Spring Colours

Spring Colours
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

The cherry trees are blooming in the RBG's Arboretum. Nice to see some colours again but I worry a bit that they are so early this year. I wonder what the summer will bring.

Ontario's Provincial Flower

Ontario's Provincial Flower
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

In bloom 5 days earlier than I have ever seen it before . . . along with several other wild flowers. The American toads were trilling today too.

New Resident?

New Resident?
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

A mallard duck flew up from beside the path this morning as my dog and I went for a walk. I checked to see where it came from and found this single egg in a new nest. Given that mallards lay from 5 to 14 eggs and then incubate for 26 to 30 days, I am not sure if this will be a successful nest. We plan on putting a small fence around it so the donkey and goats will not step on it accidently but it may be a futile gesture given the location of the nest.

April 11 Asparagus

April 11 Asparagus
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Instead of snow on the ground we have asparagus pushing through the soil. Early, early.
I did not really expect to see any but checked the asparagus patch anyway. Lots of grass that needs to be removed in the patch but also asparagus pushing through already.

March Mystery Less Mysterious in April

March Mystery Less Mysterious in April
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Some people should recognize this by now.
It's growing about 100 metres from our home near our east pond.

Northern Brown Snake

Northern Brown Snake
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

We saw the first snake of the season on our property today and one that we rarely see. It was the Storeria dekayi dekayi or Northern Brown Snake. The old name was the DeKay Snake. It is a very small, hard to see snake that likes to eat slugs, earthworms and soft bodied insects.

We saw it because our dog started jumping around it. When we took the dog away, the snake froze for many attempted photos. This was the best I got in spite of many tries.

Elm

Elm
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

From Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours entry for April 3, 1848:

"Delightful day; first walk in the woods, and what a pleasure it is to be in the forest once more! The earlier buds are swelling perceptibly - those of the scarlet maple and elm flowers on the hills, with the sallows and alders near the streams."