Herald of spring

Electric crocuses

Spring drew on… and a greenness grew over those brown [garden] beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.

~ Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

When I looked out the window first thing this morning, I was greeted by a happy sight and sound.  The sound was a loud “conk-la-ree!!”  The sight was this:

Red-Winged Blackbird returns!

The Red-Winged Blackbird is our harbinger of spring.  When he returns, winter will soon give over to spring.  Never mind that we have snow in the forecast for this week.  It won’t last.  Old Man Winter is on his way out (although I expect he won’t go without throwing around some more snow).

I’ve seen bees in the crocuses, gnats swarming in the warmth of the sunlight, and ripples on the pond indicating the fish are awake and swimming.  Sap is pouring out of the maple trees where M trimmed them.  We should have set up buckets to catch it so we could make maple syrup.  If you take a walk or drive down our road, you’ll see quite a few tapped maples, buckets hanging from their trunks and collecting the sap.

Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.

~ John Muir, The Wilderness World of John Muir

I hope you don’t mind my electric crocuses.  The processing is probably a bit too much, but sometimes spring looks and feels that way to me.  As if it’s gone overboard with color and light to make up for the gray days of February.

Late winter reflections

It’s been a mostly cloudy with sunny spells kind of day.  Warm, too, and very windy.

Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.

~ Maya Angelou

Dancing in the meadow

I tried to capture the Red-Winged Blackbird doing his dance in the meadow.  It’s not a great shot, but you get some idea of how beautiful he looks in flight when his yellow and red patches are showing.

Waiting to awaken

That’s it from the Bogs on this warm and blustery Sunday.  Thank you for dropping in and helping me welcome the Red-Winged Blackbird back to the Bogs.  He is a joyous sight to behold.

Geese inverted

Have a delightful day, evening, night… wherever and whenever you are on the spectrum of time.  🙂

Neopolitan geese

One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.

~ Aldo Leopold

Related articles

• Waiting for the Red-winged Blackbird (itsaboutthestory.wordpress.com)
• Distinctive call (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
• Backyard Birds (elizainkwell.wordpress.com)

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