What a beautiful weekend!

Yes, yes, yes, spring is on its' way! We had beautiful weather this weekend - warm (50's) and sunny. On Saturday morning I was out for a walk with the dog and since we had a little extra time we went on a longer-than-usual route. Well, Frye caught the scent of something and ran off after it. I saw something skitter up a tree, so I headed in that direction to try to ID the critter. I never did find it - though I think it may have been a fisher, given the size and color and action that I did catch, plus some footprints I subsequently saw - BUT as I wandered into the swampy area after the dog, I saw my first skunk cabbage of the season! Yes, they are beginning to emerge, much to my delight. Here are some growing along my stream...

Skunk cabbage are neat because they can generate their own heat, enabling them to emerge early in the spring, when there are still frosts.
(more info on skunk cabbage)

Yesterday was particularly warm-ish, and I saw my first bee of the year - I believe it was a honey bee, but I'm no entomologist. My son said it was the fourth one he'd seen this spring.

Another curious event - you've seen the photo of the deer at my birdfeeder? Well, the birdfeeder was off its hanger on Saturday morning (I'm guessing the deer knocked it down) and I didn't have time to replace it properly before I had to leave for the day, so I just set it next to the can where I keep the birdseed - outside. Sunday morning, there was no sign of the feeder! It had been moved under the small deck back there. Some very energetic squirrel must have been trying to get the last few seeds out of the feeder, and managed to push it under the deck and also take off the bottom segment of the feeder. I put it all back together and put in more seed - empty again this morning, but still on the hanger.