Friday, March 18, 2022

Signs of Spring




Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are seeing signs of 
spring as we hopefully say goodby to Old Man Winter. 
He has a habit of sticking around long past his welcome,
 here in the foothills of the beautiful Cascade Mts 
of Washington state.


It has been cool and wet, but what do you expect 
when you live near Seattle? 
We have a reputation to uphold! 

Seriously, though, we are seeing subtle signs of spring, 
which lifts my spirits after a long, dreary winter. 


The daffodils are almost ready to bloom in the front yard. 
wild holly and fern line the edges. 


The grass is starting to green up, too. 
I finally trimmed the dead blooms off the hydrangea 
in front of the house. It took me all afternoon
and I filled a big tarp. 
There is always something to do this time of year! 


New buds on hydrangea. 


Indian plum or Oso berry,
 are the first to leaf out in spring. 
They produce tiny, edible 'plums' that 
the birds love. 
These are small, slender trees, about 10-20 feet
growing anywhere there is a bit of sunlight in the forest. 


The tiny pendant flowers are sustenance for returning 
rufous and annas hummingbirds. 
Annas hummingbirds will also stay year-round. 
They feed off the drippings of our red-breasted sapsucker. 
Nature works together. 
I help out by keeping my hummingbird feeders 
filled year round. 


Male annas. 
In sunlight, the dark feathers on his head and chin turn 
iridescent scarlet. 


What are you looking at? 
This little guy is defending his territory, 
chasing away all intruders, except females. 
They make an angry clicking sound. 


Wild plum produces very sweet, small plums 
that the wildlife love. They grow everywhere
and are just starting to bloom. 
Some have pink blossoms. 


Wild band-tailed pigeons. 
These are large birds, about 14-15 inches,
the size of a small chicken. 
They travel in nomadic flocks this time of year, 
before pairing up in scattered groups for nesting season. 


This group is joined by a little friend. 



We live in deer country. I can't grow anything 
they consider edible. Especially roses, although 
I can grow rugosa roses because they have formidable thorns. 
I have found that they don't like forget-me-not, wild geranium, 
tansy, most herbs, daffodils and foxglove, to name a few. 
We have black-tailed deer here. 


Oh, and they don't like forsythia! 
I grew this tangle (which is about 8ft. wide), 
from 1 little cutting I rooted years ago. 

It seems to like this sunny spot right below the deck. 


A sure sign of spring is when the robins return. 



Spring is a time for pairing up, too. 
These are bald eagles. 


A clearer view of the white tail. 

One morning I was watching the sun rise over the mountains
and two eagles came into view. 
Soon they were accompanied by two ravens, 
then two red-tailed hawks. 
They all soared the skies together before drifting out of view. 
Maybe hunting together? 


It's always a thrill to see them. 


The alder catkins are another sign of spring. 


Here they dangle over a wild plum just starting to bloom. 
You can still see snow in the mountains. 



This time of year, the elk move through on their way towards higher elevations.
It's hard to tell how large these are, but they are the size of 
small horses.  

This photo was taken from my vehicle. You can see a reflection 
of something on the dashboard! 
No, it's not a UFO. 



Our native Douglas squirrel finds last fall's 
maple wingnuts stuck in between the deck boards.


These are tiny squirrels, a little larger than a chipmunk. 


A raven keeps watch. We have a nesting pair. 
This is not a good thing for the songbirds, 
as they raid their nests mercilessly. 


The nest. 
This sits about 60 feet up in a very large maple tree, 
overlooking the field next door. 
It can only be seen in winter and early spring, and even then, 
only from one strategic spot. 

I was walking down my driveway one day and happened to 
see it from a narrow space between the trees. 
I had to zoom in to take the photo. 


Close to where I spied the nest. 


Beautiful Kai at the top of the driveway. 
The fallen tree is caught up on another
making it difficult to take down. 
It also hangs over the fence-line, so that 
will need repairing, too. 

You can see a neighbor's house across the road. 


Tiny flower buds on the bright green branches 
of red huckleberry along the driveway. 


A rolling stone gathers no moss. 



Tree fern growing in the crook of a big-leaf maple. 
These are enormous trees with leaves the size 
of a dinner plate or larger. 

These ferns seem to prefer maples 
and will grow in the crooks between the trunk
and branches all the way up the tree. 



There is plenty of mist this time of year. 


And lovely sunrises. 



And of course, lots of clouds. 

Which makes us appreciate the sunshine
that much more! 

I hope that you are finding a few signs of spring, too, 
Dear Friends. 
xx
 

Won't you join the fun? 













