A Common Yellowthroat Warbler, a recent arrival at Buttercup Audubon Sanctuary - photo by Doug Koch  

A hike in Buttercup Farm Audubon Sanctuary on Route 82 with an expert guide allows one to enter the world of the avian year-round residents and new spring arrivals. The warblers, the vanguard of migratory birds, have arrived as they do each year around the first week in May, to fill the woods with their high-pitched songs.  Yellow Rumped Warbler - photo by Doug Koch At the same time the almost invisible morel mushrooms are silently emerging. Hiking along the well-kept paths, across bogs and wooded areas with Tony Henneberg, local watercolor artist and bird and mushroom expert, and Buttercup warden and property manager, Richard Merritt, provided an introduction to over 18 species just in a few hours. However, it is easier to hear than to see birds. The morels are equally elusive perfectly camouflaged by last autumn’s brown leaves. The elusive morel - photo by Tony Henneberg