Oxbow NWR (4/30)

Tom Murray led a Massachusetts Butterfly Club trip to Oxbow NWR last Sunday. As always, butterflies are hard to find in this area in the early spring, but we did have some nice sightings. The list was: Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Eastern Pine Elfin, Eastern Tailed Blue, Spring Azure, Eastern Comma, Compton Tortoiseshell, Mourning Cloak, Juvenal's Duskywing (and, not a butterfly but just as pretty, a Tiger Beetle)

But, my personal favorite from this refuge is the Blanding's Turtles. I had good, long looks at two individuals and was even able to take some respectable pictures. Oxbow is said to have the largest breeding population of these turtles in the East. And they are just great animals. [More pictures can be found at my PBase-Turtles site]

The flowers were also starting to bloom including Bloodroot, Bluets, and this one that I can't remember.

UPDATE: The mystery wildflower is Round-lobed Hepatica.