Birds!

These Goldfinches are showing their spring plumage. Quite a change from the "brown finches" of winter. During breeding season Goldfinches take on their bolder yellow-gold color. The male on the left shows his black mask. This is a sure sign of spring.

The birds on our bird bath are Cedar Waxwings. They are beautiful birds with silky brown color, a crest and a black mask. They have the distinctive red tips on their wings and yellow and blue colors decorating them. They are usually in flocks and eat lots of berries.

Animal Tracks

When I go for a walk after a rain I see lots of tracks in the mud. Sometimes all I see are human tracks and dog tracks. A few days ago I saw lots of animal tracks. This first picture is tracks of a raccoon. Their tracks almost look like little hand prints, like the prints my grandsons might make in the mud.

The second picture is deer tracks. Even though I live in town there are some wooded areas around me, like the woods around the pond and over on the college campus. We have a lot of deer. They walk through our neighborhood and in the summer they like to snack on our garden!

This last picture was made beside a little stream that runs into the pond. I wonder if you know what kind of tracks these lines might be? Let me know if you do!

Closer to spring!

Two weeks ago I made a picture of this same Maple Tree. Now it's in full bloom, then it was just showing red on the tips of the branches. Today is sunny and cool. We had a good bit of rain over the weekend so the ground is very wet. More blooms are coming. This other picture is of a winter honeysuckle- not a native plant. It blooms in the winter and is still blooming now as we approach spring. It smells very sweet.

Mockingbirds and all that jazz.

This mockingbird on the birdbath in our front yard has been visiting our suet cake all winter and really being pretty quiet. Now that spring is in the air he sings all the time. We hear him first thing in the morning with the dawn chorus and a lot during the day. Mockingbirds imitate songs of other birds and other noises they like. The male with the most songs wins the female of his choice, or so they say. In the spring they are staking out their territory for where they will nest and raise their baby birds. We'll be watching for a nest and those new mockers.

March 8- birds

The bluebird likes our yard because we have good food as well as a bluebird nest box. Soon, a bluebird couple will start building a nest in the box. That's a sure sign of spring.

Goldfinches are one of the favorite birds at our feeders. These are still wearing their winter plumage. I hope to have some pictures of finches as their colors change soon.

Maple trees put out red buds very early in the spring. This tree shows the red color of the buds that will be opening soon. I love red maple trees. Their flowers are very early and then the seeds look like little helicopters when then fall. This particular tree hangs out over the pond and gets in the way of people who like to fish. You might be able to see a bobber or float hanging from the tree. Also, last winter, about March 1, we had a heavy wet show which broke limbs out of trees including this one. Maybe we are done with snow for this winter. The days are still colder than normal but this weekend we are having beautiful sunny days.

March 3- vernal pool

This small pool at the northwest end of the pond is what's known as a vernal pool. It has shallow water now and will be the first home of frogs, toads and salamanders as well as insects. This summer when the days are long and hot it will dry up. But it is a quiet, protected place right now and will be a good place for those eggs to be laid. I'll check back to see what I find in a few weeks.

March 2- more signs of spring.

This is a picture of River Birch flowers. I know they don't look much like flowers but these long dangly things are the catkins that make the pollen of the River Birch. The smaller burs on the ends of the branches are flowers, too. This is another picture from the pond and those flowers come very early, one of the earliest flowers in spring. They have actually been hanging there for a few weeks. Today it may snow again and not feel much like spring but the season is changing.

March 1- signs of spring at the pond

I walked to the pond this morning. It was cold and sunny with a few clouds. There was a group of mallard ducks on the pond- I couldn't get very close because the wouldn't let me. They are in this picture. Can you see them?

The daffodils in our yard are about to bloom. The buds are yellow and about to burst open. That will really be a sign of spring.