Cedar Waxwings

Suddenly, they descend upon us in large flocks that adorn the trees for a short while, and then take leave.

Dandelion

Starting today, I noticed yards dotted with yellow...

In My Yard...

Bloodroot is blooming. I am pleased -- there are 7 flowers in 3 bunches, all doing very well despite the aggressive campaign being waged against them by creeping charlie.

Now, normally I wouldn't put a photo of what I just sketched. Besides being redundant, it only serves to highlight the inaccuracies in my drawing. Especially this sketch... I had to sit farther away than I prefer from the plant -- I like to be able to touch it, move my head around to different angles, etc. But I didn't want to crush a bunch of other stuff, like baby mayapples or uvularia or wild ginger or trout lilies, or even the Dutchman's breeches foliage that I found in 3 places in the yard but none with any hope of flowering this year. Anyway, to get to the point... a bee landed on the flower while I was sketching, and I got a picture of it, so I included it. Also the same bee landed on a clump of hepatica.

Also blooming in my yard...

spring beauties and Greek anenomes. A lot of fiddleheads are poking up, too... I tried to sketch the spring beauties, but only proved what I've known for a while and re-discovered yesterday. I can only do one sketch a day. Or at least without a significant break. I don't know what gets tires, my brain or my hands, or what, but the second one is always terrible. And usually incomplete. So, it's not here.

NOT yet blooming in my yard are marsh marigold or bluebells.

Ephemerals

Ephemeral. Fleeting. Our spring weather has been ephemeral this. Thursday, after snow and rain, we had a lovely spring day... to be followed by a cold and wet Friday. Today was, again, lovely, but by Monday we're supposed to be back to three days of chilly rain.

Today we walked at the gardens. The spring ephemerals were in full bloom. (Being 20 miles south, they are a couple of days ahead of us. Being professional horticulturists, they are probably another couple of days ahead of us.) As proof of point, I can't even get Dutchman's breeches (sketched above) to grow at my house. There it grows in huge clumps of feathery leaves.

Their bloodroot was actually on it's way out...

Trout lily.

Anenome.

Spring beauty.

Trillium.

Bluebells, just starting to bloom.

Marsh marigold.

This magnolia is from the exact tree I sketched last year on April 1 last year. It is, perhaps, a little further along in its lifecycle. But not much.

Prairie smoke. (OK, those last aren't ephemerals, but whatever.)

April 22

Happy Earth Day!

In Memoriam

This morning, not far from where the mourning doves were sitting on the nest that I photographed on the March 24 entry, I found a dead baby mourning dove. It had probably frozen to death, whether before or after leaving the nest, I don't know. We gave it a proper burial; its nutrients will return to the earth and make a strong prairie this summer.

It serves as a reminder that while we complain about the unseasonable cold, whine about the constant chilled rain and about having to change all our plans, moan about what a bummer of an Earth Week this is... we can come in from the cold, and change all our plans. For most out there, this is a matter of life or death. It's more than an annoyance. It is certainly not unheard of or even rare for us to have a cold day in April, or a snowshower. But I believe this extended cold and wetness this late in the year is unusual, and it is hard for the critters out there.

(I heard this morning that we have had 3 times our normal April rainfall already this year, and we still have more than a week of April left. With a lot of rain predicted in that time. All I can say is, we better have some really pretty May flowers.)

Earth Week Begins in Cold

"Behold! It is the spring-tide of the year.

Over and past is winter's gloomy reign."

These words are sung as part of our Seder, but this year, they seem, somehow... inaccurate. We awoke this morning to 2-3 inches of wet snow which even now isn't completely melted. It isn't uncommon for a spring snow to cover our daffodils... just the last one I recorded happened on April 5 -- a lot earlier in the season. I just hope this is the last!

But things are still moving forward... the yellow blur in the middle of this photo is a goldfinch. Key word: Yellow! That's summer plumage.