Several weeks ago, I started noticing signs of spring. First, the wood ducks came back. Ducks living in trees? It's still hard to believe!
The female is a dull brown...
...but the male is brilliantly colored.
I saw another one in California this week:
The anole lizards are out and about.
Mainly sleeping in the sun.
As are turtles...
I've been seeing a lot more insect activity, which is always exciting. Mud dauber wasps are building nests...
...and paper wasps, too.
Insects have already sprung from this cocoon:
They are still safely tucked away within the webbing on this leaf.
This moth is resting on a window sill and hoping not to be noticed:
Within the very same window, a miniature drama plays out: a spider has caught a shield bug, many times its own size, and has incapacitated him.
I love seeing all these little hints that winter is nearly over. I've been starved, too, for textures and colors. I soaked them all in at the Clemson Botanical Gardens in early March.
Vibrant spiky leaves:
The wrinkled and crinkled textures and colors of these two types of ornamental cabbage/kale:
The scaly green cylinders of moss:
This mottled bark:
These peeling strands:
The radiating lines on this tree stump:
The textures and colors of this stone wall:
Even the rough texture and elegant lines of this stone floor:
Even though South Carolina has mild winters, it doesn't diminish my joy of spring. I love seeing the colors and shapes of it, and "old friends" returning: the birds, and my beloved insects. I was away for a week in California (the aforementioned 'great escape' - pictures coming soon), and even in that short time I've noticed dramatic changes outside.
I hope you're having a great spring, wherever you are!
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