A March that disappeared...

I have no idea what happened to March but it was here and now it is gone.



The weather was unusally hot or suddenly dipping below freezing. Jack Frost nipped most of the plants and trees in the area leaving the first leaves looking pinched and burned.

Our Yoshino Cherry Tree bloomed in the take-your-breath-away habit that it has but the blossoms blessed us with their presence for a mere week as usual before a laying a virtual confetti of pink-blushed petals as a carpet below it's branches.



We seemed to sedgeway from one cold and sniffle to another. School moved along briskly, Holy Week arrived quickly,
And then, before we knew it Easter was upon us. We participated in as many of the Holy Week activities as we were able (the Chrism Mass will re-enter our line-up when our little one is older!) We attended the 6:00am Sunrise Mass on Easter Sunday and exited church to a beautiful sunrise. We broke our fast with out blessed basket of bread, grapes, eggs, and chocolates too before joining friends that afternoon for a Easter meal.

With the arrival of spring, the bird watching was exhilarating...at first...and then disappointing as a mockingbird attempted to dissuade every other bird from visiting our feeders.

Much to Cornflower and her sister's pleasure we have spotted so far this spring either in our neighborhood or at local parks the following:

Robins, cardinals, mockingbirds, grey catbirds, blue jays, brown thrasher, flickers, tufted-titmice, Eastern bluebirds, rufous-sided towhees, brown-headed cowbirds, European starlings, Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, house finches, gold finches, pine warblers, myrtle warblers, mourning doves, fish crows, a red-tailed hawk, a wild turkey (unfortunately as road kill), black vultures, Savannah sparrows, an American coot, mallads, Canada geese (but they don't ever go North, spoiled things!).

Last week as we were birding with friends at a local lake park, we spotted a gorgeous orchard oriole...or was it actually a Baltimore oriole this far south?!

And this week in mid-April brought us a pair of gorgeous barn swallows building a nest in our neighbor's front porch. The swallows' flight is amazing to watch and their coloring is fabulous with iridescent blue on their backs/shoulders and a rosy hue to their chin/throat. There are probably others I have failed to mention.

Birding is a lot of fun and admittedly addicting for the girls and I. It probably doesn't help that we have wonderful friends who are excellent bird watchers and fuel our enthusiasm (thanks Caddie and Scarlett!). Cornflower and I do love sharing our finds with our friends as we know that they get every bit as excited as we do.

Happy birding!