1. The squirrels are making a commotion chasing each other along the fence.
2. Chickadees are singing their spring song and flying in pairs.
3. My local hardware store has their seeds racks up. (They've added an additional rack this year - sign of a big year ahead for gardeners I think).
4. The Red Sox are heading south for spring practice.
5. The sunlight feels very nice!
sure signs of spring
7 comments:
Two of my arch-nemesis! Beautiful lighting in this photo and I like the flying snow.
Isn't the flying snow fun. Its like she threw it back at him! She wasn't running very fast... The sun is glowing behind them.
Thanks for the encouragement! -Sandy
The change in the light just about this time of year always gives me hope. There were even a few bare patches of ground around here - no snow on them! Your pics are one more sign that winter will not last forever. The squirrels, so cute! they almost look like they are playing leapfrog :-)
I just found your blog...thank you so much! I am creating a 300 square foot "victory" vegetable garden this spring, and although I have been an ornamental gardener for my entire life, the veggie is a first for me. You site has so much information (and humor!), very helpful. I will definitely be checking back. I am a blogspot member too: http://www.1894tinglehouse.blogspot.com
Thanks again & think spring!
Christine Saxton
Evening Kathy and Skippy. Squirrels seem to bring out such mixed emotions. They are diligent and clever in their search for food, albeit annoying when they wreck bird feeders. Lately I have been working in our family business in a workshop at the end of a garden and the squirrel is a daily visitor that demands our attention and is good fun to watch through our windows. It comes and sits on the door handle and makes us feel guilty if we haven't put out suitable fodder for it's taste! After years being trapped in a politicised office it is wonderful to have a window on nature as I work. Thanks for your daily journal, it is GREAT.
So I emailed my sister (an expert small mammal biologist) to ask her about these squirrels. Hope she doesn't mind that I post the communication here:
Hi Vickie, Just wanted to show you this photo. I found it interesting how 'female' the squirrel in front looks and how 'male' the one in back looks.... She's prettier, rounder, browner, smoother. He's rougher, grayer, longer, bigger. Can you tell grey squirrel gender ...? (I get very excited by the seasonal changes up here...) Kathy
Hi Kathy, That's a beautiful photo. There's not supposed to be sexual dimorphism in eastern grays. I would think the one in front is younger. There is supposed to be a spring litter and a midsummer litter, so my best guess is that the one in front is from a summer litter, and thus is not quite mature, giving it that rounder, cuter baby face and a softer coat and smaller size. Pretty much sums up the differences between me and my kids too!
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