Nature is Never Spent

Hello, nature journal! I didn't mean to leave you for so long. Last year almost beat the light out of me, but I didn't stop observing. Here are my Springwatch dates for 2013.

January
12 - very warm weather, then tornadoes
15 - 1/2" sleet, schools closed
16 - spotted my first blooming daffodil of the year
25 - cedar waxwings migrating through
28 - spotted first Spring Beauty blooming
29 - tornado warnings
30 - lots of bluets blooming
31 - alder trees blooming (male catkins)

February
2 - pruned the fruit trees at the farm
12 - first noticed morning birdsong
14 - heard spring peepers (frogs) singing in a river bottom
23 - spotted a flock of pelicans in the river (migrating -- they don't live here)
23 - saw a plum tree in full bloom
24 - spotted a butterfly during a hike in the woods

March
14 - field of daffodils at local flower festival in full bloom
15 - tree pollen noticeable on outdoor surfaces
16 - peach & pear trees in orchard blooming
18 - bees humming in flowering quince bush

I don't have photos of everything, but here's an album with some representative ones.

( Catkins, moss and blossoms )

I think one of my favorite things was the bee. I was lying on the ground to photograph the quince bush with the pear tree in the background, and I heard the telltale drone. They were everywhere, buzzing around so happily, legs encrusted with pollen. They know spring has been upon us for awhile.

A mist settled over us in the afternoon when the temperatures were hovering a few degrees above freezing. When everything is so many shades of brown and the air is gray and white, anything light green seems to stand out more. There's a lot of moss on the dirt embankments along our little road, and one patch has what looks like some new growth. Or it could be another variety of moss spreading inside an established patch; I'm not very knowledgeable about mosses. I don't see two-tone ones like that very often. They're pretty!