Spring is finally here!
The day started out grey and misty and they say it will continue that way. But the temperature is slowly rising, it never feel below 1C (33F) so the last snow and ice is slowly melting away now 🙂
We went out on our walk just when most birds were flying out to the fields to get something to eat, unfortunately most of them flew either very low or high up in the clouds 🙂 I did get some photographs on some Trumpet swans (or as we call them Song swans), but when the geese came close my camera decided it wanted to focus on something else that didn´t exist so those photographs got to blurry.
Two Jackdaws on a telephone cable.
I could here the first doves already yesterday and this morning I think I heard at least three couples calling to each other. We have two kinds of doves here in the area, the Stock dove (Columba oenas , click on the name and photographs will show in a new window) and the Common Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus). But these two latest summers we´ve also had two couples of the common city dove that exists all over the world I guess. We have one more dove in the country and that´s the Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto ) but I have never seen it around here.
Two male Meadow Pipit´s fighting over territory.
The Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) has arrived too so now i declare that spring finally is here, even if it will get a bit colder later on this coming week 🙂 In Japan it seems that they now have two nuclear meltdowns and a possible third on its way. I do hope they can stop this before it´s to late.
Soon Nova will disappear under that root in her hunt for mice 🙂
But that will hardly even be noticed in this little village in the outskirts of the world. All we care about right now is the arrival of the cranes to the lake. Soon the sound of almost 15 000 of them will echo over the fields before most of them continue their journey towards Norway. Have a great day now!
The cottage by the Crane Lake 
Ja, nu verkar det som om våren äntligen är här:) Nu skiner till och med solen 🙂 Jag håller på att måla ett vitrinskåp så nu gäller det att skynda på med det för så fort som det nånsin går vill man ju börja ute i trädgården:) Ha det gott/Monne
Hejsan Monne!
Ingen sol här inte och marken är djupfrusen långt ned så jag får vänta med trädgårdsarbete än ett par veckor tror jag 🙂
Ha det gott!
Christer.
I LOVE that last photo! It’s like Teodor is smelling Nova’s breath for mice! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I HOPE Spring is here too! It’s finally a little bit warmer, it’s supposed to reach the 50’s this week. My fingers are crossed.( I’m already have big plans for my yard.)
I turned on the TV this morning to the news talking about Japan and my mind just can’t really wrap around it, it’s so horrific. It makes me feel shameful to whine about any of my silly problems. I just can’t imagine what those poor people are going through.
Take care and I’m glad Spring has arrived for you! – Cindi
Hi Cindi!
Well for once Nova was careful meeting Teodor, so no claws in the nose yet today 🙂
We reached 45F here today and I too have plans this year, way to many I´m afraid because I´m really lazy 🙂
I really think we can whine about our little problems anyway 🙂 I´m going to 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
hi christer…i also love that photo of teodor and nova. we have peragrin falcons here and when they fly out to hunt, you don’t see another bird in the sky. i am still glued to the tv watching japan. an earthquake, a tsunami and now nuclear meltdowns. unreal! it seems that these nuclear plants should be more protected. joyce
Hi Joyce!
I´m glad that Nova finally has understood that if she wants to greet a cat, do it calmly 🙂 🙂
I don´t think we have any peregrine falcons even close to here but I think they are so beautiful!
I think it is a stupid idea to have nuclear power plants in a place like Japan to be honest. But as far as I know their plants are the ones that can take something like this better than any other place. But that didn´t help anyway. I do hope they can stop it before too much radioactivity spreads over the world!
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Hi Christer,
Well, now it seems that officials are using the term “meltdown” to mean something different from what we think of as a nuclear meltdown. They seem to be using it more along the lines of a major systems crash. Japanese nuclear plants are contained so they are saying that there will be no Chernobyl type disaster. Let’s hope they are right.
Somebody tasty must be living under that rock! Nova looks so intent upon getting in there. I love the last photo of Teodor and Nova nose to nose.
Spring is sort of here, too. It started out sunny but now is damp and grey. I can see a hundred or so skunk cabbage hoods in my back swamp and the daylilies and star of bethlehem are poking up a bit. The birds are singing their territorial songs and the unknown warbler has returned.
City doves? How lovely. We call them pigeons, if we like them, flying rats if we don’t. 🙂
I’m off to wrestle with a knitting pattern that I thought was easy until I asked for a clarification. Sometimes it’s best to remain ignorant and have no troubles. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Enjoy the rest of the day.
Hi Caryn!
Over here they say that there is a “real” but partial meltdown they have. The containment is perhaps intact but the fuel has been above the waterline in that containment and has started to melt together with each other. The gas that exploded is a sign of that experts says. Chernobyl had also a containment but the explosion blew it away and that´s why the result was so much worse.
