Early spring in the Preserve – first and second week of March

View from Lakeshore Path, March 4. Photo Arlene Koziol

It is a time of waiting, in so many ways, a time to appreciate the signs of spring popping up all around us. Already during the first week of March, Arlene Koziol, on her walks in the Preserve, noticed the snow cover losing depth and showing openings and dents. And University Bay opened. She reports: "I have been spending some time in the Preserve. University Bay is open water. ... looking to Maple Bluff, there is ice. The ice is black and melting around the edges. I think that we will have open water soon. New migrants are arriving every day." She also observed a the muskrat in the bay.

While Arlene's photos of March 4 above shows looks like late winter, a week later on March 11, the snow is all but gone and brown soil tells of plants emerging. Fungi begin their decomposing work. 
​

Arlene adds this quote for us:
​“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature— the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Rachael Carson

Lakeshore Path, March 11. Photo A. Koziol