Top Photo: Balancing act by yellow-bellied slider.

The unusually warm February has brought out early baskers, bloomers and animal hormones.

If you haven’t seen turtles basking in the wetlands you haven’t been looking very hard. Every available perch is occupied, with no room to spare.

Normally heavy sleepers, I even saw a snapping turtle the other day.

Red buckeye, one of the earliest shrubs to open up, is doing so now. There are a dozen of them planted along the path from the Dinosaur Trail into Catch the Wind.

A drake mallard has been accompanied by two ducks for several weeks. There’s another drake in the wetlands, but that one keeps getting chased off by the male pictured here.

I’m not sure what’s going on but the ducks seem to have made their choice.

It’s unfortunate that I’ve not been able to get a photo of our red-shouldered hawks mating. I’ve only managed to get photos immediately before and after the act, a matter of seconds.

Saucer magnolia is budding and blooming now. This one is in Explore the Wild next to the Red Wolf Enclosure.

And of course, our Canada geese persist.

And if you’re feeling sneezy, here’s one reason why, elms.

And…

I hear it’s going to cool down in the next few days. Get outside and enjoy the warmth now!