Peak of Early Spring

Update on spring: after an inch of gentle mild rain spread over the last ten days, the Woods are coming to life. Across the forest floor, the light halo of green is almost everywhere.. early Lonicera honeysuckle and Rosa multifora leaves unfolding, Stellaria chickweed, Galium bedstraw, Lamium purpureum henbit (first blooms today), early Poa grasses. In the shrub understory, young Ligustrum privet and Acer negundo box elder leaves (first ~ 3%) leaves are unfolding. When the box elder leaves come full flush, the canopy understory will be closed until September. No turtles in the ponds or visible in the Woods but the ponds are looking OK: 1.36' in the East Pond and 1.52' in the Northwest. Both are covered with a light film of pollen. The East (and probably the NW too) has hundreds and thousands of mosquito wrigglers. They both have a few gerrid water striders but are in need of some odonate larvae, tadpoles or Gambusia to hunt down the wrigglers.
  I saw just one white-tail, a larger doe near the south delta. Several old burrows right along the main trails are freshly dug out.. must be armadillos.. or maybe box turtles. No more tracks of hogs - thank goodness.
  Prunus Mexican plum is in full beautiful bloom scattered through the Woods.
Around Norman, the Forsythia, Quince and Bradford Pear are either at their peak bloom or just before it.
Heather's forensic pigs are in full bloat on this sunny warm day.
Sky is powder Carolina blue.