Transitions

The garden is slowly changing as the season advances.  While I was out photographing tree leaves, I found these little signs of the times.

Last fall's maple leaves are becoming nicely mulched now.  The maple seeds are beginning to look like moth's wings as the weather and insects take their toll.  These are not sprouting but I have seen some - when I had no camera - on the sidewalk that were.  They had tiny green roots emerging from the seed.  Very cool.

The Stellars jays don't eat their peanuts in front of us.  They gollop them up into their beaks and fly off to hide them.  They are not very sophisticated hiders, though, and we find them in all sorts of fun places.  Partly because the birds put them there and partly because the squirrels find them and have a feast on the jay's dime. 

The squirrels will also dig up bulbs to eat and take them to another site for storage.  That means that we have bulbs growing in places we didn't plant.  I like the serendipity of these surprise bulbs.

But, the squirrels will also dig up a bulb which has sprouted.  This seems to be a disappointment to them.  They always leave them uneaten and unstored.  Does the sprouting take away nutitional value?  Are squirrels smart enough to know that?  I know...my squirrel bias is showing.

And, under the shelter of a rhododendron, this small clump of bluebells has emerged.  An eye-popping green in a sea of brown.  Definitely, a change is on the way.