Last evening when I went to let the dogs out for their run I heard the unmistakable peent of a male woodcock. No spiraling courtship display yet but it can only be days off. Most folks do not know what a woodcock is but to those in the know they are an important part of the spring progression. Each day it gets harder to sit at my desk or attend some meeting or other and only think about the outdoors. I am itching to get started.
On my walk this afternoon I noticed the first pussy willows on the side of the road. I’m sure that there are others around that started earlier but they are the first for me this year. The ice on the ponds is beginning to darken as t prepares to leave every so slowly. In fact this early spring comes slowly still. Saturday night we had one of those wet snows that for the most part melts as fast as it falls. When I got up this morning everything was coated with white frosting and fog hung in the air. Bt 8AM most of the new snow was gone with the warming day.
The first official day of spring we were greeted with a fresh covering of snow maybe three or four inches. Not a big deal but enough to remind us that winter is not going to give up easily. The next morning temperatures were in the teens with a stiff northwest breeze. The high for the day was only in the twenties.