Poppy, West Yorkshire, UK

May 2012

Bushy Park - Springtime -

(scanned from a photo).

First boat to be launched at Montrose Harbor on the North Side of Chicago. That is great of course but, I'm not so sure me and the crew are ready for that first shake out sail... Least, not till the snow melts.

Our season is short enough without this kind of silliness.

Springtime

~ Springtime Volvo ?

~ 1967 - 4 door Volvo Amazon ..

An Appletree near the Swabian Alb

“We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Saturday 21 march

1:00 SLT

21h00

Feel free to come and join us !!

!!! Kékéland !!!

The southbound leg of the P&W Gardner job (GRWO) has a pair of B39's and 40 cars as they move through Holden MA on a springlike 55 degree last day of January. Seen here from atop the 122A bridge, which thank goodness does not have a suicide fence yet.

US Botanic Garden - Washington, DC

Collage

Springtime

Poplar young leaves next Choulex (Switzerland)

Updated May 23: A storm blew through on Tuesday leaving a trail of devastation across the state of Iowa. We were fortunate with only rain and high winds. My Irises took a beating, lost some, trampled down a few that I cut and brought inside, closed up a few but opened a few more! I find beauty in all the stages that a flower takes from bud, to flower, back to bud, to dying. Behold life and death in a cycle thru Mother Nature. Photo Images credited to Vickie L Klinkhammer of Vickielynne Photography and Designs(VLP&Designs)

Buy my gear:

The crocus seem to be showing up a bit late this year in NYC.

Springtime in Switzerland

#leicaphotography #leicaq343 #leica #leica_camera_schweiz #aposummicron43mm #switzerland #mountains

springtime - field of yellow

Taken at Millthorpe, NSW, Australia

I was originally calling these Easter cupcakes rather than springtime, but they don't have much to them specific to Easter... they're more generalized springtime in the theme. Either way, they're bright and festive... and tasty! The cupcakes are lavender white zinfandel (vanilla cupcakes with white zinfandel jelly and whole bits of dried lavender in the batter), topped with a meringue buttercream. I believe this buttercream is the "Italian" style. It's the first time I've made anything other than "normal" buttercream and I have to say I like this one much better... it tastes lighter and smoother and is just the right amount of sweet for me. Plus, it's very easy to work with and holds up well at room temperature.

For the flowers, I took a package of rainbow Twizzlers and cut them into cross-sections, then stuck them on florist wire into the meringue grass. Jelly Belly eggs are also scattered about.

at the South African Atlantic Coast,

Westcoast National Park, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Although this image was taken several years ago this is what my part of the world looks like now.

Springtime

Orchids. Tanswell's Hotel, Beechworth Victoria in the background.

The Richardson’s ground squirrel is commonly called the prairie gopher, yellow gopher, flicker tail or picket pin. It was named after the naturalist John Richardson who first collected specimens of the rodent in the early 1820’s.

Status and Importance

Ground squirrels play an important role in the ecology of Alberta’s wildlife. Ground squirrels are a major source of food for many predatory birds, mammals and reptiles. One species of raptor, the ferruginous hawk, depends almost entirely on ground squirrels to fledge their chicks. Similarly, many other species rely on ground squirrels as a major food source.

The population status of Richardson’s ground squirrels varies from year to year but is generally rated as “not at risk.” Richardson’s ground squirrels are also unregulated, which means they can be lawfully shot, trapped or otherwise removed where permitted.

Life History

The Richardson’s ground squirrel is a burrowing rodent found throughout most of the prairie and parkland regions of Alberta (Figure 1). It is the most common ground squirrel of the five species found in Alberta. The other species are Franklin’s (bush gopher), Columbian, thirteen-lined and golden-mantled. The Richardson’s ground squirrels are the most prevalent colony dwellers of the five species.

Richardson’s ground squirrels spend the majority of their life underground. In their underground burrow system, they usually mate, raise their litters for the first 28 days and avoid predators (except weasels and badgers) and inclement weather (heat, cold and rain). They sleep underground from just before sunset until shortly after sunrise and hibernate for up to eight months in their burrows.

Each adult female owns at least one burrow system that has five to seven exits and two to five sleeping chambers, one of which is used for rearing young. Vacated burrow systems are soon taken over by dispersing Richardson’s ground squirrels. Occasionally badgers, burrowing owls, foxes or coyotes may use ground squirrel burrows.

Reproduction

Both males and females are reproductively mature the year following their birth. Mating occurs only in spring, shortly after females emerge from hibernation. A female that fails to become pregnant or loses her embryos or infants is incapable of breeding again until the following year.

Females are fertile for only two to three hours on one afternoon on one day each year and will mate with several males during that time. Males also copulate with several females. Only one litter per female is produced each spring.

A litter of 6 to 8, with an equal number of males and females, is born underground after a 23-day gestation. At birth, the infants are naked, blind, helpless and totally dependent on their mother. At first emergence aboveground, when four weeks old, juveniles immediately begin eating solid food and rapidly become nutritionally independent of their mother.

Litter size often varies with the quality of vegetation available, averaging between five to six young on native pasture and expanding up to nine or ten on tame forage crops.

During June and July, most of the young ground squirrels seek new areas to establish colonies as far as 3 km away. Ground squirrels vigorously defend their burrows and foraging area from other ground squirrels.

Life Span

Natural mortality among Richardson’s ground squirrels is quite high, particularly in males. As a result, the sex ratio among adults is about four females for each male. Females live about four years (maximum six), on average, while males usually live only one year (maximum two to three).

The major cause of death is predation and starvation; only half the females and less than one fifth of the males born each year will reach adulthood.

Hibernation

Richardson’s ground squirrels have evolved to escape the prolonged winter period by hibernating, a torpor-like state in which the body temperature drops while heart and respiration rates slow down dramatically.

To survive without food or water for periods exceeding 210 days, ground squirrels need to consume vast amounts of food high in energy to develop a reservoir of body fat. Adult males enter hibernation sometime in late July, females several weeks later followed by juveniles until freeze-up.

Each animal hibernates alone in a special chamber (called the hibernaculum) that it prepares up to four to six weeks in advance, but does not use until ready to hibernate. The hibernaculum is sealed off with a soil plug. The only predator capable of getting into the hibernaculum is the badger.

Males emerge from hibernation from late February to mid-March while females come out about two weeks later.

Social Behavior

Richardson’s ground squirrels live in groups of closely related female kin. Females live their entire life in or near their birth site, but males of the year tend to disperse and leave their birth area after weaning.

As soon as the female is pregnant, she will not tolerate males, including her mate(s). Females will only tolerate their female relatives (i.e. mother, grandmother, daughters, etc.) and are aggressive to all other squirrels. Females recognize their kin throughout life, even after many months without contact during hibernation.

Each female rears her litter by herself with no assistance from male or female relatives. Males do not form any social associations, either with other males or with females.

Diet

Richardson’s ground squirrels eat a wide variety of food. Most prefer succulent green vegetation such as grasses, forbs, young shrubs and seeds. Richardson’s ground squirrels occasionally eat insects and scavenge road-killed ground squirrels, but they very rarely kill for food.

Little is known about the preferred natural diet of Richardson’s ground squirrels, but the assumption is the relatively high nutrient and oil content of seeds helps in the deposition of fat necessary for hibernation. Richardson’s ground squirrels are also known to store quantities of food in burrows. Males store seed in the hibernating chamber while females do not store seeds.

The first wild garlic emerges delicately from the leaves!

Der erste Bärlauch grüsst zart aus der Laubdecke hervor!

If you're keeping score, this weed is a summertime plant, not springtime.