Phenology Update

by Andy

April 4th

The crocuses that came up on March 17th finally bloomed on Saturday for the first time. The red maple buds are swollen. The ephemeral streams are all flowing, and Jen can attest to how cold and deep they are. The pussy willows by the pond are starting to be fuzzy.

We also saw our first bluebirds last Friday, and our first turkey vultures on Saturday. Geese flew into Dale's pond while we were making the syrup on Sunday, but they were disappointed because there was no open water. The chickadees are making a ruckus lately with their tee-hee spring calls. Kestrels have been sighted for more than a week and we also saw northern harriers this past weekend, hovering over a neighbor's field. There was a great blue heron on our friend's pond this afternoon, hanging out on the edge where the ice was gone.

The chickens are ranging freely all over the yard and across the road, after a long winter of being confined to the area around the coop. There is mud everywhere, including the area around the syrup evaporator. The basement of the farmhouse was full of three inches of water today before we took the sump pump to it.