Spring Awakes- A short video

The arrival of Imbolc and Ground Hog Day, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, heighten the anticipation of Spring. This year I was disappointed to learn that Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh has retired. We relied on Snerd, a groundhog from Garner to prognosticate. He agreed with Punxsutawney Phil (I see him as the national groundhog). We will have an early Spring. That's proven true so far, this year. We've continued to have a wet winter, but it was needed after a very dry autumn. I would like to share this unedited video from the backyard with you. I wanted to capture the wonderful birdsong on Feb. 12th. You can see that it's been very wet and we have plenty of fallen pine straw to remove in Spring as a result of our extra dry autumn.

Most of the bird song is coming from a nearby flock of blackbirds that briefly landed in neighboring trees. You can also hear the peaceful cooing of the Mourning Doves. I'm glad to see that the parsley in the herb bed is doing so well. Its a host plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtails. Enjoy the three minutes of peace.