Definitely Springish.

3-13-19 SHORT HILLS: It’s been sunny and warm, although yesterday was very windy. I’ve been outside doing early clean up, picking broken tree branches off of shrubs, pruning broken branches and broken bamboo shoots and piling it in the driveway for a trip to the dump. It’s good to be outside doing gardening after the long winter.

The first snowdrops are open, and others plants around the yard are up and stirring. Viburnums, saucer magnolia, pussy willow and hydrangeas are breaking bud, and daffodils, wild strawberry and marsh marigold are showing new leaves and stalks. Half of the yard still has slushy snow cover.

Sunrise to sunset is almost twelve hours as we approach the Vernal Equinox.

The initial wave of grackles, who have been here, were joined by dozens more and by the red-wing blackbirds who flock with the grackles in the spring. I have had to refill the bird feeders almost daily.

The weather radar shows an impending storm, but with warm weather predicted, I hope it will be rain and not snow.


First snowdrop had started to open at the end of February before the last snowstorm. They were snowed under, but melted out without a problem.

The red-wing  blackbirds are back as of yesterday as well as another bunch of grackles with whom they flock. The grackles are bigger, have yellow eyes and iridescent feathers. The starlings have been here for a week or so.

The red-wing blackbirds have black legs, beaks and eyes. The red shows up more in flight.

Here's a grackle from last fall.