Is it safe to say that the Spring weather is finally here to stay?  I don't want to jinx it because it wasn't that long ago that the Northeastern United States had cold temperatures and snow blanketing the ground.  At first the leaves began to bud on the trees but were halted by the snowstorm  Now the leaves and flowers are sprouting again but at a much slower and tentative pace as if fearful of another blast of winter cold.  A sure sign that Spring is here to stay is the return of the grackle.  These medium sized iridescent black birds migrate south to warmer temperatures in late Fall and returns to New England in early Spring.  The insects of course are starting to appear in droves as well.  It won't be long until we will be bothered by pesky flies, wasps and mosquitoes but also we can enjoy the beautiful colors of the butterflies as they do their part to maintain the flowers in our gardens.  You must take the good with the bad as they say!

This morning as I opened the front door to go outside, a dark object suddenly flew right past my face!  I wasn't expecting it and it really startled me to be quite honest.  As I looked around I spotted the mysterious culprit and saw that it was a moth just as he landed on the floorboards of the front porch.  The moth was very small and would have gone unnoticed had I not seen it land where it did with my own two eyes.  How fortunate was I that I had my camera and macro lens with me!  After grabbing this photo, I "shooed" the moth away for fear that he'd get stepped on or worse.....a sloppy wet tongue licking from my dog!  Here's hoping that there will be lots more colorful "creepy crawlies" that will await me for the upcoming warm weather season.

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