21 comments:

  1. Hello Karen,
    What a lovely post, Spring is a beautiful time of the year. I enjoyed seeing all your birds and the critters. The hummingbirds are so sweet. Love your sweet furbaby Kai. I am always happy to see the Eagles, I would love to see the herd of elk. Your views of the sky and mountain are gorgeous. We are seeing some daffodils, our forsythia has not bloomed yet. Beautiful photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  2. Hello, :=) What a lovely blog you have. I enjoyed seeing all the wild life you are now seeing, your beautiful white dog, and the splendid sunsets over the Cascade mountains.
    Have a happy weekend.

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  3. Oh wow! That sure is a delightful collection of beautiful photographs!

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  4. Kai! How beautiful 😍 your spring pictures are wonderful. Thank you for visiting!

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  5. green grass, tree buds and daffodils, and the hummingbirds too. spring does not get any better!!

    i see the free glassware in your cabinet and i think the green is my favorite!!

    the rainbow is gorgeous, the mountains too. yard work is in our plans for today, i am not sire if i am excited about that!!

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  6. You have so much wildlife in that part of the country...big and small! I love that tiny hummer. We haven't seen one here yet. Lots of signs of Spring though and how welcome it is. The rainbow is a bonus! Enjoy your Sunday afternoon!

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  7. Isn't Spring a wonderful season ...
    You've shared some beautiful photographs here.
    I've spent some happy minutes scrolling up and down your post thoroughly enjoying them.
    Thank you.

    Enjoy the days ahead.

    All the best Jan

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  8. There are signs of spring here in Kentucky that urge me to be planting seeds. However, looking back at blog posts for April I see that most years we have a blast of freezing weather in mid-April or even early May. I think gardening must proceed with caution!

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  9. It's lovely to see the gentle sunlight and all the wildlife enjoying Spring in your pretty garden. I've just Dead headed our hydrangeas too, it's great to see those dry old sticks sprouting again, it's always so amazing. Have a wonderful week. x

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  10. Karen, I especially liked your post today, as I love to step into nature, and you are surrounded with so much of it. First of all, that beautiful rainbow. That's so good of the trees around your yard to produce plums for the birds. You had a very special deer visitor, and I didn't realize you got so many deer around your area. Oh, that wonderful Robin. One of my favorite birds, and yours looks similar to our California Robin. He is such a brave bird, and doesn't fly away quickly like the other birds. What a sight the Bald Eagles must have been. I love that picture of them in flight. The red huckleberry is pretty, along with the mist on the mountain. I see a lot of mist over the mountain here this time of year also. You still have lots of snow on the mountain, and the sunset photos are lovely. I am seeing signs of Spring here and there as well, with the birds coming around more, and the dear hummingbirds making an appearance. Isn't that something that the Anna hummingbirds come around all year?

    Have a great week, Karen, and enjoy all the Spring blessings that come along. Nature is a special place to be, and we are all better off when we take the time to visit it. You always appreciate all that is around you, Karen, and you are even knowledgeable with the way of the animals, flowers, and trees. I need to learn more about them up here. ; )

    ~Sheri

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  11. So enjoyed your spring post today, I so love seeing all the buds popping and signs of spring popping up. So love seeing the birds and wildlife too, always exciting to see them out and about, so funny that all those birds were flying together.
    Beautiful sunrises, yes the clouds always add such great drama to sunrise or sunsets so I imagine you see a lot of that! Happy Spring to you!

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  12. my comment was suppose to say "green glassware"

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  13. Some LOVELY pictures from your place - beautiful! Spring Time is here and we have had some sunny and warm day´s...love it!
    Allt the best,
    Titti

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  14. Karen, early Spring is just beautiful around you! Thank you for sharing. Beautiful greens, wonderful creatures wild and tame. And your flowers just starting out so beautifully. Our daughter's name is Cynthia and she used to think those flowers were "for Cynthia" (we lived in the Pacific Northwest)... now we just all call it that 'forcynthia". I loved the post and it made me a bit homesick!

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  15. How pretty your home looks nestled among the trees. How wonderful it is that Spring is finally shooing Old Man Winter away and beginning to sprinkle flowery magic everywhere. Your lovely part of the world is indeed awaking with joyous birdsong and pretty colour. It is always a delight to visit your lovely place, dear Karen.

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  16. You have such beautiful signs of spring, Karen. I just made my sugar water to fill my hummingbird feeder. I hope I see some this year. I didn’t see any last year. I have a mama bunny in my side yard and I’m sure I’ll be seeing lots of baby bunnies! Happy first week of Spring!

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  17. Thanks for sharing beautiful photos. Nature has become active. Happy weekend to you.

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  18. OH YES ...SEING WONDERFUL SIGNS OF SPRING HERE IN THE PORTLAND, OREGON AREA TOO.

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  19. I'm living through you and your beautiful photos as you're definitely much more ahead of the game than here. We can finally see grass (brown) but they're calling for some snow in our forecast again - grrrr. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home, flowers & foliage, gardens and mountain views. xoxo

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  20. Adorable post as ever. Hugs and blessings.

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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