April 16, 2022

The crocuses have been up for 10-14 days, and trilliums are up but not blooming yet, as are the trout lilies down by the brook. Coltsfoot first appeared along the streambank, but is now up along the roadsides, as is our little patch of ramps behind the mailbox.

Louisiana waterthrushes are singing regularly, and in addition we’ve had field sparrows, white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, an American woodcock, eastern phoebes, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Dark-eyed juncos are still active and haven’t taken off for northern latitudes or higher elevations yet. Birds heard/seen elsewhere include turkey vultures, red-winged blackbirds, common grackles, winter wrens, and a single pine warbler, which I heard this morning when I stopped to move a dead porcupine out of the road a few miles from home. He or she was large, and it was sad to see. I don’t know how far porcupines range but for the past two nights we’ve had a large porcupine amble by our trailcam, and have also had possums appear as well.

I’ve been taking a photo every day in the same spot at our house to track the changes. Apart from a couple of light snowfalls in mid-March, the changes have appeared minimal but they are about to speed up and fast.