Now that winter has pushed back to the north, spring is taking hold with more conviction along the Colorado Front Range. Here on our Littleton farm, the crabapples and wild plums are in full bloom while the lilacs and chokecherries are beginning to flower.
This morning, down along the South Platte, yellow-rumped warblers were common as their spring migration peaks; summer residents included cinnamon and blue-winged teal, yellow warblers, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, Bullock's orioles and a lone osprey. Back at the farm, I encountered the first western wood pewee of the season (though eBird's computer questions my discovery).
Controversies aside, we expect sunny, warm weather for the next few days, leading up to my journey back to Missouri. There I am told to anticipate hot, humid, summer-like conditions; I may remember 2022 as the year without a spring!
