HAPPY TURTLE DAY!!!

As a kid, and now again as a retired adult, I find myself relating to Mother Nature's clock more than the human calendar. (I threw my watch away - literally - the day I retired and haven't worn one since - don't miss it a bit LOL!)

The warm weather "seasons" relate to when the snow melted and and everything comes back to life again. The migratory birds have their own obvious schedule, other things less so.

As a "hunter-gatherer" sort of guy I watched the signs to determine when to forage wild garlic, morel mushrooms, wild asparagus, and other stuff over the growing season. The blooming dandelions are a sure sign that the walleye were are running in the local river. Here, a new species of dragonfly emerges every couple of weeks and plants go through their blooming periods; it's like the ticking of a biological clock marking events that I'm watching for.

Turtle Day is the day that the pond has warmed up enough that the turtles come out of hibernation. To me, it's nature's official announcement that it is the end of winter and the start of the busy season. The snow-blower is put away and the batteries are installed in the boat. I'm looking forward to six to eight weeks of reasonable temperatures ideal for fishing, shooting and enjoying the outdoors before the bugs and heat of summer arrives.

I'm curious about different parts of the world, maybe you can share. I'm in central Ontario, Canada. Where do you live and are there any biological events do you take note of?

So, Happy Turtle Day to all!

Cheers!

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Turtles are spooky, a few moments ago I counted over 50 sunning on the logs, there's still about 20 in the picture if you look closely.

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I'm being watched closely by these Painted Turtles... they were gone three seconds later. They get fairly tolerant (tame?) of me and after a couple of days and just watch me pass by without spooking.

There's also a few Mud Turtles and a good population of Snapping Turtles in this 50+ acre, spring fed beaver pond.
 
Though the weather here in S Florida is far less extreme season to season there are changes within the natural world. The grass grows much slower in "winter" here making mowing the yard less frequent also we have a rainy season during the summer. Lizards seem to disappear for a few weeks when we get cold spells different birds show up like cardinal's and others, but most notable to me are the seas and its inhabitants such as Maniti in winter, bait fish, pelagic species like sail fish, and the spring run of Pompano. Also be aware of Alligator mating season like all animals they become more aggressive and territorial than normal.
 
Denmark ruined by intensive farming.
If we say the country is 100.000 Sqkm in size, maybe 10 Sqkm of that is pristine ancient / original nature, everything else under the plow / drained / reclaimed.

And mind you in at least my adult lifetime we had strict rules for farmers, pretty much over implementing every single EU rule, so for instance Danish grain, have a lower protin content than in other places where they use much more fertilizers.
Still come summer and large areas of near costal waters go completely dead, and the rivers ASO here, well lets just say they have seen better days.

For its global green image, Denmark is pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.

I hope you enjoy the cheap Danish Bacon.
 
For us in east Texas it’s as simple as the leaves on the hardwood trees, and pollen turning every horizontal surface yellow. In the blink of an eye, everything thing turns from brown to green and yellow. I live on a 200 acre lake and the turtles here will appear anytime we have a warming trend with sunshine for more than two days in a row. December through February even, they’ll be sunning one day and then gone for weeks when it gets cold. I was out on one of the efoils on Christmas Day and saw one in the water even though I was wearing a 5mill wetsuit to stay comfortable.
 
I live on the water, 2 1/2 - 3 hours north east of Toronto. Wild life is endless, I’m in their territory.
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In the skies Eagle Peregrym Ducks and Kingfishers. And on shore, Mink, otter and beaver are a few. In the woods bear, fox, fisher, wolves and Coyotes to name a few. It’s awesome, watch fish jumping. Nothing more cool than watching a big bid grab a fish in flight. I seen it where the bird had a had time getting lift, but he did. Non stop wildlife activity. Crow
Used to have an eagle land in my oak tree at approx. 8;10 am and dive bomb a fish daily.