming, too, but hard to tell.

A lovely warm day here, and friends are helping me get more hellebore seedlings

The witch-hazel flowers have faded now, but before they were done I noticed this sawfly (Dolerus nitens) checking them out:

Not much else blooming here yet, but the willows in the field across the road have begun to flower, attracting various bees, hoverflies, and what I believe is a false milkweed bug:

I've only seen two butterflies so far, a very skittish Comma (no pic), and a Mourning Cloak on a fallen log in the woods today (4/6/26), this was as close as I could get:

Also encountered this Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar in the woods by the creek:

I saw from 10 ft away what I thought was a monarch land on a flower, but then thought that was very unlikely this early, and now pretty sure it had to be a viceroy.

Cool and rainy today, but yesterday (4/9/26) afternoon was sunny and warm, and the spring beauties were flowering down by the creek. I believe this is Andrena erigeniae, the spring beauty miner bee:

A mourning cloak landed on a sandbar next to the creek, and stayed put long enough for me to approach a little closer than last time:

A little bee quite similar to the spring beauty miner on Chionodoxa in my backyard:

A cool breeze out of the northeast today 4/11/26 (high only 52F), but with lots of sunshine a Red Admiral was warming itself on the daffodils by the garage. RA's were unusually scarce last year, so maybe this is a sign they're on the rebound:

Willows are in full bloom in the field across the road, and bees and hoverflies were still visiting despite the coolish temps:

I am seeing a surprisingly large number of Tiger Swallowtails for this time of year.

Markay - nice photo! I haven't seen any swallowtails here yet.

A warm April "blue-butterfly day" yesterday (4/14/26) brought the pollinators out, as more of the spring ephemerals come into flower near the creek. This Spring Azure stopped briefly on a purple cress flower. Difficult to get a photo of SA's with their wings open to display the blue.

Lots of spring beauties in that area, with several different kinds of small bees checking them out, including this cuckoo bee (genus Nomada):

I noticed several bee flies, but most wouldn't hold still, except this one who was quite content on a bloodroot flower:

A honey bee was visiting the yellow trout lilies:

Too far away to see, but this paulownia in Cumberland, MD certainly has a lot of bumble and carpenter bees.

Not a very good picture, but a clear wing hawk moth on my lilac. Was surprised to see one so early in the season, but it has been a weird spring.

Markay, that looks like a Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis).

This Nessus Sphinx, another day-flying moth, was visiting bluebell flowers at a nature center in SW Michigan (4/23/26):

A number of honey bees were attracted to a Korean Mountain-ash at the Morton Arboretum (4/24/26):

An unknown bee climbing into a white trout lily, also at the Morton:

Thanks for the ID!

Don't have a pic, but a spring ritual occurred yesterday outside when a hummingbird hovered about 6 ft in front of me for at least 5 seconds looking at me, then flew up to a nearby branch. Happens about every year, and in my mind it's a previous-yr regular nudging me to put the feeder up. I've also had a first visitor before hovering in front of a window looking in while I was inside.

Quickly after I put the feeder up, she was on it.

Hummingbirds typically show up here around the time the buckeye flowers begin to open (which was just a few days ago). No hummer pics, but there's always an abundance of bumblebees visiting when the buckeyes are flowering. These pics were taken yesterday (4/30/26), temp at the time was about 47/48F:

An American Lady in the backyard a couple days ago:

I had a couple American Lady butterflies on a Miss Violet butterfly bush that I haven't planted yet, otherwise I think it's been a bit too cool this week for much pollinator activity.

Even the weeds we love to hate, like ground ivy and dandelions, can benefit pollinators (all photos this week, 5/4-5/10/26):

Do you know your Commas from your Question Marks?

(the one on my boot is the Comma)

'Do you know your Commas from your Question Marks?'

I didn't before but I think it's apparant now.

Without seeing the undersides of these two wings, I now know the the 'topside' clue to look for.

😏

Thanks ADave!

I'm enjoying this thread even though I have nothing to post. I've been very purposeful when in the garden this year and late to start so I rarely have a camera with me when I see things. I have seen two butterflies already. VERY unusual for me. I don't see Butterflies normally except a few stragglers in late summer. I always feel bad that i see single butterflies and not two at a time. One looked like a Monarch but one wasn't but it did have orange on it.

I have seen a lot of Bumble Bees this year and a lot of very small bees. It's odd, I have a large Holly - a male covered with flowers every year for a couple of years I saw very few pollinators on it. Most years, it's covered. This year is a good year for them, so far.

I'm trying a little harder to attract hummers this year. I don't have a lot to attract them because I don't have a lot of sun. So I'm adding more pots with annuals. I don't know how anyone keeps up with a feeder, having to remember to wash it out every few days. And aren't a lot of the plants they like mid to late summer bloomers? So feeders are the only way you'd see them this early? I have a good amount of Penstemon every year but never see a hummer that early.

(forgot to date the photos in my post immediately above - 5/16/26)

Finally saw a monarch here yesterday, and got a photo today (5/27/26) of a female laying an egg on common milkweed in the field across the road:

There were a few spicebush swallowtails down by the creek yesterday (no pics), plus a couple dozen Little Wood Satyrs flying low to the ground:

Also near the creek, I believe this is a male Hobomok Skipper on a pawpaw leaf, apparently defending his territory (he kept circling back to this same spot):

Great Spangled Fritillaries and a Tiger Swallowtail enjoying my Bradbury Monarda ’Mojo.’

A surprising amount of butterfly activity today (5/30/26) considering the high was only 64F with a cool breeze out of the NE. This monarch was happily nectaring on dame's rocket:

A spicebush swallowtail and a silver spotted skipper were visiting a dwarf Korean lilac:

This crescent found a sunny spot near the ground to warm itself:

Saw a monarch flitting about. She could somehow spot single milkweeds surrounded by taller weeds to lay eggs on them.

Happy to see everone’s flowers and pollinators! Just yesterday I saw a hummingbird feeding on a larkspur.

Carpenter bee on clammy locust.

Bumblebee on Bee balm which I planted last fall.

Bumblebee on Spider flower

A pleasant surprise to see more golden northern bumblebees (I probably only saw 2 or 3 all of last year), on Baptisia australis and yellow iris:

A leafcutter bee, European potter wasp, and honey bee on American Goldfinch Baptisia:

Seeing lots of these little skippers around all of a sudden.

Myriad of medium and tiny wasps, beetles and flies on wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa). Really popular.

I had a Monarch butterfly, flitting around the potted flowers last evening. He wouldn't land and I never got a picture. 😒

Here's some kind of Hummingbird.

He landed on the plant hanger. ;-)

beng - be careful around that wild parsnip - contact with the sap can cause a rash/blistering.

Markay - skippers can be confusing, but I'm guessing that's a Hobomok skipper.

Baltimore Checkerspots are now present in the field across the road:

This monarch made a brief stop on a potted butterfly bush at the edge of my driveway:

A tiger swallowtail on the highest flowers of a late lilac:

A butterfly house at a garden center in the area was kind enough to share a couple pipevine swallowtail caterpillars for me to rear last year, and one of them hatched today (6/8/26). I've actually never seen a wild pipevine ST at my location:

Lots of winged creatures buzzing around today:

Monarch laying an egg on poke milkweed in the backyard this morning (6/9/26):

Also found a monarch cat today on common milkweed:

Lots of BIG thumb sized bumble bees crowding around the flowers.

Honeybees: