Male Goldfinches will be a brilliant gold colour a little later in the season:

At other times of the year, males resemble females though the gold colour starts to emerge in early spring.

On this day I had several females as I walked near the Bluffs at Glen Everest Rd.

Other birds:

Coltsfoot is usually one of the first plants to emerge in early spring. The flowers appear long before the leaves. Coltsfoot is widespread across Europe, Asia and North Africa to China and the Russian Far East. It is also a common plant in North and South America where it has been introduced, most likely by settlers as a medicinal item. The plant is often found in waste and disturbed places and along roadsides and paths. In some areas it is considered an invasive species.

I was delighted to see it at the Bluffs:

Very few tree or shrub buds are green. Sycamore Maple is an exception.

By spring, they take a goldish-green hue and this is how they appeared today:

Other botany:

Bluff area scenes:

NATURE POETRY

The warring hosts of Winter and of Spring
are hurtling o’er the plains.
All night I heard their battle-clarions ring
And jar the window panes.                              – Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813–92)

Miles Hearn