Happy first day of spring! I took a walk to Beechwood and found a robin, lots of red-winged blackbirds staking out their territory, and a chickadee singing his springtime song.

I saw a muskrat and lots of ducks swimming in the Don River, but nobody’s swimming in the pond for a little while yet. We’re expecting rain and warm temperatures, so I think things will look quite different here in a few days' time.

A few things are just beginning to pop out of the ground:

Woodpeckers or other small birds have drilled into most of the goldenrod galls to get to the tasty larvae.

Another sign of spring – pussywillows!

There are great quantities of rabbit droppings everywhere.

Looks as if the garlic mustard did not magically die over the winter. I’ll be back to deal with you later.

What’s the deal with all the snails? There were a lot of them in one spot at the Beechwood site, so I assumed something carried them there and had a picnic. Then I noticed hundreds of shells in one place in the ditch alongside the path by the river. What’s the story?

Hey! I found one of these beside the path last year too. I’m beginning to think maybe money does grow on trees after all. Naturally I took this specimen home for further study.