April 25,2007

On the very first day of spring the resident chipmunk appeared, chestnut rumped and cheerful. He rushed around as though carrying a big banner reading –“spring is here – rejoice, rejoice!” And oh how wrong he was – how dreadfully wrong. I know Yeats said that April was the cruelest month, but did it have to be that cruel? I keep a five-year nature and garden diary (sporadically I must admit) but for so many years the weeping cherry has been in full bloom by this time and mine isn’t even showing color. The scene is brightened though by two Corylopsis – one by the big pond and one near the walled garden. Their creamy yellow bells show up so well against the prevailing tan and rate a detour to see them every evening. (When I want to check and see if my mind is failing I summon up two bushes, similar in syllables but very different – Corylopsis and Caryopteris. The former related to the witch hazel, the latter not related to anything as far as I know.)

The tree swallows have been to check out nesting sites, right on time as in other years and a towhee stopped on his way through. If you have a hummingbird feeder it is time to put it out. It is hard to tell when those tiny avian scraps will make their exhausted way to your remembered source of nectar.

On a trip to the dump –sorry, transfer station – I spotted a woman about to throw away a small aquarium with a cracked side. Perfect for the terrarium I had been wanting! So off I went to Rick Peckham who guided my choice of tiny plants and I added some little ceramic figures – Alice’s red queen who looks as though she were walking with her pet rooster, a lovely dragonfly, a tiny turtle and a small duck with a hollowed out back which I filled with water. Nest step was to find some live creatures to live there. I turned over some stones hoping to find a fat salamander but found what I thought was a skink, it was so long and slender. So in it went and I have been feeding it mealworms and tiny crickets. I have occasionally found tiny traces of dirt in the duck but this morning what a thrill. There it was taking a bath in the duck. I was able to look at it with a magnifying glass through the side and then checked my Stokes Nature Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles written by Tom Tyning. Lo and behold, there was a drawing of this little skinny creature with its protruding black shiny eyes and to my pleasure I find it is a redback salamander. So off to the pet store for more tiny crickets as I think it likes these better than mealworms.

I end with my yearly plea – please don’t tidy up your walls and hedgerows, give our songbirds a chance to raise the next generation. And my yearly plaint – now that the forsythia is blooming look at those which have been trimmed into balls and those which look like yellow flames, decide which you like best and be so guided.