Seasonal Teasers

Early March brings seasonal teasers such as snowdrops, croci, and pussy willow to draw out winter hermits for walks and garden inspections. Slinging the camera, we buttoned a wool shirt and stepped out onto the front steps, greeted by warm sun, 45F, and the sounds of various birds shifting vocal gears into tentative mating calls. A walk across Route 7 and the covered bridge meant tromping over alternate patches of granular spring snow and sun-warmed Berkshire mud veneered over deeply frozen ground.
Along the way, sapsuckers piped as they chased each other among their favorite trees, in which they drill rows of portals through the bark to access freshening sap. A female cardinal crossed our way, low and between the brush on each side of the path. Some way away, her shy crimson mate called.
At a sharp bend in the river, a lone Common Merganser flew low, following the winding course of the fast-flowing waters. Over at the Mill Pond, the ice still covers its length, with only a few small open spots along the banks where side streams enter. The lengthening daylight and trickles of melting snows have encouraged both pink pussy willow buds and hermits into the open, teasing us into hoping that the end of winter nears.