At the Pond

Feeling sluggish this morning, even after coffee and my morning write, I opted to go straight out the door for a walk to shake off the sleepies.  When I stepped outside I could feel it would be a warmer day, though it was still a crisp 38 degrees.  Somethings changed, shifted, its April! and I can feel the spring is really going to happen now.  I trucked along the trail, down to the creek, checking out a few birds here and there, listening to the morning chorus that is growing by the day.  The creek has really been flowing smartly thanks to so much rain and I'm watching now hoping to see the big carp swimming up from University Lake to spawn.

 The may apples started unfurling in the past few days

On the way back by the pond I spotted a pair of geese swimming and a great blue heron fishing down at the marsh end so I stopped to take it all in.  I sat on the bench and watched a pair of kingfishers working on breakfast.  They would dash into the water with a splash, fly back up to a branch, whack the little silver fish thwack, thwack a couple of times to stun it, then reposition it in their bill and choke it down with a couple of gulps and a shake.  They were busy and I watched as they each caught several.

Placid morning pond, reflecting the fabulous blue sky

The turtles started to crawl up onto their logs for the daily sunbath.  I've counted as many as 15 lately on warm afternoons, lined up on the downed trees, large and small, mostly yellow-bellied sliders with a couple of snappers making themselves obvious, their fat heads sticking out, the size of my fist.  I wonder if they have their spots like kids in a classroom, regulars at a bar.  They are jumpy and won't let me get very close before they plop back into the water as I approach.

Oh, I am looking forward to the great unfurling, it is beginning and no matter how many years I watch, it never gets old.  Today, more weeding, hoping to get one of the big flower beds finished and mulched.  Wish me luck!

Spring's Official

With the passing of the equinox yesterday its officially spring. Might not know it by the cool temps but on my morning walks this week I've seen plenty of evidence that everything is about to burst to life. The whole world feels pregnant, plants lush with all the recent rain and ready to open flower buds and send up new shoots.

I spotted these geese checking out the pond, every year there's a new group of goslings down there, no sign of nest building yet, but I think this is our annual pair.

I'm bored a bit with the winter birds and eagerly anticipating the migration which will be in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'm rediscovering some of the strikingly beautiful commoners, blue jays, robins and kingfishers. I was studying a pair of blue jays on the drive way this morning, a patchwork of white, and light and dark blue feathers on there tails and the backs of their wings looks almost like a checkerboard. And the robins, oh so ordinary- NOT- speckled faces, yellow eye ring, rusty red breast, they are stunners really.

The kingfishers have been very loud this week both at the pond and along the creek, calling their ratchety cry as they swoop close to the water and then soar up into the trees, their crests erect when they land on a branch. I think they are probably working out some territory issues, who is going to nest in which section of the creek bank, who gets the pond as their turf? Or is it mating activity? Not sure, maybe some of both.

May apples began to unwind this week like so many tiny green umbrellas.

With the extension of the daylight I can feel myself growing too, reaching for the light, everyday a new level of energy for work and thought and writing.