The Colors of Mud Season

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While I love all the seasons on the ranch, mud season- the period of time between the closing of the ski mountain in mid-April and the arrival of summer in late May- is my favorite.  The tourists have gone home, and many of the locals leave town for a few weeks for warmer climes.  The weather varies dramatically from day-to-day - sunny, rainy, snowy, blowy.  Flocks of birds migrate through the area, while other flocks stay and begin the breeding cycle. 

Daffodils in snow.jpg

As the snow melts, the ranch transforms itself practically overnight from white and brown to a dazzling green - so green it almost hurts your eyes. Green grass, green buds, green leaves, even green frogs cover the landscape in all directions.  And shortly following the greening of the ranch, splashes of yellow begin to appear.  Golden daffodils bloom in my front and back garden, sometimes poking through the white snow that has fallen overnight.  The dull brown winter plumage of the American Goldfinch suddenly transforms to the bright

Goldfinch.jpg

 canary yellow that seems more typical of tropical species rather than North American birds.  But my favorite yellow - a kind of yellow-orange - shows up in the form of a single Yellow-headed Blackbird that visits the ranch each spring.  I know he has arrived when I hear his raucous call, reminding me of the sound of a rusty hinge. (Click hear to hear his song).  He sports a brilliantly yellow head, neck, and chest, and flashes white wing patches when he flies.  He joins the throngs of other blackbirds that frequent my feeders during mud season, but with his flashy yellow coloration and his unique call, he grabs the spotlight. 

Yellow-headed Bl.jpg


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2 Comments

Hi Nancy! We like your blog a lot. Very nice writing, and brings the place vividly to mind.

Dazzled by the photo on the home page -- done by a Hexter. Your father, I assume?

And regarding Mud Season, I assume you know the poem by

e.e. cummings (1894-1962)

N Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame baloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and
the

goat-footed

baloonMan whistles
far
and
wee


Greetings to John and Molly (my crush)
RRP

Hey Mom!

Loved your last two entries, great pics of all the lovely yellow you are getting this time of year. I edited this last post a little so the link was clickable-- I'll show you how to do it next time we chat. Love you!

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This page contains a single entry by Nancy published on April 27, 2009 10:26 PM.

Daytime Visit from Evening Grosbeaks was the previous entry in this blog.

Oriole Buffet is the next entry in this blog.

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