The nasty and the nice, or "You thought Lyme Disease was bad...?"

I should be writing about the fantastic Cerulean Warbler I found at eye level this morning, if for no other reason than Ceruleans usually like the very tops of the very tallest trees like Tulip Poplars and Sycamores, and this whisper-singing, migrant specimen was in a Russian Olive about 8 feet off the ground.

The real reason I should be writing about Cerulean Warblers is that they are stunning creatures, and have undergone a precipitously frightening decline in numbers in recent years, in no small part due to the barbaric, and ultimately disrespectful practice of "Mountain-top Removal" to extract coal. (And we knock the Taliban for destroying graven images when they blow up beautiful Buddhas, while we desecrate our own unique landscape the very same way for our own far less respectable religion of God Electronica...don't get me started.)

Anyway, a fine source to learn more about Cerulean Warblers and their plight is Birdlife's. Good people doing good work at Birdlife International.

While today was again full of hundreds upon hundreds of Red Admirals, and Anglewings, and to a lesser extent, American Ladies- this whole Butterfly invasion of 2012 thing is really getting out of hand- the thing that struck my attention above all else was the hole in an Eastern Cottontail's right ear.

Not the opening of the ear canal, as if I was examining a specimen, but a gaping, and self-inflicted hole in a tick-infested bunny's ear.

I looked up, and for a brief second I thought I had stepped into a Magritte. Why, I just saw clear through that bunny's ear, I thought. And hefting quality German optics, I saw I was no madder than when I had left the house, and the poor thing had several bloated festering ticks on its "good" ear and nape.

I can only surmise the Cottontail had scratched its own ear clean through from discomfort cause by ticks. Now there's a how dy'do.

This is what caught my attention. Eastern Cottontail, (Sylvilagus floridanus) with a big hole in its ear

Yup, you can see clean through that ear alright.

You can see the bloated female tick on the left ear and on the left side of the nape. There are also many smaller ticks visible if you look closely

Otherwise, she seemed happy and healthy. In an "Other than THAT Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" kind of way I suppose.

And now that the nasty has caught your attention (never knock the effectiveness of the Le Grand Guignol), I'll leave you with some lovely images of May wildflowers.

In certain patches of dune scrub at Cape May Golden Heather  (Hudsonia ericoides) is now in bloom. Not a true heather, but really a "rock rose", Golden Heather really could pass for the genuine article, and is a lovely dune specialty regardless of systematics. It also tends to get trampled and run over by off-roaders and the otherwise ignorant. This patch was not without its empty bottles and and bon-fire remnants (some of which clearly were taken from the vandalized towers at Higbee's Beach.) Hudsonia requires full sun, so unfortunately a clearing in a remote bit of dune forest where illicit parties can be held is its preferred habitat.

And this patch of Blue-eyed Grass (Sysirinchion sp.) among some spring asters was too lovely to pass by.  And no, its not a grass at all, clever reader, but a diminutive member of the Iris family. A totally cheerful little flower, whatever its lineage.

And I will leave you with that lovely image, dear reader. But rest assured, there is a tick or several hiding in the leaves of that lovely wildflower. You can bet on it.