Northern Wilds Magazine
If you have bleeding heart plants in your garden, you will see them blooming early in spring. Note, the fully opened blossoms on the right, while the ones at the tip of the flower stem are still buds.
Features

Signs of Spring

by northwilds

Story and Photos by Earl Orf

Canada geese breed early in spring. You are likely to see cute, fuzzy goslings any time now.
Marsh marigolds are a welcome splash of color in early spring. As their name implies, you can find them in marshy areas, but they are also found in many of the ditches beside our back country roads.
Mourning cloak butterflies overwinter as adults. This gives them an advantage in spring because they can be out and flying about as soon as the weather warms up. This is probably one of the first butterflies you will see in the springtime.
It’s fun to watch ferns spring up and uncurl their leaves as the weather warms up.
Spring brings many birds, like this black-throated green warbler, to our area to raise their families. These birds spend the winter in Central and South America. They are in a hurry to get here and secure the best locations for their nests.
It’s fun to watch ferns spring up and uncurl their leaves as the weather warms up.
These tiny flowers are round-lobed hepatica. They are part of a group of early blooming flowers known as spring ephemerals. They live on the forest floor and need to finish blooming before the trees get their leaves and block the sun.
You might be fooled into thinking you’re seeing a new bird this spring. However, it would be a male American goldfinch sporting his bright yellow breeding plumage after spending the winter looking much duller in his winter plumage. Note the same black and white wing and tail feather pattern in both plumages.
If you have bleeding heart plants in your garden, you will see them blooming early in spring. Note, the fully opened blossoms on the right, while the ones at the tip of the flower stem are still buds.

Spring is a time of renewal here in northern Minnesota. Winter birds start leaving and summer birds start arriving. Lakes and rivers are freed from their ice-covered condition. Flowers start blooming. Insects emerge from their winter hibernation. We all seem more invigorated when we can get out in the fresh air and enjoy the warmth of spring.

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