Despite a week of rain and above-freezing temperatures, Winter continues its stranglehold on Spring.
Weary of trudging through thigh-deep snow too porous to support me on snowshoes, I went to the Betar Byway in South Glens Falls today. Here the path along the Hudson is not only paved, it's plowed.
The bluebirds along the Betar don't really signal the arrival of Spring, since flocks of them have been feeding in the berrybushes here all Winter.
Aha! Now this is more like it! Here's the first flower of Spring: Skunk Cabbage. Not only has it opened its spathes to reveal the flowering spadices within, it has also begun to unfurl its big green leaves.
I also saw Turkey Vultures sailing high overhead. Like the Skunk Cabbage, these birds are true harbingers of Spring, although they are seldom honored as such in poetry or song. But I was glad to see them.
3 comments:
You can always count on Skunk Cabbage!
Spring seems to be here--was in the 50s today and felt hot in the sun. I was hoping to catch the end of a Yellowstone winter but it looks like I'm going to be too late for everything but the melting.
By golly, you're right. I saw a turkey vulture while I drove home on Friday, and thought, "Hm. Haven't seen them in a while." I never thought of them in the same Spring Harbinger group as redwinged blackbirds...
Humph, I'm jealous of your skunk cabbage. It hasn't shown up here yet. The turkey vultures showed up here yesterday.
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