I've seen a couple of ladybugs in my yard. Tulips began to pop up in a garden and a window box. The dogs dug up and ate the ones in the garden. Bearded iris are coming up. Luckily I put all of the beardies in areas the dogs cannot get to.

I've seen a few volunteer arugula sprouts in one of the produce gardens. Last fall's arugula crop is producing. I've really enjoyed eating those fresh greens in recent weeks. Garlic has sprouted. The forsythia is forming buds.

I've direct sown seeds for spinach and a few other greens early. I'll be interested to see how well they do.

Signs of spring ... the sound of lawnmowers :)

and the quail have definitely begun early breeding season behavior: they are still in flocks but the males are zealously guarding "their" female from any male who wanders too close. One lucky male has three (!!) females who have decided that he is suitable, and he's being run ragged trying to keep them safe from the other males.

I see sprouts on my salvias. The geese flew north honking. My Rhemannia elata sprouted. I thought it died in last summers drought. I moved it to a wetter spot. My winter garden is starting to bolt. The spring garden is sprouting. I put the frost cloths away for the year. Daffodils and bulinella nutans are blooming.

I heard a whitewing dove hooting outside my window yesterday morning, and my neighbor's ocotillos and honey mesquite are sprouting.

Kevin : )

It looks like already this week will bring some of that cold weather that I mentioned above... but the thunderstorms yesterday were certainly exciting, and a nice reminder of the warm season weather.

I've also noticed the ravens nesting, and the male curve-billed thrashers singing like crazy from their high perches. Also, lots of black-tailed jackrabbits out and about, which always seems to occur this time of year.

Well, thanks for the interesting tidbits from your various places...

In southern NM desert we are enjoying the increasing sound of the birds in the morning. The grey cardinals (Pyrrhuloxia)are very present, now in abundance, and the desert doves and cactus wrens have beginning to nest again. The willows are leafing out nicely in their lime green Spring finery. The palms are putting out new leaves, soon to replace those scorched by the winter nights. The Palo Verde trees are just starting to cautiously put out their new leaves; the Mesquite more cautious and wait until they are certain, usually around April 1. The desert wildflowers are starting, and with the winter rains, the Mexican poppies in the foothills of the Organ Mountains promise a great display later in the month.

Lorna Organic ---- how did the ceanothus you planted a couple years ago fare?

All the native stuff is still dormant. Strange. The oldtimers waited to plant chile until the desert willows (chilopsis) budded out.

Desrtlvr, to my great disappointment, one of the Ceanothus died last winter. I'm waiting to see if the remaining one is okay. It feels dry to the touch, although I've been watering it faithfully.

Our Fava beans just popped up. Garlic has been up 2 weeks.
Mustard greens sprouted- but then stopped...

My plum trees and peach tree have beautiful flowers; I just hope the wind stays calmer this season so we'll have some fruit. My pussy willow bush has lots on it and my pear trees are popping out. I am curious about the curve-billed thrasher and wondering if that's the name of the bird we saw last season. If so, he loved to throw our rocks and leaves onto the driveway looking for, I guess bugs. He was roughly a little bigger than a robin, and I believe was a dark grey color. He definitely had a large, curved beak. Are they native to Albuquerque?

Hope you don't have any hard freezes while those trees are blooming either! Last year was a good one around Santa Fe for all the tree fruits except apricot. The latter rarely escapes the late frosts here. Hope this year is a good one. I'll be interested to see how many weeks behind Albuquerque we are too.

Yup, it does sound like a curve-billed thrasher, which is a common native year-round resident in much of the state. Look closely, and you should be able to see its red eye. The males sure are singing loudly right now...

Our Spring winds are here as are the hummingbirds. The swallows are returning too. Yucca are putting up flower stalks, yesterday I noticed one starting to bloom. The smaller barrel cactus are setting flower buds and the carpenter bees are getting busy. The birds are singing like crazy and I see them carrying beakfulls of nesting material. It's supposed to hit 80 degrees here tomorrow.
And windy.
Feels good to have winter behind us!

Yesterday seemed like the first real spring day here: relatively warm, and windy. I saw lots of migrating birds, including several turkey vultures, lots of hawks, and even a group of what I think were 5 American white pelicans, way way up (sometimes it pays to look up into the sky alot). Two weeks ago I caught a glimpse of a fence lizard, probably the first one I've seen since about November.

Here in Santa Fe, the currant and elderberry bushes are just starting to leaf out, the junipers and elms are releasing pollen like crazy, and all the tough little herbaceous perennial plants are starting to come up. We have yet to see any fruit trees flowering (which is a good thing).

It's really neat to hear what's going on in other parts of the state, for example, the swallows... I won't expect to see them at my house until late April. The old-timers used to say it was safe to plant out chiles when the swallows had returned.