Sapsucking

I'm STILL awaiting my first waterthrush of the spring but did stumble into this YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER this morning.  A nice male with the red throat: 

... and just down the road, this EURASIAN TREE SPARROW has been hanging around an overpass:

Azure

There are still no warblers yet at my local patch but I did see my first SPRING AZURES flitting about earlier today: 

Daily checks

I've been visiting a nearby patch of woods daily, waiting for Louisiana Waterthrushes to arrive.  None yet.

This morning this FOX SPARROW popped up in a bramble:

And a nearby creek was hosting this male HOODED MERGANSER:

New and not new

EASTERN PHOEBES are back and on territory:        

Meanwhile, WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS are still here:

More...

Even since my previous post, I've gone out and found more new wildflowers for the spring.  It's fun to have something to identify. 

Dutchman's Breeches:

False Rue Anemone:

Bloodroot:

Spring

I'll admit, I can barely remember how to even make a blog post.

Nothing lengthy here, just a quick cell-phone pic of a Virginia Spring Beauty on the forest floor here in northeast Missouri from a couple days ago.  Spring is finally starting to take shape.