Early Signs of Spring

I have heard and seen signs of Spring here the last few days. Jake the Fawn Pug, a good trail companion, and I were walking at the Asheville soccer fields on Azalea Road this week, and as we got to the far end we heard the bright sweet calls of the Spring Peepers. They, along with some other amphibians, produce an antifreeze in their body fluids, so there is no real fear that they will freeze to death when the cold returns. Oh, it will. It certainly will. Their mating assemblies can be hears on any rainy night and some wet days any time between early February and April as long as the temperatures are in the mid 50's or so.

We saw the bright blue flowers of Ivy Leaf Speedwell yesterday, like tiny fragments of Turquoise thrown on the lawn, so blue they sing to the sense of sight.

Yesterday morning, I woke to the short drumming of a Downy Woodpecker - hope they nest somewhere near.

I have heard the Song Sparrow too. Every one of them has a different song, and many of them have two or more songs, so listening to them is a joy. They have been all my life a sign Spring is coming. The sweet buzzing and trills are somehow comforting, joyful, relaxing, and just gives you a feeling of indescribable joy deep down inside. He holds territory all winter, but gets real poetic about now.

The Carolina Wren with his eardrum thumping song is also holding forth. If you are standing too close when he lets go, it can actually deafen you for a few seconds. He is LOUD! He too stays around all winter, but he and Mrs. Wren are starting to feel the effects of longer hours of sun light, swelling gonads, and rampant hormones. Just wait. They will be looking for a garage, utility building, mail box, hanging basket, or even a glove left outside to build a nest in and raise a brood. They don't need much.

These early warm spells are nothing new, and many critters take advantage. Wood Frogs have probably been out already. However, having been here half a century, I warn you;
Don't trust it. Spring is not really here until you can say with confidence that frost will not happen any more, and that is mid May. Really. Don't plant corn, and don't put indoor plants outside until then, or you'll lose them.

So though the signs are here, spring is still a ways off.

Get outside, folks, and look for the signs!