First vultures returned from Mexico and down state, last week. First cattle egret over the weekend. Trees are leafing out, buds starting to blossom on the crabapple in the front yard.

Always important to life in our meadow, saw the first gopher snake, yesterday. Shiny from just shedding his skin. 3-4 feet long.

The photo isn’t the greatest – a single frame yanked from a not-too-great spur of the moment piece of video with my pocket camera. But, nice to see everyone is waking up from winter.