250504 struggling
May 4, 2025 How the spring struggled up through mud and cold and rain, the first flowers, daffodils and coltsfoot, coming up in the bare earth, while we continued to have frozen nights and several days of snow: reluctant spring. It is warm, at last, when I go out in the morning to see the day. The first trout lily: a bee was already at work and while I watched, a second bee, different species, turned up and there was a scuffle. The creatures don't waste any time, even if winter is lingering. The frogs have been quacking and peeping on the ridge; crawling and flying insects are everywhere.Most of the birds have returned from the south, while the over-winters have come up from the valley now the cold is gone. There are vultures and ravens, hawks; we even spotted a pair of eagles along Chemin Peabody. The song sparrows, robins, red-winged blackbirds, jays, flickers, phoebes, robins and calling for mates and territories, and on the ridge the low thumping of the grouse can be heard li...