March 2017 was colder in this area than February 2017, by a minor fraction of a degree. More significantly, March was almost 5 Celsius degrees colder than the climatological normal for Southern Ontario.
But it looks like it’s finally here!
One of the harbingers of Spring for me is the opening of the Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) flowers. In my backyard on the edge of Orangeville, the female flowers opened yesterday on 2017 April 01, and then safely enough to remove any doubts about an April Fool’s joke, the male flowers on the adjacent tree began opening today! Only just opening and beginning to shed pollen, but I’ll still count this as Spring!
I’ve also had a Fox Sparrow at my bird feeder. I count that as another harbinger of Spring.
Female Silver Maple flowers are finally open!
Male Silver Maple flowers from an adjacent tree are also gingerly opening up and beginning to shed pollen into the air.