During the past week and a half, spring has been sneaking up on us. In my book, once we turn the page on February, it’s spring. There’s no going back. It’s here.

And, over the past week and a half I’ve taken the photos you see here as evidence.

The blooming red maple above and the sprouting elderberry below offer the best proof of spring’s imminent arrival.

I’ve already mentioned, here in this blog, the arrival of our two Canada geese (they came in on February 4). But get a load of that stack of turtles on the boulder below!

The local pair of red-shouldered hawks has been active in their courtship flights.

And, admittedly, having little to do with spring in general, last week I captured a waxing gibbous moon over the pines down in our Wetlands.

Good-bye winter, hello spring!