Late February through mid March

The photographs are chronological starting with late February.



We had some warm weather in February which jump started spring but this past week we had snow so it's not a clear trajectory. 



I noticed we may have another little snow this coming week.



I was more concerned with some very cold nights since early spring flowers are pretty resilient but if the temperatures drop too low it creates issues.



It's been a very pleasant weekend.



I'm never too eager for hot weather but I like moderate weather the older I get.



It's interesting to me how some flowers get their signals from temperature and others seem to wait for longer days (this is observational not scientific).



The snowy, icy shots are ones I took this week.



I used to know more about the science behind plants and trees but I have forgotten most of it.



Some trees and flowers never go into spring mode until much later but others do seems to react to the immediate weather.



What I worry about is when my pecan tree starts leafing out too early.



I've had that happen a few years where the first bunch of new leaves are killed by low temperatures.



Too early leaves haven't had long term damage to my pecan tree but I don't get very many pecans when the leaves have to start over again after being killed. 



The flowering trees above were taken during a walk today.



The cormorants haven't left Shelley Lake yet.



They usually go somewhere else in the later spring and return in the fall. They are spotted year round at other lakes in my area but I don't usually see them at Shelley Lake in the later spring and summer.



The herons are at this lake year round.



I can tell when they have babies because they scream and fly up and down the lake if I get too close to where they nest.



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Winter Post 2018

I took so many photographs today that I thought it was a good time to prepare a winter post.



I hope everyone's new year is off to a good start.



I worked from home yesterday and today so I was able to enjoy the birds I feed during bad weather on my deck.



Today was a winter wonderland.



It was my favorite kind of snowy day.



The sun came out and the sky was a beautiful blue.



I think the cardinal below was playing peekaboo.



It snowed all day yesterday and today we had a brilliant blue sky.



I think the way I uploaded the shots they are going from later in the day to end with earlier in the day.



I'm way to lazy now that I've started to change the order.



I paste the link from flickr and had meant to go from morning to afternoon.



Afternoon to morning works too.



It was supposed to get warmer than it did today.



The sun was very bright but the temperatures stayed below freezing.



The melting from the sun will definitely refreeze tonight since it's going to be quite cold.



My neighbor's backyard play set above looks charming in the snow.



I wonder if it will warm up as much tomorrow as the forecast calls for.



I'm probably going to work from home again.



I don't even have the snow cleared off my car although I tried.



I used most of my energy cutting back overgrown bushes that bowed down across my driveway under the weight of the snow.



I think the junco above looks like it's sticking out its tongue. 

September through November 19 2017

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted.



I knew I wasn't going to continue with the regular photo blogging.



I thought I'd at least continue having a monthly post.



I was surprised to see that my last post was after a beach trip in August.



I have missed visiting other photo bloggers but time and energy haven't permitted.



I decided I want to at least try to have a seasonal post roughly covering summer, fall, winter and spring.



This is roughly fall although where I live September is more a part of summer than fall.



One thing I do notice is we have a very long season of fall/autumn foliage.



The dogwoods and grasses begin to signal fall in September but most trees don't change in central NC until October and even November.



This year the early fall foliage was earlier than usual and the later fall foliage such as Oak trees was later than usual.



The North Carolina mountains are usually several weeks ahead of central NC with fall foliage.



This is an unusual fall because I didn't make it to the mountains.



There were quite a few late flowers but we've had a couple of hard freezes so they're mostly gone.



One reason I want to try to cover the seasons is I occasionally look back to my blog to see what kind of fall or spring, summer or winter we had.



The sculpture is from the outdoor part of the NC Museum of Art.



The shot below was one of the earlier fall ones in my neighborhood where it really looked like fall.



I kind of like the mix where some trees are vivid colors and other still have some green.



Bittersweet berries on my deck wall are a favorite seasonal color for me. 



It's always nice to see the cormorants return in the fall.



I'm not sure where they go in the summer.



The gulls at Shelley lake are back for the winter and although they are at other lakes in the summer they always leave my neighborhood lake in the spring.



Most of the trees still have leaves although the dogwoods and some maples have dropped their leaves. 



I think I'm nearing the end of the shots I picked out.



It's a good thing I have since I'm running out of something to say.



Happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday! I'm grateful for a short work week among other things.