We've started hearing and seeing red-winged blackbirds in trees and near the cattail marsh. And last night in the warm rain I heard the first tentative peeps of spring peepers.
I finished the winter's mowing of meadows. We spread it out over six weeks, taking advantage of cold early mornings when the ground is frozen. By the time the sun hits a field, even if the air is cold, the ground surface begins to melt. The mowed meadows are not as pretty as the tall waving grasses, but the meadows won't stay meadows without some intervention. We set aside three meadows that will be burned instead of mowed; we'll do that in about a month.
