signs of spring?

Is it spring yet?  Can I hope?  

Soon and very soon, as they sing...

Canada geese in formation

OK, so I've been seeing Canada geese flying around all winter.  But they were heading north.  Yes, it could have been a few hundred yards around the bend, but they *might* just be migrating.  

Somebody tell me. Are these buds on the top of those trees?  Can I hope?

We've had robins all winter, but all of a sudden there are many more than they were.  Maybe these have arrived from down south.

Now here's a bird I haven't seen all winter!  It may be one of the very few that wintered here elsewhere on the bay, but it may be an early sign of the many yet to come in the near future.  Our birding friend tells me it is almost certainly a Greater Yellowlegs, a bird which is here every spring and fall.  Now that I have this new camera with a good telephoto, you may be seeing more of these little ones in the months to come.

Ah, canine enthusiasm.  I would have thought it was too cold even for a dog to go in the water.  We do have a few piles of snow in dark spots here and there.  Yet this dog bounded in with gusto and had a wonderful time.  

Soon and very soon...