Spring is springing

I saw a few leaf buds on an unidentified shrub this morning. That is the first sign of new growth I’ve seen—as long you don’t count the non-native growth like an old Easter hyacinth or the first growth of the bleeding heart bush that I planted a few years ago.

Off the mountain, lots of new growth is visible—grass is greening up, daffodils are in bloom, etc. But here on the mountain the new growth is slower. It has also been untypically dry for a spring so far. I think it’s been 3 weeks since any rain and/or snow has fallen. Perhaps that’s why so little new growth is poking through.

The sun was just breaking the horizon when I walked Dog and Baby Dog this morning. That’s the last I’ll see it in the morning for a while. In another day the time will change, and my morning walks will take place in a murky shade of near night again for a month or so.

The local geese and mallards are readying their nests. A new migrant arrived yesterday—tree swallow. That’s at least a week early for them. I don’t think I’ve ever had them before the first of April before, and most commonly not until the start of the second week of the new month.

I’ve heard reports from other birders of early migration as well—rough-winged swallows, a palm warbler, etc. I don’t know if it means anything or if the lack of rain on the east coast has simply allowed birds to move without stopover days.

Anyway, it’s the weekend, so I hope I’ll get to see more arrivers now that I have more time to look.