Newsletter – April 17, 2026
Photo: Debbie Margerum
Spring has sprung, as they say, and the woods are full of life, so I thought I’d share a bit of it with you.
Debbie is so good at getting nature photos that I’m using some of hers. I tried to capture a bee on a purple flower from just two feet away, but I wasn’t close enough, so she let me borrow hers. It’s an art! The uncredited photos are mine.
This pair of Mallard ducks arrive every year about this time and enjoy paddling around in the stream. I’ve never seen them with youngsters, but this is their mating season. Fun fact: the Mallards are a sub-family of ducks called dabbling ducks. Isn’t that cute?
Question: Are you a real duck?
Answer: Naw, I’m just dabbling.
The Redbuds are the big show-offs every spring because, you know, they can. Hillsides are covered with these audacious blooms, bringing a symphony of color to the woods before the maples, oaks, and birches can break out their greenery and soak up all the sunlight.
As I was walking, I was wondering how to describe the color of these trees using only words. It can be really hard to capture—as are taste and smell—but I think I gave it a pretty good go with this sentence:
The blossoms are a jubilant shade of pinkish purple normally exclusive to the domain of children’s toys and clothing.
Photo: Debbie Margerum
The squirrels are dashing everywhere digging up acorns they buried last fall. How do they know?! They must have a built-in geolocation app. This photo is from a couple years ago, back before we had to have the old oak tree removed. It’s like he posed for this portrait, it’s so perfect.
That old white oak was situated on the lot when my parents decided to build the house so they had the architect draw up plans in an L-shape to preserve the tree. We estimated that it was about 250 years old when we took it down. The hollow inside made it a danger to the house, but it lived a long grand life.
On my morning walks I constantly see red squirrels chasing away grey squirrels like the one in the photo. “Hey,” I say, “why can’t we just all get along?”
The bluebells opened up the other day. Can you tune in your faery senses to hear them ringing? It’s a subtle tinkling noise that calls to the pollinators, “We’re here! We’re here!”
I love that I could capture the morning dew glistening on these flowers. I’ve learned a few things from my talented photographer wife.
And just as the Easter egg is a symbol of fertility for this fecund spring season, our outdoor cats went into heat a couple of months ago enticing several tomcats to haunt the premises.
That’s Tabitha on the left eating from the bowl. She’s brought us eleven kittens over three years. We’ve found them homes or had them taken to the Humane Society where they were adopted. She’s walking with a distinctive waddle now. We think she’ll give birth any day.
Her daughter Rocket—from the second litter—is seated on the Adirondack chair where the old oak tree used to stand, watching the early morning activities of the neighborhood.
She’s also got a full womb. I know because I pet her every morning while she eats, and I talk to her about finding a good nesting spot away from predators but not too far away so she can still come to eat every morning on our front porch. Gotta be able to produce enough milk.
It’s her first litter so I figure any information is only going to help.
From past experience we know we won’t see the kittens until about two months after they’re born. So watch this space for some adorable kitty pics in June!
TTFN
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Eric Margerum 