And So It Begins...

A skein of northern Canadas passes overhead, the birds high against the clouds and calling their return. Below, two magnificent specimens, a mated pair, are paddling serenely about in a sunlit pool of melted river, and an osprey describes wide circles in the sky over them, emitting a short, sharp, cry now and then. In the shaded hollows on the shore, a woodcock probes the moist earth for early worms. Robins have been back for a week or so, and crows are already building a nest in the big white pine.

A single drowsy groundhog perches on a fence post in the western field and looks about in disbelief. No doubt he (or she) is appalled by the deep snow all around and is considering going back to sleep for several weeks. There should have been grass showing by now, a LOT of grass. What on earth are the geese going to eat?

In a nearby spinney, three glossy deer shuffle their feet and drink in the morning, their breath sending up clouds of steam in the cold air. Only a few feet away, several young male turkeys (jakes) strut their stuff and proclaim their superiority, puffing up their feathers, spreading their tails and dragging their wings.

The sunlight is warm on these old bones, and Beau is happy that cottontails have returned to the snow drowned garden. At last, there is a little warmth out there, and he has something to point.