Ah Spring!

Sshhh... we're whispering this because we don't want to scare away the balmy temperatures and sunny skies... but we think spring has finally arrived.
These newts think so too. Sunday, April 8th was the first time we saw a cluster of them in an amorous embrace.

It was also the first time we saw a migrating Black-headed Grosbeak at our feeder. Not sure this one will stay here in the Sierra foothills or head farther north to our old backyard in Port Townsend, Wa.

We saw these jack rabbits last Sunday. There were three, but they were moving so fast, I felt lucky to get a shot of these two.

These two Canadian Geese like to come around in spring and eat the bird seed under the cedar tree. They always look for a safe place to nest, but can't seem to commit to a spot on our land. I think we'll try to fix that somehow.

The coyotes like to walk up the road. A fellow blogger and facebook friend said that this one looked like she might be pregnant. I think that's probably true. We can look forward to hearing their yips and howls all summer long.

We've been waiting for signs that the fauna give us that spring has arrived. The daffodils and forsythia had already shouted their springing yellow hearts out while still being pelted with rain, snow, and hail.

I think we can safely say we've seen the signs of spring!

PS: We had 18 inches of rain in March. We're still at 73% of normal rainfall for this time of the year, so we wouldn't mind getting more before the dry summer begins.