Here only snow drops shows yet and the ground is frozen solid a long way down yet, so You are ahead of us when it comes to spring 🙂 But we had 45F as warmest today 🙂 No Skunk cabbage where I live but I know we have them further south.
I do prefer pigeons 🙂 We rarely see them out here otherwise so I´m glad every time I do 🙂 I even liked them when I lived in the big city 🙂
Have a great day and good luck with that knitting pattern 🙂
Christer.
Även här verkar det som om våren är på gång, i alla fall om ljudet av snön som ramlade ner från våra tak ska förebåda den. Nu har vi jättevallar runt hela huset + att “lilla altanen” är full. Detta måste nog åtgärdas, så det blir tung snöskottning imorgon!
Tjänare Susie!
All snö smalt ju på taken, så här hörs inte de där kraftiga ljuden i år 🙂 Vi har ju nästan ingen snö kvar om jag skall vara ärlig och det är jag sååå glad för 🙂
Ha det gott!
Christer.
When all the birds start returning, and the skies are filled with their flitting about, and cheerful song, one likes to think Spring is here. Alas, there are still cold and icy mornings for us for a while yet. Teodor’s colors look much more vivid when he is next to one of your black dogs. I am glad Nova has learned the rules of Cat. And I love the photo of her digging down for mice. Thanks for all the great info on your local birds!
Hi Robin!
Most morning are rather cold here yet, but these last days have been warmer than 32F. But winter can come back yet, April can be really nasty here.
Finally Nova understands that cats can be nasty 🙂
We went back to that root again today and she just continued to dig as if we never had left the place 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Spring appears to be coming more quickly to your part of the world-here its arrival is noted by the appearance of chipmunks, soaring turkey vultures and yes, stinky skunks!!! We returned to daylight saving time today so the days will be longer-that is always welcome-no plants peeping through the ground yet-but it is never to early to plant some pansies in pots!!!!
Hi Angie!
Well weather can change fast here and winter can come back if we are unlucky. April can be a nasty winter month here, but I do hope that this actually is the start of spring!
We have to depend on other animals than You, none of those exist here 🙂 🙂
We´ll have the daylight saving time the last weekend this month (we say we get Summer time) I hate that change to be honest, my body continues to tell me that I´m getting up one hour to early for most of the summer. I´m not sure we can buy pansies here yet.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Great photos, today. We saw some Mallards heading North, this morning, so it’s spring for a lot of places. The forsythia is in bloom, along with lots of flowering cherries and mock orange and apple trees. My orchard cherry, apricot, and peach trees are either in full bloom or budded. And, the temp is around 60.
I can’t even begin to express my feelings about Japan, the power plants and the devastating loss of lives. My prayers will have to suffice because I’m too numb, otherwise.
Tell Nova that, if she’s going to have mouse breath, cats will come sniffing… it’s how it works. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Hi Sharlene!
We do live in very different worlds 🙂 The only thing showing here are some snowdrops, that´s all 🙂
I feel so sorry for them all in Japan! Things can always be replaced or built up again, but the rest …
Nova would love that 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Again, a day of lovely photos. We have pigeons too (way too many in some cases), also known as Rock pigeons or Columba livia. I much prefer our Mourning Doves (Zanaida macroura). The city pigeons are pretty but can be very dirty, especially in their numbers in the city. Spring is on its way here too and the daffodils are pushing up through the soil. I don’t mind spring but I do not relish the coming of summer, much preferring cold weather. Today was the start of Daylight Savings Time so we pushed the clocks ahead one hour. I love the photo of Nova and Teodor and will look forward to what you share with us tomorrow. Yes, the situation in Japan is dreadful. Nuclear power plants scare me, and I live not too far from three of them – Three Mile Island, Peach Bottom and Limerick.
Hi Nancy!
We have stopped calling then Rock pigeons here since they are so mixed up with tame pigeons now days. And to be honest, I don´t know if there ever have existed rock pigeons here ever. We don´t have Mourning doves here but I´ve seen them in photographs and heard their sound and they would be my favorites too.
It´s still to early for daffodils here, but I hope to see the first green of my crocuses soon. I love spring and our summers rarely get really hot, perhaps a week or two is but that´s all.
Our Daylight saving time (or summer time as we call it) isn´t until the last weekend this month but I´m not looking forward to it 🙂 I think it´s awful!
No nuclear plants close to me thankfully and I heard the second one had an explosion last night. I do hope the core still is intact!
Have a great day now!
Christer.
I’m glad you are finally getting some signs of Spring! Sure does make things seem better, doesn’t it?
I love the pictures of the “mouse hunter” at the stump!
Hi Jim!
Yes finally it looks as if spring has come 🙂 The light especially makes life so much easier, even though I do love the warmer weather too 🙂
Nova is a real mouse hunter and it won´t take long until she actually catches one 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.