The climate clock here in Vermont seems to be back on a more normal setting now. A bit of snow most days this week and cold. After our week of “summer” things have slowed back down.
The female flower of Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta) would be a shocking color in any situation but is even more so in contrast to the browns and grays so omnipresent in early Spring. Who could imagine such a color here in Vermont at any time of the year? The “plain” male catkins have been hanging on the branches since Fall waiting for this small beauty to appear.
The female flower of Beaked Hazel is a small gem in an otherwise gray and brown early Spring world!
On Wednesday (4/4) at 40F with weak sun the first of the Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) appeared in the beaver pond at North Branch Nature Center. Temperature is everything to a turtle and even the weak sun provided some heat! Who knows what that burst of 70F+ weather did to this little creature’s internal clock.
My brother and I grew up on a lake in Michigan where Painted Turtles were very common but we never learned much about them. I’m left with so many unanswered questions, the main one being how did that normally air-breathing creature live all the long Winter at the bottom of the pond?
Up from the bottom of the pond where it spent the Winter, an early Painted Turtle seeks the life-giving warmth of the sun. What we could learn from this creature about energy balance!
With off and on rain predicted all this week, I expect Vermont to launch headlong into Spring. It will be a good week to get out my rain gear and see what is happening.
Still Learning To See 