The first Honey Bees were out making themselves useful in the unseasonably warm garden this week. Admire those full pollen baskets.
Yesterday there were the very first signs of Sanguinaria shoots pushing up through the cold earth. Today there are extensive clumps of green “fingers” and the first evidence of folded flowers. Almost there.
I am currently preparing a daily sequence of elder tree leaf buds opening … this is a sample; day 6 of the series
We are into April now and don’t expect any more snow, albeit its still very cold. A small troup of Common Redpolls are still hanging around the garden but are expected to head back north before long. Cheery little fellows.
Canadian Elder … or whatever common name happens to be used in the area you happen to be
** For anyone interested in photography, this image was composed from seven separate photographs at different stacked focus planes to achieve without any out of focus features. Some of the new computer tools are simply remarkable.
Two days later Day (1 April, but this is real) – welcome to Canadian spring
As the snow finally melted away, there was still a considerable amount just to the right of this, the morning air was filled with ‘snowiest’ as the temperature rose. Auguries of good things to come.
The Hunger Moon is the full moon that occurs in February and falls at the end of winter when game is scarce and predators are particularly hungry. Names for the moons varied between different indigenous peoples, but they carried similar meanings. The Hunger Moon was also known as the Snow Moon, Little Famine Moon and Bony Moon. In the past the threat of famine after a long winter was real, for people as well as for animals.
