First Walk of Spring

It was April 17, and wetter than I expected, but the overcast was beginning to clear.

It’s always a delight to find color and texture after the long, monochrome palette of winter.

This stump is a study in change. It’s the same one I photographed in this post.

This preserve has a healthy population of large spotted salamanders. They close some of the roads so the salamanders can cross them — mostly at night, I think — in safety. When I got to the vernal pool, I found myself really hoping I might finally see one, but no. Just this fine fellow and his friends.

Lucy dislikes the boardwalk because it often results in long waits while her humans take pictures and exclaim over things they see. On this day we didn’t linger, though.

Once I saw this turtle, I started noticing them everywhere. There were a few tree swallows swooping over the water, as well as a phoebe observing us from a nearby branch.

All in all it was a lovely inauguration of the spring walking season.