Powder Hill Photography LLC – Blog

Even with 6+ inches of snow on the ground and the lake still frozen solid,  spring is now in full swing.  Over the weekend multiple flocks of geese were flying high in the sky, distant sand hill cranes were announcing their return, and this morning red-winged blackbirds have reclaimed their territories in the marsh.   As the sun broke over the nearby hill, the cardinals echoed each other across the park.  

It’s great to see the silence of winter now broken, with the snow melting with each day.  Soon green will once again return to the hillsides now covered in white.  Wildflowers can’t be far behind.

Well, not quite yet.  We still have 10 inches of snow on the ground.   It sure felt like it this morning on our walk through the woods.  For the first time all winter, Denver (golden retriever) and I heard birds beyond a periodic lone Chickadee.   Although the marsh has only had a small opening of water for the past week, today we even startled five ducks that took flight shortly upon our arrival.   We also had the morning sun breaking the crease of the horizon before 7am, illuminating the eastern facing hillsides with shadows — something we have rarely seen all winter!

There is even a certain smell that is coming back to the woods, one that is hard to describe but marks the calendar witih ’spring it not far behind’.  Yes, we probably will still get another snowfall or two yet in March, though that no longer is a concern knowing that warming weather is less than one monthly calendar page away.  We look forward to the return of the red-winged blackbirds.