The bitter end

The start of spring is in fact a very hard time for most wildlife. The winter food sources are almost completely exhausted, and nothing new is yet growing. It snowed again last night, April 9th.

The chickadees have been here all winter, and at this point they will explore any possible food source. This one seems to have found some insects in a knothole in a telegraph pole:

And this one has found something under the lichen on an old apple tree:

These beaver, in a pond with at least two active lodges, were busy some time before the last snowstorm (since there is snow on top of the felled tree), eating the cambium under the bark. They are venturing out now, I have found active scent mounds that they use to mark their territory. Their lodge is visible in the background:

Meanwhile flocks of turkeys are around, the males proudly displaying early in the morning. The three coruncles dangling from their wattles turn bright red with blood when they are excited…

It now gets light around 6.30am, and I am being woken every morning by noisy turkey dating sessions.

Life goes on.