Return to the Seasons

I know any tropical biologist will tell you that there are seasons, even at the equator, but after less than two weeks in Ecuador (see stories and photos at Sparkling Squirrel with many more to come) where it felt constantly on the verge of spring (except that it was dark well before 7), it feels incredibly seasonal to be back where things have changed dramatically in two weeks. The spring flowers, which were just blooming when we left, are completely done.

The grass is brown. The garden has grown. It's light forever. It feels like summer.

Rain

I think that several parts of the country have been getting lots of rainfall recently, and I thought I'd share a photo of the results of our recent rain.


There has been some flooding in central IA recently, and this photo was taken from a bridge over the Skunk River, which runs through Ames. It is one of my favorite place in Ames (which is may explain why I keep posting photos of it...).





For an idea of what the river normally looks like, here is a photo of the river in December.





Spring is here!

Wild Blue Phlox

Wild Blue Plox (along with Virginia Bluebells posted below). I'm not quite up with photo layout on the blog yet.

Spring Ephemerals

I took my botany class to Core Arboretum to see the spring ephemerals today. It didn't rain on the ride there and it didn't rain on the way back (and it didn't rain at all here while we were there). This is an improvement over my invert trip to Pittsburgh on which is did not rain for the first hour of the van ride, rained consistently and hard for the next 9 hours and did not rain on the last hour on the way home. The students partially blame me for the rain (along with the steepness of the hill and the lack of bathrooms at the arboretum).

While I did not get a good photo of the trillium, and the trout lilies had disappeared since Saturday, I did capture at least a glimpse of how stunning the spring understory is.

The cacti are blooming!

I went back up to Pima Canyon (of course!) yesterday. The cacti are blooming -- yay!


I gather this little lady is called Mammillaria because it bleeds white (like milk) if cut.














Prickley pear -- I didn't even know they were yellow.













Not a cactus, but cool nonetheless. Larkspur, right?











Happy Easter, everyone!

Swelling buds in the desert

I went back to Pima Canyon today for a morning hike. None of the cacti are quite in bloom yet, although the ocotillo are:


Ocotillo, March 31
(Many of them are in full bloom as of Apr 4)











Buckhorn cholla, April 4. One of the most mature buds I saw.












Prickly pear, April 4.
Again, one of the most mature buds.

Tulips!

I know these photos are crappy, but the tulips in my yard seemed to open all at once today. I was so excited that I wanted to share it with you all.

Spring in the Desert

I went on a hike up at a place called Pima Canyon today and the desert is really green!

The ocotillo are leafing out.

As is the mesquite.

The brittlebush are in bloom.

Snakes are out. I think it's a Sonoran gopher snake.

Probably the coolest picture I got was this big black bee. Don't know what the flower is. (Or the bee, either.)

Speaking of Spring...

Since we've been talking about the emergence of spring recently:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/
(This link made me think of you and your red bud tree monitoring, Jennifer)

Gone but not forgotten

It isn't quite spring here in IA yet, but it isn't really winter. Up until last week, we've had snow on the ground since the first of the year. Even though I am looking forward to spring and all it brings, I kind of miss winter (the cross-country skiing in particular, but not the icy sidewalks or power outages). Since I don't have spring photos, here are some photos taken during the winter, overlooking the Skunk River. (Thanks to Jennifer for explaining how to post photos)

Have signs of spring emerged where you are?