Fish Food.

4-19-09 VERMONT: No clouds today, not one, all day. It was windy, from the NW, and cool in spite of the sunshine. I finished, finally, the removal of the pine tree debris, and I have a huge pile. The usual practice here is to burn brush piles, but I have decided to let it settle and decay on its own—the greener approach. Also it’s too dry to burn safely. After that I repaired a flat tire on the farm cart and fertilized flowers and shrubs.

The pond is now presenting frog songs nightly. There are frog eggs floating every morning to the delight of the fish who now have eggs for breakfast. The small pond is filled with frog eggs and there, no one eats them. Newts are also busy mating, and crayfish are taking up their stations around the edges of the pond. I haven’t seen any turtles. The ducks made their first appearance of the year, but were chased away by Chloe. The pond is full and draining, and the drainage area into the pond
is still a swamp.
There are at least three woodpeckers busy drumming in competition. I can hear them working in different trees, but drumming in sequence. Lets see, same theme, different players in sequence—I guess they’re performing a fugue.

The snow piles are shrinking quickly. Moosilauke and Lafayette still have snow cover.

New blooms: crocus.


Crocus. About one month later than Short Hills.

Lafayette and Moosilauke with snowy peaks.