This year was the shortest winter in memory, lasting from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon on the weekend of January 20—22. Fortunately, I had put enough time on the NordicTrac to make the most of the snow when it finally came. But now the long season of not-winter-not-spring is over, and it is spring.

I’ve been watching the spots that usually have the first wildflowers for several weeks, looking for the first signs of spring. On Wednesday, the first harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa) showed up at the usual first bloom spot. By Thursday, many more harbinger of spring were blooming:

The skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) was also blooming:

I expected to see the skunk cabbage up much earlier, but Wednesday was the first time I found open blooms at Fox Island this year. I was told they have been blooming for three weeks at Metea.

In addition to the wildflowers, I saw a large leopard frog and heard a number of spring peepers on Thursday. It’s definitely spring.