Spring Is Alive In The Woods

[Stray Cat]

For me, the winter season seems to linger on more every year. Last weekend while my brother and I returned to the timber, I saw these two little sprouts below my feet. After scanning the ground, they were all over the area. It was a welcome sight to behold. To sort of borrow a line from Ralphie of Christmas Story..."Spring is here, officially"! The mayapples in the timber were popping up everywhere. They're not a morel mushroom, but it is a sure sign of longer warmer days ahead, just in time for turkey season!

[daytime dave]

Yes indeed, spring has sprung around here too. The grass is starting to grow, leaves are budding on the trees and today I saw the first daffodil flower.

[Vaquero]

Yes indeed. The daffodils have bloomed, as have the Red Bud and Dogwood tress.
We have several varieties of Iris, and a few have bloomed already with others budding, and the peonies aren't far from busting open either.
And for sure Stray cat those Mayapples are everywhere.

RP

[Sir Henry]

We received an inch of snow yesterday.

[Vaquero]

We received an inch of snow yesterday.

so much for Spring in the great white north.

RP

[daytime dave]

We received an inch of snow yesterday.

I'd send it back. Exchange it for some budding trees.

[Sir Henry]

We received an inch of snow yesterday.

so much for Spring in the great white north.

RP

It’s going to be 72F in a week.

We received an inch of snow yesterday.

I'd send it back. Exchange it for some budding trees.

The grass is giving a hint of green. It will need mowing about the time I get the new Kubota.

[Vaquero]

I walked around a minute this morning.
Here's a few of the irises.
This one the wife and her grandmother produced, they crossed a couple, they call it Pistachio.

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Forgot about the roses.

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More irises.

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RP

[Hatchdog]

The Tamracks (Larch) are budding out and they look great against the evergreen pines. Not a nice as they do in the fall when the needles turn orange but spring budding has a much more positive feeling than the fall. Not sure why…….

[Stray Cat]

I witnessed another sign of spring today, recently born calves racing around in a pasture as the cows looked on without much care. I remember feeding hay to our stock cows after the calves were born. They had no clue what a human was all about, so they were curious and came up to you, and if you weren't paying attention, they'd give you a nudge in the butt or hip trying to knock you off your feet. I'd always get my revenge by naming them from a cut of meat...like "Ribeye".

[cooperhawk]

The first sign of new life in the woods appeared yesterday when I saw Trillium spring through the leaves.
We Trillium called "Blood Root" or "Indian Paint" and as children we would break off a stem and it would bleed red. Then we'd
paint our face with it.
It will bloom with pretty little white flowers.

[Mags]

The Trillium here have been out for a while now. We have a decent sized cluster that we have surrounded with an old steel rim from a wagon wheel. That way we don't tromp on the space in winter when the Trillium are dormant in the ground.

[cooperhawk]

48 degrees and a cold rain today. That won't speed things up much.
I find all kinds of things in our woods. Ever hear of "Indian Pipe"? I found some of
them a couple of years ago. I also find very large Puff Ball Mushrooms and a few Morels.

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Last Summer it was the bright orange Chanterelle Mushrooms.

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The good ones are the flowery looking ones. The ones with the rounded tops will make you sick.
Avoid them.

[North Country Gal]

Heard my first frogs today. They were in a road ditch that had warmed up enough to start them calling.

[Sir Henry]

Heard my first frogs today. They were in a road ditch that had warmed up enough to start them calling.

I heard them too. I have two ponds within 200 yards of the house.

[cooperhawk]

We have a Barred Owl couple who have nested somewhere near our house for years now. I've looked and looked but they have it well hidden and I cannot find it, anyway, every Spring we have from one to three Barred Owl Fledglings that perch near our house and look into the windows. Curious little guys. A barred owl adult will stand over two feet tall, but these guys are only about half that height although their wings are full grown by then and are astonishing to watch this little bird with humongous wings fly through the woods.
Anyway........
I hadn't seen one this Spring until last night. I was in my recliner, leaning way back, when I looked out the window over our deck and there was one sitting on a branch looking in and watching me. It was silhouetted by the sunset and I thought it would make a great picture, but when I brought my recliner back to upright it must have spooked and by the time I got to the window with my camera, it was gone. But, it was there so my Spring is complete.

Here's a pic from last year.

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This one is in a tree in broad daylight looking into our kitchen window.

[Vaquero]

I heard the first Humming bird a couple days ago.
Yes, heard it. I was sitting out on the deck reading and one came up looking for the feeder I assume.
I never saw it, but know the distinctive humming sound.

RP

[fortyshooter]

Ticks are in full bloom around here!

[Stray Cat]

I saw a house wren hopping on the branches of the oak in our backyard. My wren house has a vacancy; hope he decides to start stuffing it with sticks and settles in. I love their song in the morning/

[dave77]

Ticks are in full bloom around here!

I've seen a couple so far, hopefully this won't be a bad year for them. Usually they're not too bad but some years they're really thick. I never see them in my yard or the pasture but there's a trail by our irrigation ditch that critters use so they can be very thick there in a bad year. One year they were so bad along the trail that you could see one perched on the tip of a blade of grass every few feet. I had to weed-eat the trail every week or two to keep them somewhat under control (funny, I never get any on me when weed-eating, maybe the exhaust repels them?) I hate them with a passion, at least they can't fly or jump or they would be impossible to avoid.