Patricia Temples Photography

Signs of Spring

Spring was a long time coming this year, but once it emerged, everything popped out suddenly, creating beautiful colors everywhere and washing all of us with pollen, and subsequently, allergies.  My photography excursions have been few lately because of the latter, but today I feel re-energized by my contact with nature as everything comes to life.

My husband and I monitor a bluebird trail on a local golf course, and today was our second day out checking what is happening in the boxes.  The bluebirds have been so busy since last week.  There are nests in 14 boxes and a total of 22 eggs.  Last week we had only 2 nests and 5 eggs.  The chickadees are also busy and now have three nests, one of which has 5 eggs.  This was so exciting to us.

But, the added bonus of monitoring a bluebird trail is the opportunity to see other wildlife.  Today we saw a beautiful heron on the golf course near one of the larger ponds. It is smaller than the familiar Great Blue Heron.  I photographed it and identified it as a Green Heron.  It flashes a lot of blue in flight, and no green that I could detect, even in my image, but it is a beautiful bird, no matter the name.  I also photographed a Meadowlark and a Kingbird, as well as a bumblebee on large blue hyacinths.  I am so glad for spring and new life.