Signs of Spring in New England...

[leashedForLife]

.

specifically, in the Boston, MA, area - since i work 6 days of 7, week-in & week-out, it's not as tho i travel much.

On Feb-26th, the snowbells bloomed in my neighbor's garden -

... on March 12, i saw my 1st cock-robin of the year!

he's there, believe me; about 2 or 2.5-ft closer than the hydrant, to the right of the 2nd large hump of melting snow - he's facing AWAY [of course he is! - when i tried to get the snap, he was side-on with his brick-red breast on display, the stinker.
Then he flew 20-ft, & i had to walk up on him cautiously; this was the best i could do, he was spooky].
U can just see a wedge of his lower breast, his black-cap, & his slate-y back with cream edging his primaries. He's standing on a withered clump of catalpa pods & dead grass.

the next week, HORDES of English Sparrows arrived, with their irritating nonstop "cheep! ... cheep!... cheep!...", fluttering & pecking everywhere, blast 'em.

Last week [Sat March-31], i saw a flock of more than 100 cock-robins with a few blackbirds & grackles among them; the truly-tropicene species aren't here, yet, but this week, Robin-Redbreast & Northern Cardinals are singing from 5:30-am, every morning, all over town.

Also last week, on Wed the 28th, the stars of Bethlehem were up & in bud in my landlady's yard, in a neglected little patch of mud by the trash-cans & recycle barrels.
Their blue is so vivid, IRL - sadly, my photo appears overexposed as my mobile can't deal with the sunshine patch in a shady setting.

I'll try to get a better one tomorrow AM, while they're still in shade - i've got to catch that deep cerulean, somehow.

- terry

.

 

[arealhuman]

Warmer weather on the way for all of us it seems!

 

[leashedForLife]

.

I walked a different street today, & saw some new flora -

this hydrangea is either nutz, or in one helluva hurry for summer...

a moss-garden on a tree trunk, sprouting new growth -

now, them are TREES... No 15-ft ornamental shrubs, there!

wide-open blooms, soon to fade...

Magnolia stellata -

assorted crocus amid ivy -

dwarf narcissi -

Siberian iris, stars of Bethlehem in the background, & an unidentified yellow flower -
a short translucent red stem, a frill of leaves under the bloom, & a simple 5-petal flower with yellow stamens:

It was a cool damp morning with high clouds, perfect diffuse light.

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

more fleeting spring growth -
tree buds breaking out...

2 window-boxes, to either side of the door at Yankee Craft in Lexington -

sweet alyssum -

hellebore -

a creeping Cotoneaster, & what's that purple below? - Blooming periwinkle!

Magnolia stellata in rampant blossom -

flowering cherry behind a privacy-fence -

their flower bracts are pretty, but the shrub below is not healthy.
See the fine yellow dots ion the leaves? - & the yellow-green cast of the foliage? // Spider-mites, sucking the sap.

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

sneaky violets creeping into a lawn...

a very-aged weeping cherry - at least 75 to 100-YO, the trunk is as thick as my thigh, & they are slow-growing.

... ONE outer edge of a single limb on this ginormous tree is leafed-out - the rest is still in bud.

I don't know what this is, but it's very pretty, nestled among fallen leaves & pachysandra -
IRL, the petals were translucent & pearly, not opaque flat-white.

another weeping cherry, this one a bit younger -

grape hyacinth, with a background of tulip foliage -

a very pretty weed, dainty & hardy.

bugle, just opening their blossoms -

some tulips -

It was a lovely walk - the fragrance from one old pear tree covered in blooms actually reached me after i passed it by, & i had to turn around several times to locate the tree. The scent was so sweet, on the damp evening air.

