Welcoming Spring !!
...Spring is when life is alive in everything.
~Christtina Rossetti~
Spring marks rebirth, regrowth and rejuvenation.It denotes a new start, gives a new life to Mother Nature. It is one of the four seasons that marks an end of winter. All the trees have started budding. Day length is increasing as the season progresses. Mushrooms have popped out. Grasses are becoming green. New sprouts have started emerging out from the ground. And I can't wait to enjoy the beautiful spring blossoms in my own front and back yard and near by areas. Few signal of Mother Nature for the onset of Spring, I have clicked through my lens although much of it can only be experienced through inner eye.
Turkey's Tail Fungus or Turkey's Tail Mushroom are one of the mushrooms that actually resembles Turkey's Tail as its name denotes. One can easily differentiate it from other bracket mushrooms those are also very closely related species by seeing at the underside where the hymenium or the fertile part contains the spores in tubes that is visible to naked eye as tiny holes. These mushrooms are responsible for decaying of lignin or cellulose in the rotting wood. Below are the few lumps of these fungus in my garden.
New sprouts of Sedum are emerging from ground and look like roses .
For the first time got familiar with dry seed cones of Tulip Poplar tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) which has high ecological importance. It is a shade - intolerant tree and native to Southern Ontario and East coast of USA. It has a peculiar shape of leaves and bright big flowers. The dry seed cones are the fruit of this tree that persists through out winter and contains the seed that is dispersed through wind. Many wild animals, birds and mammals feed upon the seeds. Below are the some clicks taken from a tree in children play area near my home. I will update about its flowers, leafs and ecological importance in my other posts.
Today I spotted an American Robin (male) (it is said to be a spring-bird in Canada) in my back yard. American Robins are identified by a red breast. These birds love to sing. They prey upon worms, insects and berries so are omnivorous.
A black -capped chickadee visits regularly to my yard. These small birds have peculiar characteristic of memorizing the places where they store their food. They have complex vocalization. According to ecologists most familiar and common sound they produce "chick-a-dee-dee' 'hence the name is given to the bird. They mostly feed upon insects (mainly on caterpillars) and grains. These birds are well known to lower their body temperature in winter. Theses are very friendly to human habitat often takes food from hands. Research on their behavior shows that they take grains from feeder and take them to their nest where they churn them.
