Signs of Spring!

I'm quite certain there is a bluebird scoping out one of our houses set up along the backyard! And I've noticed the birds are singing happily outside the past couple of days. They are probably as thrilled as us humans are with nice warmer temps and longer daylight hours. I will expect to see a robin any day now...

If you just HAVE to get a dose of spring now, head over to the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids for the annual Butterflies are Blooming" exhibit. It's an explosion of life and color. Here's a photo of my son delighting in a butterfly who decided to perch right onto his hand...

Spring is Coming?

What's happening in our area today?

Snow.

Lots and lots and LOTS of it. And high winds to blow it around. Some of the wind gusts have been clocked around 35-50 mph. We live up on top of a fairly high hill. I barely made it up and down the driveway. And the neighbor didn't make it up theirs - even with an SUV - which is now out there abandoned sideways on their driveway.

The poor birds are huddled together, looking very unhappy as they are blasted by the wind gusts. I had four male cardinals and a couple of females fighting over the last scraps of suet and seeds.

And the snowplow wiped out our mailbox. I'm ready for spring to arrive!

Exciting!

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Oh...SNOW!

In northern Kent County today, we woke up to some pretty amazing snowfall that happened quickly overnight - about 6 more inches!

Some schools closed. Our school went on a two-hour delay...I seriously wondered how the buses were ever going to make it through as only the very main roads were plowed. So I dropped my son off at school instead, and tooled around the back roads on the way home looking for photo opportunities.

I'm hoping to post a few images when I get them out of the camera as it really was very pretty as it draped onto the tree branches and shrubs. However, the sky was extremely dreary and gray, so it didn't make for postcard-perfect images I was hoping for.

Fall Color

Last week I drove across northern Minnesota, coming home from paddling Boundary Waters, and the colors were ablaze. The UP should hit peak I predict, this week.

Kent County, Michigan - Fall Color Report

The leaves in some low-lying areas appear to have a hint of color. It’s a bit early for fall color in Grand Rapids - I find it usually is much better the second to third week of October.

However, many leaves seem to be falling off already - I suspect due to the tremendous lack of summer rain. The trees seem quite stressed as a result.

Sandhill Cranes

Today as I was pouring my morning coffee, I could hear the calls of sandhill cranes. The day before, I spotted a pair in an open plowed field area near my home. Since I drive right past the field on the way to take my son to daycare, I made a point to see if I could spot the pair.

No problem spotting a “pair” - because there were approximately 35-40 sandhills strolling the field, along with a few wild turkeys mixed in for good measure.

Of course, I ran back to get my camera. I didn’t get many photos before another vehicle came along and scared them off. Since I’ve heard them over the course of a few days, I’m hoping they’ll stop back a few times before heading south.