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

it breaks my heart to hear that native dogwood - the 1st woodland flower after witch-hazel, everywhere in the mixed-hardwood forests as an understory tree, with its blood-red berries that feed the northing & southing birds as they migrate - will soon be wiped out by Asian mosaic virus.

this mourning-dove hen is setting a clutch atop the cinder-block wall of a ground-floor garage -
mourning doves are terrible builders, but devoted parents.

white violets, among grass just coming up in a lawn -

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

remember those branches layered in snow, outside my [uninsulated] sun-porch in March?
This is that tree, today -

that's flowering crabapple - the top photo is closer to true color. // The lower pic is too fuschia.
My mobile is not accurate for color, esp'ly in changed light conditions.

- terry

.

 

[arealhuman]

Looks like warmer weather all round for lots of us

 

[leashedForLife]

.

1st thunderstorm of the year... crashes, rolls, flashes, & bands of rain going from sprinkle to pouring buckets!

lovely to see & hear, i like thunderstorms - so long as they're not too wild; not the hail sort, just ordinary garden variety T-storms.
As a kid on the farm, my mother would have a fit --- i'd put my bathing-suit on & run around in 'em, while she yelled out the window, "U're gonna get struck! - get IN here!..."

- t

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

Yikes!! - I didn't know how bad that storm-system was, elsewhere.

Photos: Powerful storms cause 5 fatalities, widespread wind damage in northeastern US

It was quite mild here - flashes, rolls, some booms, & now & then wind-gusts.
In NY & Pennsy & Conn, it caused serious property damage - tornadoes spawned, trees went down, cars were crushed, homes struck by falling trees, large hail, flash-floods, power outages - 3 separate RR lines from Grand Central in NYC were shut down, as trees had fallen across the tracks, & had to be cut-up & removed. // Hundreds of commuters were stranded in the terminal for hours.
Mass got off easy.

- terry

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

I got some great photos today, as i was spozed to arrive at my client's house @ 6-pm instead of 2 -
I got there at 5:15, parked my rollaway & chill-bag in the shade in the backyard, & walked about till 5:45, admiring gardens, houses, & wildlife.
Got a good series of a M cottontail harassing a F rabbit, but i can't move my pix from the phone to my laptop - this dam*ed WiFi has been giving me grief for weeks. Works fine on the Mac, can't be authenticated on the 'phone.

I'll add the photos later... probly Monday nite, that's the soonest i'll have reliable WiFi to update / share my photos.

- t

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

finally!

IF U can't take it out, make it a feature...

a flame azalea - sadly, the shrub isn't thriving, this cluster of blooms is 5-ft off the ground on a leafless branch.
The bush looks very poorly, but the flowers made a brave show.

another neat old house...

a marvelous Asian-inspired Craftsman - i love this house:

The Craftsman's neighbor...

a lovely old rambler -

It was so nice to wander the neighborhood for a while, I usually must go directly indoors & to work.
...

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

more from last Friday afternoon -

love these windows, & the old-rose shutters on the slate clapboards:

a cottontail doe - in poor coat, a little thin, & with a litter hidden somewhere;
the bucks always look much-more prosperous, Spring & Fall, while the does look frazzled & weary:

another boisterously-blooming dogwood, suffering from Asian mosaic virus -

notice all the dead twigs in the crown; it will die in a few years.

A thriving creeping-juniper, covered in berries, draped over a stone wall -

some local dog's footprints, immortalized many years ago, in freshly-poured sidewalk -

the trunk of a mosaic-virus dogwood -

... & its glorious crown -

...

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

a magnificent copper beech, trunk -

... whole tree -

... & crown -

...

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

I caught several minutes of a buck rabbit relentlessly harassing a doe, she stood to smack at him repeatedly with her forefeet, but he refused to leave her alone; she fled, he pursued, she laid her ears flat & smacked him, he tried to mount her... I could empathize with her easily, some guys just don't quit.

...

.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

... & he kept pursuing, while she dodged & rained a flurry of blows on his head periodically.

When i arrived, he was already mating her, but she wriggled out from under him & fled - & obv, he wanted to repeat the procedure, & she just wanted to eat in peace.

.