Spring continues her fickle ways. We have had some spectacularly sunny and warm days, and others that were cold, rainy, and/or windy. Yesterday was one of the warm ones, but today it’s raining (which means I am indoors and updating this blog). We may get snow tonight, and tomorrow we may not see 50 degrees. The freeze warning means that I’ll be going up the hill behind the house to cover the two small apple trees that are blooming. Lots of trees, shrubs, and flowers are blooming now. The redbuds (Cercis canadensis) and wild cherries (Prunus serotina) are near their peak, but the dogwoods (Cornus florida) are just beginning to open.
The hunting season for wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) began a few days ago, but no one hunts in the Hollow, and “our” turkeys seem to be oblivious. The toms come to eat but spend most of their time and energy strutting (video) and gobbling. The three toms often come when I call the deer (deer and turkey video), and the hens stay busy under the bird feeders.
One day I walked to the Post Office, which is not far from the end of our road. It’s a very scenic post office and a great place to watch the river after a big rain.
The wildflowers—lots of violets—are blooming, but I can’t identify them all. Unfortunately, some of them are invasive exotics; we have many invasive plant species in the Hollow.
I saw the first hummingbird at my feeder a few days ago and the first box turtle today.
I’ll be watching for turtles on future rambles and show you photos when I see one!
French Broad Hollow Ramble 
It is turkey sighting season in Berkeley too. Sharon and I saw three (a juvenile, female and tom) in a park yesterday. We kept our distance.
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