Like many locales in the Carolinas, Hilton Pond Center awoke to a very hard freeze on Easter morning, which caused environmental problems we first detected with our sense of smell.
The newspapers have been full of articles about how the cold will hurt this year's peach harvest, but what about damage to trees themselves? Many tender new leaves were killed by cold, which undoubtedly will have lasting impact on woody plants--to say nothing of caterpillars that would have eaten those leaves AND hungry birds that will be looking for caterpillars as they pass through in migration. And what about all this dead foliage on Trumpet Creeper? Will the plants still be able to make nectar-laden blossoms that attract hummingbirds? Our sense of smell and how it's related to the potential long-term devastation wrought by a late cold snap is the topic for our 1-9 April 2007 "This Week at Hilton Pond" photo essay, accessible at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070401.html As always we include a tally of birds banded, a list of recaptures (of which there were several old-timers), and miscellaneous nature notes. Happy (Warmer-weather) Nature Watching! BILL -- RESEARCH PROGRAM c/o BILL HILTON JR. Executive Director Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History 1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA [EMAIL PROTECTED], (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845 Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net): Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at http://www.hiltonpond.org "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at http://www.rubythroat.org **********
