Spring is Here?

 Yesterday was the first day of spring but if you were here in Minnesota you might not think so. We still have loads of snow and windchill temps that are going down below zero. While I am certainly ready for spring, and tired of shoveling snow a long winter is not all bad. When we have a late winter the trees will often not leaf out until the middle of May. Trees that do not have their leaves yet lead to much better warbler photographing when the warblers migrate through usually at the beginning of May. Long winter usually also lead to better photo opportunities in Yellowstone, where we will be traveling shortly. With the higher elevations still locked up in snow the animals usually head to the lower elevations which are closer to the roads. Both trips where we have seen wolf up close were years that we had a late winter. We also see many more grizzly and other animals.

 Now last year was quite different. I took this picture in a park last year on March 24th. There are no flowers or bugs around yet this year, at least not outside. What a difference!