April 18, 2026

A few days ago the first Louisiana waterthrush returned. Our neighbor’s big patch of hepatica bloomed. Spring peepers are in full force everywhere. Driving back from a poetry reading I took a backroad and stopped to listen to them and watch distant lightning flashing to the north, where I learned the following day a tornado had touched down in the center of the state. Ostrich ferns are up along the brook and a few off our driveway. Bloodroot and trout lily. The magnolias in our yard are blooming sweetly. Sensitive ferns took a day and a half to grow over a foot. Trillium blooms. Purple finches came to the feeder.

Last night was our yearly woodcock vigil. We also heard two flocks of turkeys, Savannah sparrow, barred owl, hermit thrush, and song sparrow. Maybe tomorrow I will go birding in the Grasslands.