New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Sweet, sweet smells of my plume tree blossoming and toads trill away.

Thursday 05/07/2009

My single plume tree is soaking the air about me in it's sweet fragrance. What a wonderful time of year. This will only last a week at best so I like to walk around my yard sounding more like an old hound dog sniffing in the air for a scent. I just can't get enough of spring. Our local toads have been trilling as well filling the air with their wonderful spring song. Can life get any better? Yes it can. Yesterday Rick and I headed out to my secret fiddle head patch. The ones that I have planted around my house were all gone by with their leaves unfurled. But this secret spot has them usually running about a week later. So Rick and I each managed to pluck plenty for a few meals and some give a-ways. Oh how sweet tasting they were when I cooked some for dinner last evening. It has been a couple, or even three, years since I last picked some. Oh by-the-way, fiddle heads are the unfurled fronds of the ostrich fern. Miss them by just a couple of days and they will be all unfurled and beyond picking.

Wednesday evening we always have my two granddaughters down for dinner as it is dance night. Lessons for Katie that Jan takes her to weekly. How Katie loved the fiddle heads but I couldn't get Erin to try them. Katie is such a greens eater any ways. But it was nice to share the bounty of spring with them.

The peepers are still peeping but the wood frogs have long since silenced and I did hear a pickerel frog recently too. Green frogs are soon up to bat. Life does fly by this time of year.

And the leaves, oh yes the leaves are coming out with spectacular vistas everywhere. To me this time of year rivals fall for color. And there are even some reds mixed in as the red maples are in bloom. But it is the hues of green that pull my eyes from hillside to hillside. So, so many shades of green. The hills are bursting with bright green colors and new life. And the air is full of bird songs to boot. Life is really exciting this time of year. I can't help but cock my ears to try to filter out the next different bird call or song from the newly arrived wonders. The warblers will be back in abundance this week. I really need to strain their songs from the abundance of sounds this time of year. Life is so abundant right now. Be sure to get outside to quench your thirst of spring.