The Certainty of the Returning Seasons

"The undying beauty of the land, the certainty of the returning seasons, heals much." (Anne Perry in A Darker Reality.)

Spring has been so late this year I haven't done many walks outside, but yesterday, yesterday morning was perfectly gorgeous. I told HD I was going out to Green Valley and asked if he'd like to go along. 

The first half mile I walked. I glanced around hoping to see wildflowers, but walked steadily until we got to the boardwalk.

There weren't the flowers I was hoping for, but I did note some photo ops, so the walking back took longer.

Catkins are a favorite spring sighting for me so these long corkscrew shaped ones really caught my eye.

I'm not even certain what kind of tree this is. Maybe Walnut? There are a lot of walnut trees at Green Valley State Park.

Ahh, some wildflowers, but just a few Violets

And some patches of yellow - possibly Golden Alexander?

As far from wildflowers as you can get?

We noticed something on a dock so on the way back, Bud went over to see what it was.

From the looks of what's left, that must have been a big ole fish!

It has been awhile since I've seen Russian Olive bushes.

These were once used as windbreaks but are now considered invasive.

A neighbor had a row on the north side of their farmstead.

There are many Honeysuckle bushes at Green Valley Lake.

They are not quite in full bloom yet. 

Another of my favorites. I have so-o many!

While I love looking for rocks along an old dirt road, Bud will hunt fossils in limestone.

He found this in the tons of rock used to build a causeway.

A closeup showing all the tiny shelled creatures once alive eons ago.

My big hunt other than wildflowers was birds.

This photo isn't clear enough to identify these two. I think the top one is a tree swallow but I have no clue what the lower one is.

It was hard to get a good picture of this little olive and yellow bird. I knew it wasn't a Goldfinch by the black mask, but what was it?

What it is was a new addition to my bird life list - a Common Yellowthroat. It is one of the New World warblers and is also known in the Midwest as 'The Yellow Bandit'. A alias I assume is due to its mask.

I am always so thrilled to see new, to me, birds.

I'm already looking foward to more time spent on the trails at Green Valley as the season(s) progress. 💙🌞