Signs of the season 2019

[Sefiru]

Spring is springing in the northern hemisphere! Where I'm at, the first bulbs are pushing up green spikes, and some birds are arriving.

A somewhat unusual sign of spring that I spotted: my window at work looks out on a natural updraft spot, apparently, and most mornings last summer there were turkey vultures circling there. A pair of them was back last week.

What natural activity is going on where you are?

[Jenett]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

I have been rebelliously refusing to wear a jacket (just my usual cardigan for indoor wear through Mayish) since spring equinox. It is mostly working.

I moved in January, and there are little green shoots coming up in the back garden (I suspect they may be crocuses, or something along those lines, but they're just the green bits right now.)

[SunflowerP]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

I have both heard and seen geese; they're now flying in various directions in pairs, rather than northishly in vees. I haven't yet seen a robin, but I've been enjoying hearing them (and other seasonal songbirds). The ends of tree branches are showing what are unmistakably buds, though still very tightly furled. Lawns are beginning to show green patches, though I had to get up and look to see if they were, they're not very prominent yet.

And I've been mostly wearing warmer-season clothing (which makes Preparing To Out significantly less spoon-consuming), also since around the equinox, but that's unusual around here, and due, I think, more to a) Feb/early Mar were unseasonably bitter, and I'm acclimatized, and b) chinook conditions have largely prevailed since the 'bitter' broke, so it's milder than usual.

And of course Moar Light.

Sunflower

[Morag]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

The salamanders are back! They only come out when it's warmish and wettish, so they're a spring/fall event (though I've sometimes seen very torpid ones in winter). They come out of the grate that's in front of our front door, so I need to make sure the outdoor light is on for a while before it gets dark, or there will be several of them all over where we need to step to get inside.

I've also noticed more birds chirping throughout the day, and I saw a robin the other week.

[Beloved]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

Spring has exploded where I am. Two weeks ago things were just beginning to bud, now the ground is carpeted with spring wildflowers and the trees are in full bloom. The bird activity is fantastic. This is my first season here and I am loving it.

[SunflowerP]

Lawns are beginning to show green patches, though I had to get up and look to see if they were, they're not very prominent yet.

Update: Wet snow today has facilitated the transition, and there's lots more green! (Things change very rapidly here in this season, which is part of why I've often said that Calgary doesn't have spring, it just has whatever intervening time there might be if winter leaves before summer arrives - this is one of the years in which that doesn't happen, so we have some of both.)

Suflower

[arete]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

The bugs are awake. 

[Sefiru]

Update: Wet snow today has facilitated the transition, and there's lots more green! (Things change very rapidly here in this season, which is part of why I've often said that Calgary doesn't have spring, it just has whatever intervening time there might be if winter leaves before summer arrives - this is one of the years in which that doesn't happen, so we have some of both.)

Suflower

Yeah, I've sometimes thought that about Ontario, too. I'm not putting my boots away just yet. 

[Eastling]

Spring is springing in the northern hemisphere! Where I'm at, the first bulbs are pushing up green spikes, and some birds are arriving.

A somewhat unusual sign of spring that I spotted: my window at work looks out on a natural updraft spot, apparently, and most mornings last summer there were turkey vultures circling there. A pair of them was back last week.

What natural activity is going on where you are?

I've been seeing flowers for weeks now. First little daffodils in the courtyard and the scraps of earth along the sidewalk beyond the gate, and now, on my way down the little causeway leading to the elevator from downtown to the waterfront, I saw vivid tulips just about to bloom. They make lovely splashes of color in the still-gray-and-wet cityscape.

[PerditaPickle]

I've been seeing flowers for weeks now.

Ditto.  We had crocuses and then daffodils early on, and now we've trees fully in blossom (in fact we'll be reaching the point of all the blossom blowing away any minute now).  Trees had budded already and well on the way to the start of leaves now.

[Sefiru]

Trees had budded already and well on the way to the start of leaves now.

The frogs have awakened! (and they are noisy.)

[SunflowerP]

The frogs have awakened! (and they are noisy.)

The leaf buds (previously described as 'tightly furled') on the trees and bushes that are very close to my building (and thus benefitting from the building's warmth) have been gradually unfurling pretty much since I described them as 'tight'; they aren't quite leaves yet, but they're not exactly buds any more either. I think 'green haze' will be on the early side this year (that's when one looks at more-distant trees, and what have been just bare branches have become surrounded by a faint greenish halo - usually not until five or ten days into May, here).

A butterfly fluttered by my balcony on Sunday afternoon.

Sunflower

[PerditaPickle]

I think 'green haze' will be on the early side this year (that's when one looks at more-distant trees, and what have been just bare branches have become surrounded by a faint greenish halo - usually not until five or ten days into May, here).

A butterfly fluttered by my balcony on Sunday afternoon.

As predicted, here, we've already reached the stage of the tree blossoms blowing away, in some cases at least.  I was also lucky enough to be able to sit out on the front lawn for a few minutes in some of the recent afternoons, to sit & listen to wood-pigeons and other birds.  Although today it turned cooler again (and it's forecast to rain -April showers- for the next few days, at least).

I saw my first wasp about a week ago, it had flown into the stairwell at work - I dislike wasps (understatement!), so it stuck in my mind!

The leaves on the oak trees near where I live are now recognisably oak leaf shaped, though still not quite full sized and still that very striking, bright spring green colour.

[Hariti]

Kentucky had a mild winter, that was neither flooded like most of the south nor snowy like most of the north.

Consequentially, we are having one heck of a spring.

Everything is in bloom, grass is growing super fast, there are insects everywhere (I even saw a junebug).

[Zlote Jablko]

What natural activity is going on where you are?

Pretty heavy rains where I am in Texas. I can see the creeks swelling. On spring equinox I tossed a Marzanna doll into the creek near where I live, and she sat there until the next spring rain washed her away.

Still feels like Spring, but the Summer heat is approaching fast. It always does here.