Earth Day 2018

"I stuck my head out the window this morning and Spring kissed me bang on the face."  – Langston Hughes

Today is Earth Day, and on top of that, after a late start to Spring this year, today was finally a perfect Spring day. Walking through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park was a total sensory delight; flowers are blooming, trees are finally starting to be covered in green, and a wide variety of birds are singing up a storm. I heard and saw lots of Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, various migratory Warblers, Grackles, Goldfinches, Woodpeckers, and a pair of male Flickers singing at each other across the wetland to make sure each knew to stay in his own territory. Unfortunately none of them were within range of my camera, or if they were they didn't sit still long enough to get a decent shot. And the final sign that Spring really is here - I saw two Painted Turtles sunning in the bog pool next to the north duck pond. This was indeed a great Earth Day. 

Earth Day, by the way, is one day after John Muir's birthday, the man who is rightly considered the godfather of the American environmental movement, and the moving force behind the establishment of our National Parks and National Forests. So to send you off on a tour of what I shot this morning, here are some words of inspiration from a great man:

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.” 
- John Muir

Pussywillow catkins in full bloom along the Dykeman Walking Trail 

Crabapple blossoms by the trail

The creek is starting to get something of a green haze about it.

A mama Canada Goose sitting on her nest in the bog pool next to the north duck pond

A Painted Turtle catching some rays in the bog pool

Another Painted Turtle taking advantage of a perfect Spring day

© 2018 by A. Roy Hilbinger