backyard — 2015 — The 21st Century Matriarch

Our backyard was snowy for more than half the month of March this year. At times the maple branches would begin to look red - but this it would get very cold again and the tree would turn back to the very wintery looking gray/brown.

This first picture is from March 4th. The forest floor was full of fog that morning because the air was warming and the snow was melting during the days but freezing again each night.

On the 20th we got more snow and it coated everything. The snow was surprisingly light but there was no breeze to knock it off the branches. It was a good day to be indoors.

The last picture is from March 30th. The maple does have red flowers on its branches. I’ll have to go out on the next sunny day to see if any of the flowers are low enough to photograph. The deer browse the tree heavily (so the low branches are devoid of flowers). The holly back in the forest and the long needled pines are about the only things that do not have a ‘deer pruned’ look this time of year.

Our backyard has been snowy for most of the month. It wasn’t that we got a tremendous amount of snow - just that it lingered for a long time because temperatures never got warm enough to melt it completely. A few times the grass began to show a little.

There were tracks through the snow too - mostly deer. They have a route between the houses and through our backyard to the forest. Sometimes they linger in the yard - look around. There is not enough for them to eat anywhere right now. The squirrels are active on sunny days. They are enjoying their store of acorns. So far they have not dumped any of the bird seed we have on the deck. The birds make their rounds to our water (heated bird bath) and seed several times a day: cardinals, titmice, chickadees, blue jays and doves. The crows are around too but not on the deck.