On my morning walk today, I found fresh black bear scat on the road. I don't see bears as often as I did when we were feeding the birds, but of course they are out there, and that turd was good evidence. (I won't post a photo, but you can find some through Google image search if you type in "black bear scat.")

On the same walk, I saw a spring azure butterfly. That's quite a range: from a turd to a butterfly.

Then, on my evening walk tonight, I heard the first hermit thrush of the season. Hermit thrushes have an ethereal call, and since I always hear the bird at dusk from somewhere deep within the woods, the call seems to beckon me into a deep, green place. Click here to give a listen.

As I was walking the final bit of road tonight, not too far from home, I saw a little ribbon moving in front of me. It turned out to be a northern red-bellied snake, about 7 inches long. I cradled it in my hand and brought it home so I could take some pictures. (And returned him to where I found him when I was done.) Did he somehow know I have a snake on the cover of my new novel?

As if all that weren't enough, when we went outside to look at the moon and Venus, I heard my first American toad of the season. American toads have the most beautiful call of all the frogs and toads — it's described as being musical and dreamlike. A large group of toads will call at different pitches, so the term musical is earned. Click here to listen.

    Hmmm...