Signs of the season

When I headed outside early this morning, one of the first sounds that I heard was a flock of geese overhead - flying north.

Later, while pruning the grapevines in my backyard, I saw a flash of yellow on my left and looked around to see a Sulphur butterfly, the first one I had seen in my garden for awhile. Indeed, my garden had been butterfly-free for weeks.

It's not just butterflies. Other flying insects are showing up as well. I saw several bees around the yard as I worked today.

In the world of backyard birds, the goldfinches are getting more golden every day and the cardinals are singing their cheery spring song. Chickadees and titmice and wrens are investigating likely nesting places.

A few perennials are already beginning to send up some tentative green shoots and the buds on the fruit trees and shrubs are swelling.

The gentle stirrings of the season even reached my little pond today. I had not seen any of my goldfish for weeks, other than the time that I accidentally netted one of them when I was removing debris, but there they were today, chasing each other around the pond and clearly enjoying the beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures.

We have a few more weeks of winter, but the worst is behind us now. We may still have the odd night here and there of temperatures in the 30s, but it will be an aberration. Winter is dying right before our eyes and spring is a' borning.