Trekking through Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary

It was a pretty nice Saturday. NCW was off to GR to a funeral and to check on the lake cottage. I stayed in St Paul to play tennis and try to recover some energy from my weekly tennis activities. The Prairie Princess was home and we decided to take a stroll or maybe a mosey through the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a place where she'd worked at one time, planting trees and flowers as part of its restoration. And I was once again in search of the elusive marsh marigolds. The sanctuary is a pretty place as spring starts to emerge from the brown of last fall's fallen leaves and old grass. Some of the old vegetation in the area has already been burned off and the terrain is getting green already. The trees are just beginning to get tiny light green leaves popping out of the branches. The sun was out, it was in the lower 60's, and a great day to be alive.

We encountered this snowy egret next to one of the ponds. It was surprisingly unstressed and hung around quite a while so that I could get a few photos of its activities. This is my favorite of the several I took. It never flew away. I think it knew the pond was its territory and wasn't about to leave for a couple of transient humans.

The first sighting of marsh marigolds this year. I'd looked on previous outings to other wild areas, but it was too early, I guess.

A closer look at some marsh marigolds. There are plenty of them in the wet areas of the sanctuary.

In one of the three ponds at the sanctuary there were some turtles sunning themselves. They were the first I've seen this year and a harbinger of the season to come.

It's still April and summer is on its way. I haven't been outside to play tennis yet this, but next week may be the beginning of outdoor tennis. There'll be the cry, "Hurray, hurray, the first of May, outdoor 'doings' start today."