Morning light

After a cold and snowy winter, I certainly couldn’t have imagined that the snow would be gone by mid-March nor could I have predicted several days with temperatures nearing 70. But that’s what happened, and though a storm will soon bring the warm weather to an end, I certainly appreciated this spate of glorious weather, however brief.

Signs of spring are appearing daily around the cabin. The multi-colored leaves of the trout lily (aka dog-toothed violet or yellow violet) are pushing their way up through the decaying leaves. Yesterday three golden-crowned kinglets flitted through my back forest. The eastern phoebe that arrived last week has settled in, tame enough to land near me when I sit outside.

I haven’t yet found any coltsfoot, the yellow dandelion-look-alike flower that appears even before its leaves. That seems a bit odd but that’s spring. The season arrives in fits and starts and each year is a bit different. Certain things are similar, but nothing is ever the same with a season. I haven’t heard any towhees yet, which is also a bit odd, nor have I found any tree swallows either. Those will come, I’m sure.

My photo today is a female bluebird. The bluebirds are active again and right now they are more common than robins in my area. This one was with her more brightly colored mate as the two worked their way around the edge of Pinchot lake. When the early morning sun peeked through the trees and reached her perch, I thought she was every bit as pretty with her more delicate shades.