SIGNS OF EARLY SPRING

      One afternoon in mid-February of 2023, I drove about 20 miles round trip on errands in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and along the way I saw several signs of early spring.  I took a route that would take me by a few places where I had seen signs of early spring over the last several years, which is like an annual tradition.  And, happily, I saw several signs of spring that afternoon.

     By the middle of February, the length of daylight each succeeding day has increased noticeably.  And this winter, to date, has been unusually mild here.  Therefore, wild plants and animals responded to those favorable conditions a couple of weeks earlier than usual, much to my delight.

     While driving along country roads, I noticed several pairs of mourning doves perched, here and there, on roadside wires near coniferous trees.  They probably intend to raise young in those conifers quite soon.  On that day, too, I heard a few male doves cooing in our neighborhood before I left on my errands. 

     I drove by a few short-grass lawns where I saw groups of  lovely snow drops, or golden winter aconites, or both species at once, blooming beautifully among blades of grass.  Colonies of both early-blossoming plants spread across some of the lawns they were planted on, and look like handsome wild flowers on those short-grass lawns.     

     On another lawn, I saw a group of American robins spread across the short grass as they watched for invertebrates to eat.  I had not seen robins do that all winter.  That is an early-spring robin activity.  That little flock was a precursor of thousands of robins that will be here a bit later in spring to rear offspring.   

     On yet another short-grass lawn, I noticed a little group of purple grackles looking for invertebrates among the grass blades and roots.  They, too, are the vanguard of the many grackles to come to this area a little later in spring to raise young.  

     Continuing to drive along, I saw a few silver maple trees that seemed to have fluffy twigs because of their gray and pale-pink flowers opening.  And I spotted a couple of attractive pussy willow bushes that had decorative, gray and furry catkins, a sign of spring that so many people enjoy experiencing.

     Along the way, I saw, and smelled, a few striped skunks lying dead in the road.  The slow-moving skunks are now looking for mates and traveling into unfamiliar areas.  Some get killed on roads.  What a waste of interesting life.

     I saw a freshly-dug wood chuck hole in a roadside bank in farmland.  Chucks are awake, and males are traveling around now in search of mates.  Sometimes, I see a few dead chucks on country roads.

     That day, too, I spotted a drake wood duck in a creek among several black ducks and a flock of Canada geese.  That drake was the earliest woody I ever saw.  Wood ducks generally arrive here in early March, paired off and ready to look for nesting cavities in larger trees near creeks and impoundments

     I enjoyed being out that day to do errands because of the signs of spring I noticed.  Nature always makes me joyous, including signs of the vernal season.

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