11 April

 The planned Saturday visit to the Forest and Wetlands had to be postponed.  There were very high winds, hazardous conditions in forest.    Tuesday afternoon was a fine day.

The path beckoned, at once verdant and peaceful.  Emerging plantlife was still in its early stages, still held in check by cold weather.

Skunk cabbage was putting up early shoots by the path.  A more mature stand of it was visible in the dense woods, impassible on foot and impossible to photograph.   Given the speed with which skunk cabbage grows, these young plants will be well developed by our next visit.

The sword fern is starting to bud,  here and there showing their "fiddleheads," not edible in this species.

I've always looked forward to the deep pink of early salmonberry blossoms.  

The buds have yet to open in the forest here, although they are increasing closer to the shore.  Like the skunk cabbage, they should be visible here by next week's visit.

In addition to the changes in foliage, the bird and insect populations are changing.

I was delighted to hear and see two red-breasted sapsuckers nesting on a snag near the path.

They are busily feeding young at their nest cavity.   I had always known the pattern of drilling that sapsuckers use to gain food (see previous blog entry) but their nest-hole drilling was new to me.

At the marsh, the alders are beginning to show faint green and the snowpack on the mountains is shrinking.

Newly arrived violet-green swallows swooped over the marsh, feeding on a hatch of insects.

...And so the gradual but endlessly fascinating change of season continues.  

What will next week bring?