Top 10 Signs of Spring from the Past Weekend

Folks in Wisconsin got an early taste of Spring this weekend and may get an early taste of Summer this week. Here are some of the signs I saw that Spring had arrived this past weekend.

1. Dinner on the grill. That's right. Polish Sausage cooked over charcoal! It was pretty awesome.
2. Expanding the flower bed. I hadn't planned to do my digging and flower bed prep this early, but with as nice out as it was, I couldn't think of a good reason not to remove sod, put up some fencing, and setup the bird house.
3. Chickadees checking out the birdhouse. Just after getting the house setup with a "Sparrow Spooker" (I'll post more on this if it works), a couple of Black Capped Chickadees went inside. I don't think they decided to move in as we haven't seen them since.
4. Sandhill Cranes. I counted a total of 7 cranes this weekend while outside. I imagine they were headed to Horicon or Baraboo.
5. Killdeers. I first heard their high-pitch call outside of Farm & Fleet, and I assumed that I was hearing things. However, later while we were sitting out on the deck, I heard it again and made visual confirmation. It's amazing! We didn't see them last year until the Tree Swallows were back!
6. Bird calls. Our morning and evening walks with our beagle have been full of bird calls. We've heard American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Red Winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Black Capped Chickadees, and plenty more. You know it's Spring when the male birds start looking for girlfriends.
7. Daylight Savings Time. I hate time change! I had really enjoyed that it was finally light out when getting up in the morning. Although, I must admit that I liked having sunlight after work today. Making the transition is always so difficult though.
8. Other dogs. Often times during the winter, Babe was the only dog we saw. We walk her three times per day, rain or shine or snow. But we were surprised that we didn't see many other dogs during the Winter. We saw tons of dog walkers this weekend. Makes one wonder where the dogs were pooping?
9. Green stuff in the flower bed. Green stuff and lots of it! I've got Purple Cone Flower, New York Aster, Black-Eyed Susan, Prairie Coneflower, and Dandelions coming up! What do you have in your garden?
10. The seasonal section at Farm and Fleet. I stopped in to pick up some water softener salt and was greeted by lawn mowers, weed whackers, seeds, pots, and a variety of gardening tools. While it wasn't ready yet, you could see that they'd been setting up the outdoor gardening center. In a few weeks, they'll have trees and flowers for sale. Looks like the stores have caught Spring fever too.