It was the perfect first day of spring morning. I woke to a hard frost – the temperature last night was well below freezing. But, there was sunshine and it smelled different out. It smelled promising.
Lily and I took the trail through the woods that has old stone walls. Back in 1775, my town’s Minute Men hurried down this same corridor on their way to Concord and what would be the first skirmish in the Revolutionary War.
It was a day to look at the details, like this pattern on ice.
The moss looks especially green.
And the skunk cabbage is peeking up out of the swamp.
What with all of the snow melt, even tiny streams are bubbling and frothing. Soon enough the water will be still, the mosquitoes will swarm, and I won’t be able to get back into this corner of the woods. But it’s a fine place to be on the first day of spring.
How lovely it looks! Have you heard the first Spring Peepers yet?
Still too cold for the peepers. Have heard a woodpecker, though!
Hi Terry,
love your site. Spring how lovely. We have a several weeks before we see the grass here in Anchorage,AK.
What is with the buff hen staying on the nest all afternoon?
Buffy very loudly announced that she is BROODY. She will now sit in the nesting box, in a very bad mood, for days on end. I might put her to work and put some chicks under her at the end of April!
Will older hens still go broody if they are in okay health at six or seven years of age ?
Broody, of course. Does she have eggs under her now? I have had 6 hens since last summer they are sexlink I just love them but had to leave them with a friend 3 hrs away for the winter as I am just now getting the winter shed built for them. Guess they are not legal here in town yet, but a chicken loving group is trying to change that code soon.
Aww! Your dog is so cute! Let me guess, is she a border collie?
Supposedly a border collie mix. She’s smart, but I think she’s mostly rat terrier.
Aww! I have a dog to and she is a mix of…just about everything, we think!!!
And now you can hear that bubbling, frothing stream, too! It makes that perfect first day of spring morning even …perfect-er!
My brother’s black australorp is missing – no feathers around to indicate “fowl play” – I thought it was too early (cold) to be broody. Do you think it’s possible she’s setting somewhere on her eggs? Maybe he should do a thorough check of his property? The other hens don’t appear to be nervous about going out.
Not too early to go broody! Coco is already thinking about it and Buffy is doing a half-day broody thing. Sometimes predators cleanly take a chicken, but it’s worth hunting for her.
Oh, and we heard our first woodcock last week at dusk – a true sign that spring is around the corner.