Marlene's Loving Spring!

Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay
March 27, 2008

Marlene Denessen here -- reporting on the seasonal transition at the Sanctuary.

Leaving the parking lot for my weekly walk, I count 35 Red-Winged Blackbirds in
a tree.  It looks like a scene from Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds."  The air
carries the sound of bird song and the fragrance of spring earth.  Grackles fan
out their feathers in display.  Tiny buds are popping out everywhere, and people
are reporting the first signs of Cape Cod spring allergies. 

I walk the marsh front on Bay View Trail.  The tide is low.  A Great Blue Heron
spreads its wings and lifts off into seemingly effortless flight.  I swing back
up and over the sandplain grassland.  As I move onto open ground, I am met with
brilliant sunshine and warmth.  Time to shed some winter clothes.  Painted
Turtles sun themselves on a log in Silver Spring Pond, and Volunteer Naturalist
Barbara Murphy is back.  Spring IS here !

                                                Marlene Denessen
                                                Volunteer Naturalist