A black capped chickadee at a hanging birdhouse

I must be doing something right, as there’s two pairs of chickadees and a pair of doves nesting in my tiny 1/5 of an acre urban plot

That escalated quickly.. a half inch of snow fell with some of the largest flakes I’ve ever seen

Snowing in April.. welcome to New England

The rabbit is back and is sun bathing

A purple crocus flower with orange stamens emerging from some dried grass

A purple crocus flower emerging from the leaves. In the foreground is the trunk of a young Yellow Birch tree and a white fence in the background.

Warmer weather brings crocus flowers. These are non native but like daffodils, are relatively harmless and don’t have a tendency to spread. I didn’t plant these; they’ve been popping up in the yard for at least the past 25 years.

They blend in so well with the leaf litter!

A cottontail rabbit rests under a patch of steeplebush (Spirea tomentosa) that it was using as a food source back in January. To the left of the rabbit, many branches with clean cuts from their sharp teeth can be seen. #nativeplants

A close up view of the fuzzy catkins (flowers) on this Bigtooth Aspen tree

A Bigtooth Aspen tree covered in buds

My Bigtooth Aspen tree is budding. The flowers, known as catkins, have emerged and will begin to hang down in a few days once they have fully opened before releasing pollen. This tree is a male. #ecoregion59 #nativeplants

After a 40 mile bike ride, I took the commuter rail back to Waltham. It was being pushed by the mbta heritage unit MassDOT edition.

Mourning Doves perched on the roof #birds

A new visitor in the backyard; a female wild turkey. She sat on the fence for a few hours in the sun and is now foraging for seeds

0.83” total precip with 0.4” snow since Sunday. Waltham, MA

Another light coating of snow this morning

I was thinking to myself yesterday how the wrens have been quiet around here but I was woken up by a Carolina wren this morning

*works a government job* “hmmm I don’t see anyone dining M-F between the hours of 8-4”

6 Blue Jays in a tree surrounding a platform feeder. The Jays are circled in white to make them easier to spot

Got Blue Jays? #birds

The Mourning Doves built quite a decent nest on one of the branches in this cedar. Time is running out to hang bird boxes for the nesting season, but I was able to get one last bluebird box up today. I’ll most likely get chickadees or nuthatches, as bluebirds are rare in the city.

Just when you thought it was over.. a light coating of snow fell this morning. It has already begun to melt, however.

Clear blue sky looking over a backyard surrounded by trees and other homes

Warmer weather today, with temps already into the 40’s. My Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata) is starting to bud.

Purple crocus flowers, waiting for sunlight to open

It is crocus season

Any snow left in the woods around there? The last of our metrowest snowpack finally gave way last night. Although Bennington is probably one of the warmest places in Vermont.

1.22” total rainfall since yesterday. Waltham, MA @wx1box.bsky.social

And here lies the last of the snowpack in my north facing front yard on this warm rainy day. 0.70” in my weather station gauge. It was a good run- 58 days with at least an inch of snow on the ground #MAwx @wx1box.bsky.social

Graffiti that says “we work every day to make 9 people rich”

Pretty much.. gotta love late stage capitalism

The last patch of snow holding on in my front yard where we’ve had continuous snow cover since the first picture, January 18th, 8 weeks ago today #MAwx

A brown rabbit with a white “beard” resting under a pine tree in some dense brush

An Eastern Cottontail rabbit resting under the cover of a pine tree

There’s something special about the first real warm day in spring. Its like that first 50° day in the fall after a long summer. Change is welcome. I’ll never live somewhere that doesn’t have seasons.. sick of the climate? Just wait another month or two.

I’m just seeing bare ground for the first time in 2 months. Except it’s not bare, it’s a thick layer of rabbit pellets

The 41” or so that fell in Fall River is all gone. 2.5-3’ of snowpack just west of Boston has shrunk to 8-10”, with patches of bare grass. Even if southern New England gets hit hard, the higher elevations of northern New England will always beat them in snow depth and retention

Now the real test begins. How long will the remaining snowpack last before it finally melts? The grass may be showing in spots, but still a foot of snow remains in the backyard. #MAwx