In like a lamb, out like a...? #phenology

There are a few stubborn patches of snow left where the shade or the snow, or both, was deep. Mostly, though, the snow is gone. We mention that because our collection of photos taken during April shows a distressing number of pictures of snowfalls from 5" to 15". Now, come April, even fifteen inches of snow doesn't last long but  it does represent a significant psychological setback and we don't need any more of those these days. The precipitation we're expecting this afternoon could be up to an inch of rain and/or an inch or two of slush overnight. This is Spring in the North Country. According to the Climatology Working Group, we don't even have complete agreement regarding whether there's any month in which snow hasn't fallen in (Northern) Minnesota.

14" new snow, April 17, 2014

Photo by J. Harrington

Meanwhile, as we say goodbye to March and welcome April, there's lots to look forward to, including:

• National Poetry Month
• April Fool's Day
• Passover
• Easter
• Earth Day's 50th Anniversary
• Ramadan
• Spring's first wildflowers?
• Budburst on trees?

pasque flower, April 10 2016

Photo by J. Harrington

It's unlikely either hummingbirds or monarch butterflies will have arrived during April. May is a more normal arrival for each of them. That's also when we look forward to leafout.

In April

James Hearst

This I saw on an April day:
Warm rain spilt from a sun-lined cloud,
A sky-flung wave of gold at evening,
And a cock pheasant treading a dusty path
Shy and proud.


And this I found in an April field:
A new white calf in the sun at noon,
A flash of blue in a cool moss bank,
And tips of tulips promising flowers
To a blue-winged loon.


And this I tried to understand
As I scrubbed the rust from my brightening plow:
The movement of seed in furrowed earth,
And a blackbird whistling sweet and clear
From a green-sprayed bough.

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