Fewer of these birds around the garden it seems, but Barry got this lovely shot of two which we hope will nest in one of the many nest boxes at the garden.

Another visitor to the native bloodroot flowers, a small bee, possibly an Andrenid sp. Photographed by Barry.

Barry found and photographed two eastern commas at the garden. I particularly like the two together on the tree branch. This species, like the one in the previous photo, overwinters as an adult.

It is toad time now and Barry photographed this one near the pond. They gather in great numbers at the pond to mate and lay eggs, and then once again leave their aquatic breeding grounds for upland habitats.

Hanging around the pond on a not very warm day, was this swallow and one other.

It is the season for frog songs, although in today's cool weather the wood frogs were giving only tentative 'clucks' (these are the frogs that sound like ducks quacking and clucking). Nonetheless, a few were hanging out near shore floating on the water.

While trying to untangle dog-strangling vine (DSV)from a Red Osier Dogwood shrub, Sandy found this small nest made primarily of grasses on the ground. This is a song sparrow nest and over the years I (CH) have found many such nests bound tightly amidst the DSV vines on the ground or sometimes very low in a shrub, just slightly above ground level. This is one of the dangers of yanking out DSV in nesting season... these nests with eggs or young can be easily destroyed.

A lovely small rather exotic looking early spring flower, a garden plant from Europe.

Red trillium is just poking above the soil, leaves still small, but buds visible. No sign of the bloodroot yet, neither in the old woods or in the Backyard Garden.

Unfortunately, not only does spring bring forth the good things, it also brings forth the bad, such as the garlic mustard which is looking sadly healthy in the old woodlot.

Countless millions of birds die annually across North America when they hit windows. They may collide with tall glass towers or with windows in our homes. This is a preventable tragedy. The Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) has an abundance of ideas which both home and business owners can implement to help decrease the very sad toll on our birds which are already facing a number of other problems too (habitat loss being another biggie). Here, the Fletcher garden has placed some film on their windows that breaks up the reflection and at the same time is almost invisible when you view it from inside. In other words, you can see out as if there is no tape on the window but on the other side, it deters birds from thinking they can fly through the glass.

If you want to find out more about FLAP and what you can do to help prevent bird collisions at your home, please check out their site: http://www.flap.org/

Sandy noticed this butterfly flitting around the first part of the Bill Holland Trail, returning again and again to sit on the wood chips in the sun.

There is a nest box next to this squirrel and red squirrels have occupied it for some years now. A few winters ago they shared it with some honey bees which had rashly decided to settle in there. By spring, the bees, their honeycomb and honey were all gone, eaten by the squirrel.

Soon there will be pollen on these catkins and insect activity will be abundant with a variety of species descending on the tree.

It was a lovely warm sunny day and birds were singing non-stop. Both male and female blackbirds are back now, the males for awhile. As well, there were a few tree swallows, song sparrows singing everywhere, lingering dark-eyed juncos, american goldfinches singing their hearts out, cardinals pretty well dominating the song scene, and chickadees busy investigating nest sites. Overhead a couple of red-tailed hawks circling, and a turkey vulture flying very low over the ravine and coming back for another scan.

Barry photographed this pretty butterfly at the garden in mid-April. Surprisingly, this species has only been seen and photographed a few times at FWG.

A beautiful shot by Barry of this gorgeous butterfly. This is one of the species that overwinters as an adult and yet despite spending months hunkered in a tiny shelter, this particular butterfly looks quite fresh and the blue spots on the wing glisten. In Britain these are known as the Camberwell Beauty.

A very nice photo of a song sparrow showing its plumage well. These are one of the earliest arriving sparrows in our region, often appearing in March if the winter is mild, or early April if it is not.