April 28, 2013 Spring has sprung......I think!

I think we finally are on our way to spring.  It made high 50s yesterday and I don't believe it froze last night.  It was 40 degrees when I got up.  It started out with 10 drops of rain and mostly blue skies.  But, it has pretty well gotten all overcast and cloudy.  Rain in the forecast, now, for several days. 
The geese were flying during a good share of my morning walk....honking springs arrival, I hope.  The flickers were out in large numbers.  I saw only one yesterday.  I have around 100 juncos covering the yard and singing.  I saw a woodcock and a snipe on the morning walk.  There were lots of robins.  I saw the first white-throated sparrows and fox sparrows yesterday after having had a tree sparrow for a week.  I had two of them now.  There was a rusty blackbird mixed in with the grackles and red-winged blackbirds.  I won't even mention how many starlings....can do without them!

The roadside ditch was running nicely this a.m.  There are "creeks" running now, where there aren't any there is so much melt happening so fast.  I am hoping "my" grey foxes don't move out for fear of getting wet.......

Here is the ditch this morning right by my driveway, which you can see mid-photo.  It isn't often there is so much water you get nice reflections in them.  So far, the ditches are taking the water and it is managing to go through the culverts nicely.  The culvert just behind where I am standing, that goes under the Moose Valley Road, has washed out more times than I care to talk about in the spring.  There was more than one time I wondered if I was going to make it across and out to work.  Since the school bus goes out earlier than I do, I sometimes had caved in a good section  or two of roadbed before I would leave.  A few other times I parked on the west side of the culvert to be sure I could get to work on time.  So far, this spring, so good.  Plus, this year, I don't have to worry about getting to work on time either if the road does wash out.  Given all the snow we have ...that is now melting at a pretty good pace......and the fact we are supposed to have rain for four days straight, things could happen. 

Here is a close up shot of the neat ice/frost form in the ditch this morning.  I thought it to be interesting enough to take a close up of it.  Nice reflection.  I saw a couple of really cool ice sculptures along the ditches too.  However, I didn't have my camera along and didn't walk way back there to take photos.  This was in the ditch by my house so didn't take long to go back and take these. 
Shadow was out and about following me around this morning too.  People many times take photos of critters looking at the camera.  I was wearing mine around my neck.  She came up to me and put her nose right on the camera lens, checking it out.  She has always been curious about the camera.  She doesn't like me pointing it at her either.  She knows what she likes.....or doesn't like.  P.S.  to those of you new to this....Shadow is my pet deer, soon to be 6 years old. 
Right now, Shadow and the fawns are finding plenty of water to play in too.  That most certainly inspires them to get wild and crazy.  Shadow's little girl, soon to be 1 year old, came out of the water last night and was spinning hookers around the house as fast as she could go.....pretty fast.  She's too funny!

Here's the pond the deer were playing in last night.  The mallards, that were out interacting with the deer in the field last night, are in the creek/pond this morning.  There is still some ice in it, but getting better.  Maybe some of the wood ducks I saw on the shore of Lake Superior can join them.

Here is one of the photos I took late yesterday afternoon of the deer, in this case a buck, following the mallards around as they looked for tidbits to eat.  The fawns first watch....wondering what the heck is that thing....I think.  Then, they would follow the ducks around as well.  Nature can keep you entertained for hours. 
"My" raccoon came back again.  It was 2:30 this morning.  I had the camera all set.  I even set lens to where I needed to focus and had it all set.  As soon as I flipped the light switch for the porch light, it got off the deck railing and off through the big bird feeder, dropped on to the flower pot, on to the deck,  and padded off down the steps.  Hmmmm....what's with that.  Two nights ago, when I flipped on the switch, it sat and looked at me so darned cute.  It was eating out of the bottom port of a bird feeder each time.  The other night, I had the camera on a tripod and a long lens on it.  I couldn't get it into position because of the angle and wasn't fast enough to get it off of it and a small lens on.  The raccoon moseyed off before I could accomplish that.  Last fall, when the two came together, I flipped on the switch and watched them for half an hour at a time.  I wonder why I didn't think to take a photo then!? 
This week, besides all the birds....we had the fisher back again too.  I was down playing my weekly Scrabble game with my mother.  My husband took a couple shots with the earlier 6 megapixel camera and the short lens on.  You could see what it was, anyway.  The grey fox made an appearance again a couple nights ago while it was still light enough to see.  So, life is staying interesting. 
With that....I'm off to go take a walk around and see what's up, by now!