Inevitable

Spring that is. From the hill near the house, up in the old Horse Pasture, you can look down over the valley and see the river, bank full, and nearly bursting.

Flood reports from all over yesterday. Snow today, although not too much. Cold and bitey-windy though. A chilly 18 degrees with with the breeze so brisk it is blowing the birds around.  I won't be taking an impromptu stroll over the hills this morning....

Out in the back of the same pasture, the tiny pond is brimming too. It only very rarely has this much water in it, although it almost always has at least a little, except in the most grievous of droughts.

Believe it or not, this tiny pothole in the slate out there has seen Mallard Ducks on many occasions, and once, just once, a pair of Northern Pintails. They flew up out as I was walking back there.....simply stunning me. Alas it was before I started the annual farm bird count and before the wonderful camera I take everywhere I go, so they are not recorded anywhere except in distant memories.

It is still February, and today it looks and feels like it. However, there are bits of green, short songs of blackbirds and other early arrivals, and a sweet warmth when the sun manages to overpower the wind for a minute.

And every day I listen for the peent of the American Woodcock....and soon....peepers.....yay!