Monday turned out to be very nice.
In the late afternoon, I gathered the pups and took them out to search for any sign of spring.
One of the very first flowers of spring. The plant does smell when disturbed but that is how it gets pollinated by insects.
The plant is found in land near streams and rivers.
The flower looks like this:
What really surprised me was that a few Hepatica showed up here and there along the trail I followed. Most of them were near some of the ice caves I've explored this winter.
We found a lot of these flowers along the Wintergreen Trial.
The dogs had a lot of leftover energy so we hiked around the the blind that is set up for watching birds on the ponds.
Our pleasant surprise was that a pair of Swans that returned. I don't know if they are the very same ones from other years, but for the past 4 years, I've found them in late March at this pond.
The dogs were so good. Both sat quietly with me behind the blind while I watched birds for about 30 minutes. It felt so peaceful to not have a time line.
Bird Blind:
