Third Sunday of Lent

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. I was also out all afternoon for a fraternity meeting up in Crystal Lake. I took a small detour on the way home and found a wetlands with an overlook and nature trail, but that will provide future entertainment - by then I had frozen food in the car and needed to get home (plus it's too early in the season for it to be very interesting). It was nice to get out for a couple of minutes and listen to the birds.

After I got home, we went for a walk - it was still plenty warm enough at sunset. We stopped and watched a beaver in a nearby retention pond (judging by the damage, he's been there for some time). We saw wood ducks along with the mallards down by the river (not far from where the photo above was taken), and a white duck keeping company with a pair of mallards. The birds are singing louder every day! I saw a tulip coming up - first one of the season. Some of the maples are starting to bloom. It's good to see all these signs of spring...at least this project IS getting me to pay more attention!