Yesterday spring stepped aside to let winter have one last fling, and now there’s snow on the ground again. It doesn’t bother me that much because I know that spring will soon win out for good.
On Saturday I had a Mourning Cloak butterfly flitting around my yard in the 40-degree temperatures. They overwinter as adults and begin venturing out in late winter on warmer days. I intended to snap a photo of the critter because I saw him land in some leaf litter, but when I went outside with my camera I was distracted by this tiny clump of snowdrops (Galanthus):
I planted them about 15 years ago. I think I got a sample with a bulb order, and I tucked them into the yard in front of one of my flowerbeds. They still pop up every year but I don’t always notice the flowers in time since it’s such a small display.
As I was admiring them I noticed some quackgrass poking up from the flowerbed. I yanked it and flung it into the leaf litter which was a mistake, not only because the grass could possibly root itself and come back to life in the lawn later, but also because I flung it near the butterfly who got startled and flew away. Whoops.
I’ve got tulips and daffodils popping up in various places—although a bunny has already mowed some of them to the ground—and the first chipmunk woke up from his winter slumber yesterday just in time to vacuum up all the seed I threw on the ground for the birds.
And speaking of birds, it’s always a good sign when the male goldfinches transition from drab gray-brown to bright yellow.
