New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Brrrrrr

Friday 05/03/2019

Geeze, it sure is cold and damp today as it has been the last week or more. I just read in the Concord Monitor that April is going on record as one of the rainiest. Yes it has been wet and it has been running mostly near 20 degrees below average.
And this has sure dampened this spring. My daffodils bloomed later than average and they have just sat there. Not a bad thing as far as colors go but my tulips have not had a single blossom yet. My furnace has been running pretty steady lately. A few weeks ago I did have a chance to shut it off for a few days.

The radishes I planted three weeks ago have broken ground at least. But with the ground so cold and wet I don't see me planting much else until the ground warms up some. Any seeds that go into the ground will just sit there and may rot under these conditions. So no potatoes in the ground yet. Thanks to my daughter and our two granddaughters we did get lots of yard clean up done last weekend. This year I've elected to haul the leaf litter down to my garden to use as mulch. I have a pretty big pile down there now with a little left to do. I'm kind of anxious to get at the garden. But I want the warm fresh smell of the dirt to rise up from the tilling work. Another reason to delay.

Even the spring peepers have quieted down lately. I'm hoping this cold weather breaks in time for the -spring birth of our nesting birds. Cold periods of rainy temps can devastate the nestlings. So lets hope for a quick warm up soon. I still do have a few turkeys wander by most days. I'm still putting out a little bit of chicken scratch and whole corn to attract my lesser birds. I've  had some song sparrows and white throated sparrows feeding lately. All my blue jays disappeared more than a month ago. I'm kind of wondering what happened to them. I had more than I ever had before through much of the winter.

Leaf up is occurring all be it pretty slowly. No fruit blossoming yet. The next sunny days are going to transform our local hillsides into glorious shades of green. Ranking in my view as second only to our fall colors. As I turn off route 28 on to Short Falls Road I am mesmerized by all the shades of green as I look up towards Fort Mountain. Yes despite the cold damp weather it sure is worth while to cast your eyes to the hills to warm your heart.