” . . . In almost all climes the tortoise and the frog are among the precursors and heralds of this season, and birds fly with song and glancing plumage, and plants spring and bloom, and winds blow, to correct this slight oscillation of the poles and preserve the equilibrium of nature.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden:Or, Life in the Woods, Spring
We wandered the Little Red Schoolhouse woods on Saturday, soaking in the warm rays of sunshine as we walked around the slough. Birds were chittering and a squirrel darted out then into the brush again upon seeing us in his path. We could barely hear the primal honking of geese so far overhead that they could barely be seen. Unlike their messy cousins, who now choose to winter over in our neck of the woods, these Canadian geese were headed further north.
Walking in the woods on a mid-March afternoon is not always easy as the paths are often muddy, especially after all the snow this winter. The slough was close to the path at some points and will host herons and cranes soon enough.
The woods are so interesting this time of year; not yet ready for spring and no longer in winter. Everywhere we looked, we could the swelling of buds, the moss on the trees, and the promise of cattails. I love to see the changes already in place and the things we don’t see, like the fallen trees and the interesting shapes of rotting logs.
Such wanderings always bring me back to Thoreau and his life in the woods alongside Walden Pond.
Next time we walk here, I hope I will find Jack-in-the Pulpit, which surprised me last year. Who knows what flora and fauna lurks in these woods and what surprises will greet us next time.
How about you? Where are you walking about these days and what have you seen?
I loved all the fungi growing on this dead tree which was where the peepers were singing.
What a marvellous sense of impending drama I’m getting from reading your on-the-brink-of-spring posts. I had no idea what a peeper was, so was fascinated to see and hear them by following the link: such a penetrating sound of rejoicing! I too love Thoreau and ‘Walden Pond’. Thresholds are so interesting, aren’t they? Thank you for evoking this one so beautifully.
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Thank you, Juliet. We really wait for spring here. I’m glad you clicked onto the link. They are fascinating and very loud for how small they are. Ah, Thoreau . . . he really brought us into an appreciation of nature. We visited Walden Pond a few years ago in the fall and I could hear his words as we walked about. It is such a lovely place. Thresholds are interesting – that anticipation of what is on the other side.
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It was so neat, on this snowy day, to hear the peepers peep! Our little pond out back is still frozen, but in a short month or so, we will have that chorus to sing us to sleep. Thanks so much for the preview!
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They are such a welcome sign of spring, aren’t they? What amazing volume these little peepers can produce. I know the thaw is starting in your neck of the woods, and hope it comes surely, and not too slowly. You are so welcome.
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You made me feel as though I was strolling along with you at the Little Red Schoolhouse! You know where I’ve been strolling, the Arboretum. I’m seeing the changes there as well but have not heard any peepers yet!
(By the way, I figured out how to turn off the high definition (HD) on that video that you said was jumpy, so in case you weren’t able to watch it all and would like to, just check out my “update” on the post. It’s terrible watching videos that keep stopping.)
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Thank you, Janet. They should be coming out at Crawley’s Marsh soon, and a few other places at the Arboretum. You get there much more often that I do, Janet. I love the Morton.
I’ll check it out again. What a talented daughter you have.
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It looks like a wonderful walk even with the mud. Mud is just part of spring. I’m glad you are enjoying the early signs of spring. We have seen some raccoons with some very fat tummys waddling around. We’re looking forward to the raccoon parade that we usually see in the spring with a proud mama in the lead.
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Mud is, indeed, a part of spring. Mud and puddles. I just ove the slow awakening, Janet. Aren’t the raccoons funny, waddling around? The babies are so cute. I haven’t seen them around, but, their tracks are about here, and we don’t dare leave the trash cans out.
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I am thoroughly enjoying your approaching spring with you Penny; it certainly is a time filled with wonder. Like Juliet, I had no idea of what a pepper was until I used your link. How wonderful they are. Jack-in-the-pulpit is new to me too, it’s a beautiful wee plant. I had to look slough up too, it’s not a term I had heard before. I am learning so much of life in another country in another season.
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I’m so happy you are, Marilyn. I’m glad you used the link. Isn’t it fun to learn new things about each other’s country’s, the seasons, the land? I’ll have to take more pictures of the actual sloughs to post. There are so many of them just a few miles from us and we discover the best of nature among them.
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Oh I remember asking what peepers were last spring! Like Marilyn.. I had to look up ‘slough’. Loving your posts Penny. I remembered you walking in The Little Red Schoolhouse Woods too. I’m off for a walk now.. I’ve been finishing Mao’s Last Dancer.. our bookclub book this month. I loved the movie but the book is wonderful. I’ve been in Houston ..and New york et al.. with Li.
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Thank you, Joan, it is nice to hear. You would enjoy the sloughs around here. How I admire the walks you take and the pictures you post! Mao’s Last Dancer sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out as a possibility for our group. Let me know how your discussion goes.
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It’s so good to feel spring is emerging, isn’t it? Our clocks will be ‘springing forward’, too, this weekend, which will mean lighter evenings and so more chances for walks.
It’s interesting to see very similar woodland to ours, but different birds. Do you have bluetits and siskins? I know you have robins, but they’re different to ours…
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It is, Penny. I run out each day to see what little thing is poking through. We changed our clocks a few weeks ago and it has been so nice having daylight a tad longer. Enjoy the change.
We don’t have bluetits here, though they look very similar to our goldfinch. We do have siskins flitting about. Yes, our robins are different (I think yours are so cute), and we get slightly bigger robins coming through from Canada as well. Whatever their nationality, I find robins to be the most pleasant of birds.
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Such a time of promise, isn’t it, Penny? It’s lovely to watch you approach Spring at the Cutoff. We’ve been having posh walks recently: forsaking the forest on a Sunday for a toddle in Windsor Great Park or Virginia Water. There, they have an ornamental spring garden which makes the heart sing.
And as you know green parakeets are very much the bird of the moment here. I saw them sharing a tree very affably with a pair of bullfinches yesterday!
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It is, Kate, and rather like the holidays in the anticipation of what is to come. The Virginia Water sounds so interesting (not that Windsor doesn’t).
That must have been a sight, the parakeets with the bullfinches. Quite the squawkers, aren’t they. We don’t have bullfinches here that I know of.
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[…] took a walk in the Little Red Schoolhouse Woods on Saturday, enjoying the sunny day and the anticipation of spring that is in the air. As we […]
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[…] We waited quietly along the shore of the pond, then I saw it. Can you? You might have to click on the picture once or twice to see, but there it is. A frog. Silent and still in the shallow rim of the pond. Waiting. It was one of many Tom and I saw as we took a walk on a warm and sunny afternoon in the Little Red Schoolhouse Woods. […]
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