More signs of spring

Lady bug

First of all, a warm welcome to my two new followers and a happy Easter to all.

This week has been very busy for me.  However, I did stop to smell the roses as it were.  My short visits with nature provided more proof that spring is indeed arriving, albeit slowly.

For one thing the crows and seagulls have arrived back in the city in small numbers.  Yesterday morning I spotted this ladybug in the mud near the snow melt line in my front yard.  I took a quick photo with my cell phone, before I headed down to the little forest down the street.

As you can see in the photo below, we still  have a ton of snow.



But temperatures are such, that it is melting rapidly.  So in the little forest the snow is still quite deep, but by now I have forged a nice little trail.  Here are some images of the birds I saw this past week on my outings there.

Male Pileated Woodpecker

Female Pileated

The Pileated Woodpeckers have been mysteriously absent in the forest this winter.  But now they seemed to have paired off, I was delighted to see them again.

White Breasted Nuthatch

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker

Both the red and yellow-shafted flickers have been a constant presence this winter, and I have many new photos of them, of course another fair close-up never hurts.

Bohemian Waxwing

The Bohemian waxwings are such fun to watch, especially now that most of the fruit has been consumed and they are foraging in the pines and much lower to the ground.  They will be gone before long, when the weather gets to be too warm for them, and be replaced by Cedar waxwings.  I can't wait to see them again.

Enjoy,
Susan