Welcome Spring! (finally)

Even though this morning is was overcast and drizzly, it wasn't all that cold and there were small patches of blue sky and intermittent sunshine that beckoned me out onto the trail.

Signs of Spring are everywhere! The Cottonwoods, Alder, Willow and Dogwood are sprounting leaves; the Hawthorn is forming flower buds and the Golden Currant are already blooming, and the Yellowbells and Shooting Stars are abundant in the short grass meadow.

Meadowlarks sing loudly from (it seems), every treetop and fence post. Chickadees and Nuthatches call noisily as the scour the tree limbs for buds and grubs. The pair of Bluebirds are nesting and the male takes on entire flocks of Starlings that stop at the puddle beneath the birdhouse for a drink and a bath. Mallards are sitting on eggs and Tree Swallows have finally returned enmasse, darting about after the newly hatched flying insects. A Vireo touts its bubbling melody from a nearby tree and a single Lewis' Woodpecker is perched in the old, dead snag at the edge of the woods.

The creek is running high and fast, and as I stand on the bridge a mink swims beneath me in the shallow water near the bank, then scrambles onto a log only to disappear into another channel of water; it's musky, skunk-like smell lingering long after. A pair of Canada Geese land on the gravel bar not far away and honk angrily at me. They only stop after I head away from them and across the creek.

I spent four hours wandering. I was feeling tired when I started out but the fresh air, along with all of the sights, sounds and smells of the woods refreshed me more than I could have imagined.