Spring Comes to the Wetland

One of the female snapping turtles has returned to the pond. Red-winged blackbirds are suddenly in abundance, their distinctive, shrill call piercing the calm spring air. The barn swallows are back too, swooping giddily over the water in search of insects. There are shoals of minnows in the creek. The geese and the mallards have been contentedly spending entire days here together. Not even Monty (our rambunctious Alsatian) seems to faze them. Across, in the wetlands proper, the trees are full and green, and it is a welcome sight. Around the house, the apple trees are bursting into blossom. So too are the lilacs and the magnolia. It's May in southwestern Ontario.