A fresh spring green landscape awash in first light.
Rings of chlorophyll reign in the 'north garden' bathed by the rising sun. A diverse family of flora and fauna coexist in our hillside paradise, wearing equally diverse coats of greens and a multitude of colorful blooms, scales, feathers and furs.
Millions of atoms trapping sunlight in varying wavelengths resemble tiny flames of energy. Mighty Oaks stand like guardians before our serpentine Black Cherry, while countless more are unfurling yellow-green leaves across the way on Walnut and Carey hill. The variety of fauna existing within this detail of flora is staggering to ponder.
An old friend and featured Apple is wearing a crown of radiance before metamorphosing forests and the Mount Holyoke Range.
Another senior apple . . . in the right corner of this frame . . . more bonsai-like . . . with countless newly dressed trees flowing towards Mount Tom.
Insects and birds delight . . . innumerable branches within a detail . . . feasts to forage.
Yellow-rumped Warbler . . . just one of hundreds of returning songbirds in our gardens and forest greeting the new day.
Imagine a myriad of life within the canopies. A very old mountain range is never silent, looking up towards an ever evolving sky.
Within our natural world drama is endless . . . at times leaving tragic wounds. A native Black Cherry, sadly, split in half a year ago . . . the vulnerability of crouches. A few days past, Michael's tree was the stage for a wrangle between a Pileated Woodpecker and a kvetching male Bluebird.
Respite rules in the end.
I am guessing the Pileated female is as bemused as I . . . with this bellicose Bluebird behavior. It is not as though she was close to his nest box. Perhaps Ms. Pileated was making too much noise. It is comical to see such a large bird ruffled by a much smaller one. Not surprising really, as I have seen hummingbirds chasing hawks in the past. Parents become fearless when protecting their young.
We have had temperatures dipping into the twenties for several nights. Most plants and blooms seem to survive the cold so far . . . the full moon is still nearly a week away.
Spring can be so mercurial.
Goodbye April . . . Welcome May.
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23 comments:
Hello Carol:
What a beautifully lyrical account you give here of the rebirth of the Flower Hill Farm landscape as Spring holds sway.
We are reminded by your wonderful post of T.S.Eliot's immortal line..."April is the cruellest month..." It is so often the case that the dramatic changes in the weather so common at this time of year can really wreak havoc with Nature in all its forms. And yet, here you show the glory of the magnificent countryside which surrounds you and which you hold so close to your heart.
We feel privileged to share it with you.....albeit from afar!
What wonderful photos... for lack of a better word..."Scrumptious"! Of the many blogs I check out on the web, yours has some of the most amazing photography of all... it's as if we were right there with you, absorbing your beautiful acreage, the creatures that inhabit it, as well as the surrounding area! Larry
It seems both you and your garden, are coming back to life. A delight to see and read .
Wow you caught some good bird shots this week!
The trees and flowers are stunning, and I know that will only improve.
Happy Soring!
Hi Carol,
I enjoyed catching up with you.Once again I am amazed at the beauty all around you and how well you capture it.I love your bluebird shots in the prev. post and the beautiful cherry tree too.
You are a few weeks ahead of us here.
I am glad you are having a good spring and feeling better.
Take care,
Carolyn
Beautiful post. The leafing out in Spring is always mystical and magical to me. The hummingbirds arrived in my garden over the weekend - summer won't be far behind.
Carol, what an absolutely amazing post... I always love the "bird" pictures you post, but that yellow-rumped warbler on the gray branches with the lettuce green leaves in the aftground is absolutely stunning.
Flower Hill Farm is such a beautiful place to welcome in the return of spring!
Beautiful!
Greetings from Poland ✿ܓ
Magdalena
Dear Carol,
I hope you are doing well.
I love your bird photographs, as always.
Just today, I discovered your paintings!
With which media are you working? Oil?
All the best
Saluti & salute
Suzie
What beautiful color, Carol. I am always amazed at the pictures of the birds that you are able to capture. Just how do you do it?
Wonderful to see the spring and the life to come back to your garden and countryside beyond. Each spring is as beautiful and life-giving .. I love this time, wish you a nice week .. Kram/Moa
sweet bay said...
Those emerging spring greens are just magical aren't they? I was especially struck by your first photo.
That's funny about the woodpecker and the bluebird. Great captures all around. Just lovely!
(sweetbay has left a new comment on your post "Sweeping Spring Landscape ~ Leafy and Feathery Fla...": ) I am not sure why sweetbay's comments come to me via email but do not show up on blogger publish page. ?? I have copied and pasted it here.
Thank you! Thank you Everyone! I so appreciate your kind words of support. Ann often it is being in the right place at the right time. Luck,light and some skill play a large roll. Suzie, I paint with oils (water soluble-non toxic.)
Beautiful light in those photos - I felt like I was taking a peaceful, early morning walk around your hill. Love all that spring green. Have a good one!
I've missed visiting your garden while I've been offline. You capture early spring so well. Maine is just a bit behind. I smiled at this alliteration: bellicose bluebird behavior! We occasionally get Piliateds in our yard but I've never captured one on film. They are magical birds.
Hi Carol,
Thanks for visiting my blog. Interesting shots of the woodpecker-bluebird interaction. And I really love the bluebird in flight on your photography blog.
I really love to live in a place like that, and your description in the first paragraph makes me dream. I made a new blogsite, i called it Oxygen Generators, but i failed the first time so can't use that anymore, so i put the word Pure before it, haha! I am envisioning an expanse of trees and flowers. Ours is not as varied in colors as FHF but i am sure the diversity of natural fauna is more than that. Happy Weekend Carol....Andrea in this Lifetime too!
Flower Hill Farms is just alive with wildlife and natural beauty! What a pleasant place to live, how lucky you are.
Don't you just love all the subtle and many shades of green in the spring. I like the treeline show this time of year, just about as much as I like it in the fall, and your first few pictures certainly reinforce that.
Beautiful photos provide all the visual details to your thoughtful observations. The birds in the backyard have become our main source of garden entertainment. There are screech owls nesting here currently. They are fascinating. Waiting expectantly for the chicks to hatch!
Such wonderful words Carol. Such a pleasure to visit your blog, inspiring and uplifting. The bluebird and woodpecker shots made me smile and I especially enjoyed the layers of new spring budding from the trees.
Marvellous pictures! You sure have a paradise there on your hillside! We, too, have a mercurial spring, frost during the nights and warm enough to eat lunch outside almost every day.
Kram/Laila
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