Sproing !

Right, so remember on my last post I was telling my inner pessimist to shut up? About it snowing again? After that lovely string of 70 & 80 degree days we had? Frickin' Michigan. I swear. Doggone it if he wasn't right!

So, before the 8 inches of snow we got last weekend, I went out into Kensington Metropark and shot some photos of what is easily my favorite time of year. When the trees just start to green up......you look into a stand of trees, and there's a lovely green haze...you can't really see the leaves, but the buds are giving the forest world a light, bright green twinge. Very very nice.

Oh, and I'm making the images a bit smaller now. Hope you can still make them out enough to be interesting. Please do let me know what you think.



My favorite bird:



Love these tiny white flowers:



Check 'im out - talk about sticking out like a sore thumb on the forest floor in spring - it's a wonder he didn't get eaten already....



Now this is better camouflage. Little bitty garter snake, playing hide and seek:



I love Kensington. I should make a bumper sticker. Then, on second thought....perhaps that's an impulse best resisted. Heh.

Check it out: God's own artwork:



My second favorite bird, the Redwing Blackbird. What a beautiful little creature! (Jeff Corwin, you ain't got *nothin* on me!) There is a boardwalk in Kensington right on Wildwing Lake where you can watch a whole bunch of these guys building nests and doing "spring bird things" if you catch my meaning.



Lovely.



The missus, sitting:



Clinging:



Preening:



On that same body of water, swans are everywhere. Here's one getting his ungainly weight airborne:



Two for the price of one:



Mrs. Swan, nesting! How cool! (Geez I'm such a geek....)



Back at "the ranch", enjoying that day's sunset over our front field:



Life is good. We are very, very, blessed.