The fish are awakening from their winter coma...
Toads emerge around the pond.. .
Pieris japonica's graceful blooms appear . . .
Another toad sends his chirping call . . . to the lady in the water?
A new hatched swallowtail enjoying the forsythia . . .
A new bumblebee, just getting her bearings . . .
A new rooster -- a gift from a friend -- gets to know the ladies in Justin and Claui's chicken yard. He's a Buff Orpington and Justin named him Buff Gently, after Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently.
New chicks . . .
Some destined for the egg laying flock, others for the freezer.
A bluebird looking for suitable accomodations . . .
Peach blossoms. . .
Oriental magnolia bud . . .
Tiny, tiny flowers in the grass . . .
Reflections . . . I sat by the pond for quite a while, trying to get a picture of a blue dragonfly that was doing laps around its circumference. . .
About twenty shots for this one fuzzy capture.
There was also a little brown bat flitting about and getting sips of water -- first time I've seen this in mid-afternoon but Mr. Google says it can happen if bats have been disturbed or if they're migrating . . . I tried to get a picture but no luck . . .
But then, as I walked back to the barn, there was another bat in the air just above me. . .
And I managed another fuzzy capture before he disappeared under the eaves.
The pear blossoms were more obliging . . .
As was the tulip by Justin and Claui's porch . . .
The young uns tempted me with a gin and tonic . . .
More chunks of pavement to be installed as stepping stones . . .