A-choo!

The weather may not know it's spring... this week is finishing up with cold rain, probably turning to snow as the temperatures continue to drop.

The plants may not look particularly springy except to those who are inclined to look for tiny, subtle changes...

But my face sure seems to know it's spring! Itchy eyes, sneezing and runny nose. There must be pollen in the air! That, or I'm coming down with a cold just in time for break, which would make me grumpy. I'm thinking it's allergies, though.

Tour de Spring

This time of year, I have a little route that I walk to check on the trees/shrubs that I know are going to do things soon. Today was an eventful day on my tour de spring. Before I even got to my first tree, I heard the distinctive, comb-plucking sound of chorus frogs chorusing. Yea! Froggies!

The silver maple (above) was flowering. They flower from the top down, and it was over the weekend I noticed the top flowers in bloom, but I can't reach those to photograph, or even confirm. But by today, the lower buds had started to open, as well.

Then I check the American hazels, whose girl-flowers are so tiny most people would never notice them. (Notice the size of my fingers behind them). Their bright pink color is a treat, though, if you're one of the folks inclined to look closely. They were just starting today, only some of them... and the catkins aren't even swelling at all yet.

Finally, I check the alders, which have excitement in both the girl-flower and the boy-flower world. The catkins, as you can see to the left, are even greener than last week, and left a chartreuse pollen print on my brown jacket... though they're not yet pollen-y enough to make yellow clouds when tapped.

And the tiny pink female flowers, the future cones, have also changed since last week. (Oh, the trees, they are a-changin'... never mind, I shouldn't have gone there.)

My add-on at 5:00 pm...

In the bird world, I saw buffleheads... which is the best duck name ever... and possibly some other diving ducks that were too far away to ID (but, they could have been more buffles). Had to pull a crazy driving maneuver and get out of the car to get pictures. And this is the pair of birds that are apparently nesting in my neighbor's house. Which I think is totally awesome, but only because it isn't my house. I probably shouldn't have posted a picture of someone else's house, but it's so cute, and it's not like you can tell the address, and I'm pretty sure they don't read my blog. Bird nerds, please ID the birdies for me!

I love it, every day something new!!! Finally! (Although I hear that tomorrow's new development may be wintry weather, too bad after a lovely today!)

Vernal Equinox

It may be a rainy and chilly day, but today we welcome the sun back to the northern hemisphere. We look forward to leaves emerging, casting a chartreuse haze on the horizon. We look forward to flowers blooming and the prairie greening. We look forward to days that stretch into evening, sweating in the garden and then reclining on the deck as the light grows dim, to open windows and the free toes of sandals. OK, so it may yet be WAY forward that we're looking... but it is, as they say, all down hill from here.

At 6:21 this evening, we celebrate the vernal equinox, and we welcome the sun, the source of energy for all living things, back to our half of the world.

Ice Off

Ice is completely off this morning... this happened sometime between early yesterday afternoon and early this morning, but I'm going to go ahead and call it for today. Why? Here's some historical perspective.

Ice Off dates:

2006 -- Mar 10

2007 -- Mar 18

2008 -- Mar 31

2009 -- Mar 9

2010 -- Mar 18

So if 2011 is also Mar 18, that's just pretty crazy random...50% of all my ice off data points are Mar 18!

I saw a muskrat swimming in the lake, too.

Also, I finally saw a heron, though I know they've been around...

Party On!

Nature is throwing a party to celebrate our warm weather... Migrating sandhill cranes sent out the invitations, their loud calls catching everyone's attention, alerting us that today is something special.

The witch hazel flowers were on the decorating committee -- their orange streamer petals are flying!

The alders? They are starting to put their green on. It is St. Patty's day, after all... the party needs to have some green, and the grass sure ain't wearing it yet!

Ice status: it's at about 40% coverage. Maybe even less. It's so windy that that the remaining ice is blowing up against the shore and cracking there, sheets upon sheets. Standing next to it, I hear the clink-clinking sound of ice knocking against other ice... like spring cocktail party in full swing!

(Did I take the metaphor too far?)

I've Got the Fever

Spring came! With temperatures topping 60 today, we finally had one of those early warm days that makes you really feel like it's over, we're on our way out, Spring has Spring! Inevitably, these days come before a huge snow storm or something... but while it was here, I took full advantage. I walked at lunch, I walked after work. (The later was, ostensibly, for fitness. I walked instead of working out, which was my original plan. The problem with this is, I stop to look at things. I could somewhat alleviate this problem by not carrying my camera -- thereby also ensuring that I saw "the coolest thing ever" -- but not entirely. I'd still stop to study and admire things.) So anyhow... here are some of the discoveries, both phenologically significant and not:

Aspen catkins.

Bulb plants emerge, here, hyacinths.

The lake was filled with ducks (and geese and swans). I think these are goldeneyes based on the white cheek spot in the right photo... but I didn't have binocs and I'm not that great of a birder anyhow -- it's possible there were 5 types of ducks there rather than just 2 (the other being mallard). Note: That open water isn't on the same lake I always use to determine ice off, which is still covered. Have to remain consistent!

A maze of goose prints... they just looked cool.

And a maze of vole tunnels, with a little, igloo-esque house! The snow melted and they left it abandoned, a vole ghost town.

The moon and a redtail.

So many birds today... Cardinals calling constantly for the last week, robins galore, killdeer, a bunch of LBBs, and plenty of these RWBBs. I just chose to include the photo because it was a good picture.

Finally, this is today's mystery. If anyone knows this plant, please tell me what it is... These seedpods (2 inches long) were painfully thorny and stiff, filled with hard black seeds about 2-1/8 inch in diameter. The plant itself was about 2-3 feet tall with a thick stem and no leaves to be found. It branched in a pattern that reminded me of the flower heads on wild indigo.

I also sketched the mystery pod. But it had a lot of thorns and I kinda got tired of them...

Little Peeks

Peeking out from behind its protective bud scale, that tickly reminder of youth, the pussy willow, emerges... calling our tactile inner children to stand and pet the fuzzy little cat(kin) toes before they fulfill their pollen-y destiny.

Which hazel? The witch hazel! I just couldn't wait until these fully opened, with their streamer-like petals fully uncurled, decorating for the upcoming party that is spring. So I have showed them here still curled up tightly... but the buds are open and the bright orange is clearly visible!

Well, this isn't really a good picture of anything. But see, right in the middle, looking like a stick at an odd angle, that's a hawk. Carrying a vole. We had a right-time-right-place moment this afternoon. A red-tailed hawk swooped down to pick off a vole in the prairie right near our outdoor classroom. We watched it fly with the struggling rodent dangling from its talons... it circled around us and then off into the distance, presumably to eat its meal without 44 eyes staring at it. (I didn't get my camera out until after I made sure all the kids had seen, and then I had to get over the awesomeness of it, and then I had to think to unzip my coat and get out the camera and turn it on and by the time all that occurred, it was already pretty far away. Oh, well. I took a mental picture.)