I went to Beechwood yesterday to see how things are progressing. As you can see, there's still a bit of ice on the pond, but the snow is gone. A lot of the smaller trees have been nipped off or stripped of bark by creatures needing something to eat during that hard winter. The sumacs we sweated over last fall are sad little stubs, but the poplars we planted "next door" seem to have survived well and are just thinking about budding.

Damage to a berry cane inflicted by a ... rabbit? Deer? Very tall mouse?

Exploded cattail. Maybe something will line its nest with that fluff?

It's always interesting to see what's living in the equipment box. This time I found a whack of grey spiders right where there was an interesting cocoon last fall:

Coincidence?

Mostly things are still brown and dull, but there's some lurid colour to be found in the ditches!

The river is running a little high but nothing serious. Still, please keep an eye on your children:

Spring at last! It's really astonishing how quickly things start growing when the weather warms up a little and the snow disappears. Some of the usual plants and flowers are showing up at Beechwood already:

The creatures are out and about too, and if you get there early in the morning and stand quietly for a while you can often catch a glimpse of them:

(Don't get too close to that last one.)






April Fool!