snow in May?

Has winter returned? To yesterday’s blooming white fringe tree, another more common tree appears covered with a late-season snow: black locust.

The clusters of blooms—loose drooping racemes—dangle from the branches like Christmas ornaments. Yesterday, while taking part in the Knox County Spring Bird Count at Ijams Nature Center early in the morning before the rain, Karen Sue Barker and I discovered a flock of about 50 cedar waxwings in a locust on the western edge of the park.

While observing the golden pear-colored birds, Karen Sue watched one waxwing gently pluck bloom after bloom and feed it to its mate. (Part of waxwing courtship) Curious about the taste, I ate a few blossoms of my own and remarked that they tasted like garden peas. But of course, later I learned that black locust is indeed in the pea family.