We don’t have to wait for the official date. We’ve been enjoying unusually warm weather in the past few weeks. Creatures great and small come out to greet the early Spring; actually, many of them are here throughout the winter. The warm temperatures bring one creature out in particular, the birder.
Good to hear the Cedar Waxwings among the budding branches. Yes, I always hear their convivial buzz before seeing them:
The White-tailed deer, here all year round, but seldom do I see such a large party:
The curious red squirrel loves company:
I think I saw both the pinkish Common and the white Hoary Redpoll, sent here by Spring and instinct:
I’m always amazed to see our Great Horned Owl Mama and Papa coming back to the same spot to nest every Spring for the past few years. Every time, Mama will give birth to two Owlets in exactly the same hollow tree trunk.
Once they are fledged, the family will move on. Homing instinct will bring Mama and Papa back the next Spring. Where do the young ones go? Nobody knows.
Can you see Papa Owl in the trees?
Right in the middle. Here he is, eyes wide shut:
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Such incredible shots! I do love the cedar waxwings! Those markings around their eyes are so ‘Cleopatra’! Wealso saw a large herd of deer moving down by the Contoocook River this week. They’ve been yarded up through the toughest time of winter and are starting to move around as things begin to melt.
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Susan,
The ‘Cleopatra’ comparison is most apt. I love their colours too, their crest and silky plumage. Thanks for stopping by the pond and throwing in your two pebbles. 😉
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These shots are absolutely spectacular!
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Alex,
Thanks. Welcome to the pond. 😉
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Great photos again this week Arti. While I love birds as you know, I think I love that squirrel photo best- those who don’t live with squirrels have such a fondness for them. Those redpolls are lovely little birds too. How wonderful to watch your owl family over years.
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Louise,
O yes, we do live with squirrels… lots of them. And they are friendly and photogenic too. I look forward to see the new additions in the Owl family. Will definitely track their birth and early growth, like previous years.
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Those cedar waxwings are very cool…I don’t think we have them here in the Pacific Northwest!
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Melinda,
The waxwings are very common in our neck of the woods. Interesting that they don’t fly to the west coast. A note about your new website, I was trying to leave a comment but didn’t know how to ‘send’ it. Anyway, here’s what I had written, but found no button to click to send: “Your son sure is creative! What an artistic installation. And that photo of yours is beautiful!” 😉
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LOVE your photos 🙂 particularly your close ups of the animals and birds
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Jen,
Welcome and thanks for your comment. 😉
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Great captures as usual!
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Thanks, Ellen. But I think our Spring is still a couple months behind yours. 😉
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Superb captures all. I liked the squirrel’s capture the most. Here we have squirrels with less bushy tails.
Happy SS!
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Indrani,
Thanks for visiting. We have lots of squirrels here, all with bushy tails. 😉
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I love your nature shots. They are inspirational. I am going to head out with my camera today and see what I can find.
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Thanks Ginny. Looking forward to see your photos. 😉
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Your incredible array of nature never ceases to amaze me. I love those birds — both of them. I don’t think I’ve seen either in my territory. And I love how your owl builds its nest in the same spot each year. I rarely see so many deer in a pack — certainly they are celebrating the spring.
I’m hoping to take a ditch walk today if my icky hip will make it that far! I doubt that Harry is back and it’s still pretty cold, but I think the water is out and life should be perking up down there!
My owl is a Barred Owl. I’ll email a couple of pix!
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Jeanie,
After seeing your incredible pics of ‘your’ owl, I envy your neck of the woods. Looks like nature is right where you (or your friends) live. I often have to stalk and seek for sightings to photograph, you have owls coming right to your window. I look forward to seeing your post on Harry. 😉
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Isn’t it a marvel, the way birds (and other creatures, too) will come back to the same spot to nest and raise their young? My blue jays are back, and so is a pair of pigeons I haven’t seen for months. It’s easy to spot them, because one is rust colored, and the other, the female, is a beautiful black with a white tale.
I think you’ve shown the redpoll before, but what a charmer! And that squirrel just makes my heart melt. I’m glad that spring is making its presence felt. Even here, the food supplies are getting slim. It will be good for things to start growing again, for everyone. (And I do mean everyone! People around here who had gotten over-eager and put out their tomatoes are grieving today — we got six inches of rain over the weekend!)
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Linda,
Yes, isn’t it amazing how they know their way and the timing so well. The Great Horned Owl parents are the same old, so every year I take new photos of them, but not much difference. Can’t tell if they have grown older. As for the Redpolls, these pics here in this post are new photos, for they are the first ones I’ve seen this year. They are not very common here, the Redpolls, I had to go out searching for them. I rarely repost my photos for Sat. Snapshot. 😉
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We were having a lovely warmer then normal spring and now it has turned and we got snow overnight. Since the forecast is for daytime temperatures to be above freezing, it won’t last long so that’s a comfort.
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Stefanie,
Well I guess by now you’ve spring all right, with your garden all ready for seeding. And the pond? Do you need to do anything with it? Like clean the water, throw in some food for the fish? 😉
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Still too early for planting out seeds, the average last frost date isn’t until May 15th. I can seed peas and lettuce, cool weather stuff, around April 20th. Since we are planning to get chickens next year we are filling in the pond this year because it attracts raccoons which will eat our chickens when we have them. Currently the pond is empty but for snow melt. The raccoons ate all the fish last fall!
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