It was nice while it lasted

For years, I had identified the flowering tree at the end of our driveway as a flowering cherry. However, this year while looking at other friends' Facebook posts, I decided that it was probably a cultivated flowering crab-apple tree.

I believe my grandmother was the one who called it a flowering cherry tree. In her defense, it flowered and had small fruits that looked like cherries. Its fruits looked nothing like the small green apples that grow on the crab-apples that bloom in the woods.

Meanwhile, my poor tree has a a tough time of it during the past few years. Some years its blooms would stay for week or more. Last year it was devastated by frost and had no blooms at all.

This year I saw numerous buds and then heard a forecast for frost.

I was devastated. I had plans to stalk the blooming tree for bird photos. While the frost didn't seem to do a lot of damage, heavy downpours stripped the pink blooms off the branches. I was still able to get a red squirrel and a grackle posing in its branches with some of the remaining flowers.

Meanwhile in the yard, a not-so-perennial posy popped up. It doesn't appear every year. So little that I often forgot its name. I knew it had something to do with snake. I turned to the internet and was able to identify it as a snake's head flower or chess lily. It is not a native flower and most likely was planted by my grandmother among her spring flowers.

Also in the yard, the bleeding hearts and lilacs have begun to emerge. However, weekly threats of frost have made me nervous. I had been covering plants with buckets and blankets and then storing the covers inside the garage. However, lately I've just let the buckets stay outside as the frost threat doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

My tulips have come and gone. However, Lit' Bit was gracious enough to pose among them when they were in bloom. Although, I probably shouldn't use gracious as the adjective. It was more like trapped. He was inside the garden fence which he hasn't figured out how to get out of yet.

Meanwhile in the woods, the violets and other wildflowers continued to thrive.

Hopefully there are enough blooms to feed some of the emerging butterflies. I was able to get a photo of a painted-lady with its wings shut.

There were also a few small orange butterflies know as pearl crescents flitting about.

​Meanwhile, the deer have been more active as well. The trail camera picked up some Kung Fu action in my parents' backyard.

However the activity wasn't just limited to the deer.

The trail cameras picked up a few less desirable characters as well along our trails, a coyote in the middle of the day and a large black bear butt at the pond.

All the activity has the tame critters feeling more wild than ever.

​This makes for a very tired human referee and photographer.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here.