Crothers Woods is one of the best places to see spring wildflowers in the central Toronto region.

Today I had many including Trillium, Bloodroot and Trout Lily.

Trout Lily has brownish-mottled leaves:

and bears a solitary nodding flower:

The name refers to the similarity between the leaf markings and those of a trout.

Here is how the flower will look in a few days:

Other botany:

MAILBOX

I think I have mentioned our little pair of cardinals whom we listen to in beds in the mornings – the male singing his heart out in a tree in the back lane . Yesterday  Tim was sweeping the lane in front of our place , and there the male cardinal was sitting in the middle of the lane as if stunned. One car actually drove right over him – with the wheels on either side.  Tim thought perhaps he had flown into a window or something.  He scooped him up in the dust pan and we put him on the table on the deck. He didn’t move a centimetre as I carried him up the stairs and set him down. Just staring at me. He stayed there for an hour or so still not moving. Some time later we noticed he had flown away. We didn’t know in what kind of shape.  But this morning he seemed to be back out there singing.  …. So a survivor. And a bird rescue!

NATURE POETRY

Aprul’s come back; the swellin’ buds of oak
Dim the fur hillsides with a purplish smoke;
The brooks are loose an’, singing to be seen,
(Like gals,) make all the hollers soft an’ green           – James Russell Lowell (1819–91)

Miles Hearn