All of us are recovering after a long winter

Look who is back: The rose-breasted grosbeaks. This is a good sign. Phoebe is building a nest, too. 

I'm not sure they've done anything over a few days.
Maybe s/he doesn't like the location after all?

Then, I was examining our winter damage.
I was comforted by the words of a master gardener:

Be patient as garden recuperates from winter

I have two of the issues Mark Cullen wrote about: sunburned Yew, and rabbits eating the tree bark. He says be patient and likely the former will recover as new growth replaces the old needles. The latter issue, chewed off bark, may or may not hurt the tree, depending upon how much of the bark is gone, and it it encircles the tree. I hope this Horse Chestnut tree recovers!


The snakes have emerged from their Hibernacula, deep underground amongst the rocks, below the frost, where they hibernate. I spotted this one, with its head down a mouse hole! I grabbed the camera and snapped it with a piece of dirt on its head!

Dorah was following me, on my way to work down by the frog pond, but she never did notice the snake right under her nose!


I had some damage at my shed. The Red squirrel has been wicked, eating a hole into the garbage can, then eating a hole through my repaired hole in the doorframe!
 

I fixed this once!

Finally, screwed in some metal to cover it

Finally, my goldfish pond has been leaking, due to mice eating through the liner. I installed a water barrel to gather extra water for the pond. This way, I do not have to use pristine well water to refill the pond for the goldfish.