These old doors might not stop all the blowing wind and the colder temperatures, but at they offer some shelter for the winter which refuses to yield for spring.
Old Shed Doors
Mother Nature played an April Fools Day joke this morning as the April showers to bring May flowers was a snow shower instead of rain and the colder temperatures will freeze any flowers trying to emerge. At least sun has come out and is melting the coating of snow but it wasn’t nice to watch the falling snow to start the day.
Nature’s April Fools Day Joke
I’m not sure if March is going out like a lion or lamb. It is above freezing, but it is a dark and wet day so not very springlike at all. With all the rain the last two days, I don’t see the ducks in the pond today as they probably went somewhere dry instead. At least the wind is blowing roaring like a lion as it did the previous night but no sunny walks on the beach today.
Wet Walk on the Beach
Yesterday I heard the first frogs of spring, but they are not the deep sounding bull frogs or other larger species. Instead they are tiny little frogs, although they produce a loud noise, they are often less than an one inch long so they are very hard to find unless you see the water ripping as they make their music. On a warm night, the chorus of Spring Peeper carries on the air, as they emerge to feed and sing. They are among the first frogs in the regions to call in the spring and as their name suggests, their high-pitched call similar to that of a young chicken.
Spotting the Spring Peeper
Just twenty miles north of my place, there was no snow yesterday and I spotted a Red-winged Blackbird on a cattail stalk singing the spring tune. But there is no singing here and even the geese have left my pond as it was cold enough overnight to create an ice layer. I haven’t heard the other summertime birds, like the bluebirds or killdeers, this morning either as they are probably wondering why they came north too soon. The forecast calls for more snow tonight and tomorrow so probably no blackbird spring serenade near my pond until the snow is gone.
Songless Red-winged Blackbird
It is not often for my small pond to have open water when there is a foot of snow on the ground, but the spring snow storm makes it look more like winter again than spring. Hopefully the snow will melt quickly as there was some bluebirds checking out some of the birdhouses in the snow today and the geese stayed mainly in the water instead of wading through the snow.
Springtime Snow at the Pond