White-throated Sparrows are Singing!

 

Snow is blowing past my window right now. Earlier today I brought all the houseplants I took outside last week back in because it's going to freeze here tonight. And tomorrow night. And the next. It is helpful in the face of the continued cold weather to review our evidence of spring. I give you the white-throated sparrow. I heard them singing this week! Click to enlarge.

White-throated sparrows are ready to breed right now and the males are singing to attract mates. It's a guarantee that spring is on track out there even though it's not picnic weather yet. The song is an attention-getting series of whistled notes that you may have heard lately. Click on this sentence for a nice You-Tube video performance. Birdwatchers use this mnemonic to help remember the rhythm of the syllables in the white-throated sparrows's song: Old Sam Peabody-Peabody-Peabody.

Spring Today!

Spring begins today, March 20, at 11:30 a.m. in the northern hemisphere. 

 

 

Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote: "It is spring again.The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart."

Robin Williams once said: "Spring is nature's way of saying -- let's party!"

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings Time started last night while you were sleeping. There's still time to set your clock forward by one hour if you haven't done it yet. Note that the sun will set today in Philadelphia at 7:05 p.m. Click to enlarge the newly-open dew-drenched daffodil.

More daylight means there will be more time to visit nice outdoor places like Chatsworth Lake in the New Jersey pine barrens. I took this picture there on Friday, two days ago, when is was so sunny and spring-like that I didn't need a coat.  How about we just ignore the snowstorm that happened between then and now? And today's freezing wind. Wait. Where'd I put my coat?

Two Weeks Until Spring

 

Hal Borland once wrote: "No winter lasts forever. No spring skips its turn." The Equinox will happen on March 20th this year. These daffodils are ready.

Here's one precocious blossom almost open!

Lenten roses are blooming right on schedule.

And snowdrops have become easy to find. Click the photos to enlarge.