Today is still unseasonably warm, but this is the time when we do get a bit of a thaw. Every year, we take this opportunity of warmer weather to tromp through sloshy snow and determine the year's pruning cuts. That needs to be considered soon.
Until then, the daily routine continues to be me and the dogs, in and out of the side yard all the day long. This morning a ray of early sun hit the crab-apple to highlight a pair of house finches feeding on the now ready to eat dried fruit. Winter's freezing and dehydrating this tart offering concentrates the sugars and makes it more appealing. By true spring, this tree will be largely stripped of it's generous harvest.
As I was watching these two, another visitor announced itself. The bluebird is calling, right on schedule. I have no idea what these birds eat when they arrive so early to claim their territories - the bluebird is largely an insectivore and insects are in short supply this early in the year. We still have at least two traditional snowfalls to endure before the weather turns truly to spring.
All of this rounds out a week where the chickadees have been singing (prematurely) their territory call of "spring's here" and the cardinal has been heard with his "birdy-birdy-birdy."
And so the year turns, and I look ahead to a another season in the garden.
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