The Daily Bucket is a place to catch your casual observations of the natural world and turn them into a valuable resource. Whether it's the first flowers of spring or that odd bug in your basement, don't be afraid to toss your thoughts into the bucket. Check here for a more complete description.
Remember exactly one week ago when I was waking up to 8" of wet snow and trees bowed under the weight of white stuff? Yeah, that's hard to believe today.
Right this moment, the temperature outside is 88 degrees, and that's accompanied by a howling wind that feels like it originated in the Sahara. Or possibly a really large George Foreman grill. As a result, inside my newly completed greenhouse, where I had just stocked a nice selection of blueberries and trays of seedlings, it is currently 115 degrees -- and that's with the vents and the doors wide open.
We get it, damn it. We screwed up and now we're gonna pay. I'm only asking that if the temperature really must change by 50 degrees again this week, please don't let that trend continue in the current direction.
Looking around both woods and yard: among the flowering trees, the nectarine is fully in bloom. The peach and cherry are still not quite there. Maybe another day, if they don't skip bursting into bloom and just go to bursting into flame. At the edge of the woods there are a few dogwoods in full bloom, while those deeper in the understory seem days or even weeks behind.
The peonies are starting to emerge from the ground, sending up their tightly coiled and highly distinctive red leaves. Beside them leaves are also appearing among the dry twigs of the hydrangea.
I journeyed down to the stream behind my house this morning and was delighted to hear a couple of frogs peep and dive for it. This is the first time in the 10 years we've been here that I've seen a frog along that stream. Sure enough, turning over a few flat rocks also revealed some eggs -- from a salamander, actually -- and several big water snails. That's a remarkable change in a stream that in the past has had water, oak leaves, and a few water striders. I don't know what kept it so lifeless before, but I'm happy to see that change.
And now I'm going to admit that I'm considering damming part of that same creek. Just a small dam, that would fill a space a few hundred feet long, about 30' wide, and 10' deep along the stream center. I'm dying to have a place to raise fingerlings of the Paddlefish (Polydon spathula) and that would be just large enough. Plus it would contain enough deep water to sustain a population of small sunfish and topminnows rather than becoming an exclusive breeding tank for mosquitoes. This plan has not proceeded beyond sitting on the hillside and thinking about it.
Sorry that the Bucket has been something less that Daily over the last week. I've been traveling for work. Warning: I have to be gone again both tomorrow and Tuesday. If someone can get a bucket out there, it would be much appreciated.
What's going on where you live?
Today's observations come from these locations
Share your own observations in comments, and I'll add a marker to the map. Please give a city and state (as close as you feel comfortable in providing). Green pins for observations mostly about plants, brown for animals, and blue for weather or other inorganic items. The letter at the center of each pin will be the first letter of the user who provides the data.