Spring is Truly Here! The Reptiles are Out

Over the past few days we have observed a number of bird species that we consider true signs of spring.  Several hummingbird species are coming in to our hummbingbird feeders now and we had our first Scott’s Oriole at our recycled oriole feeder and a Lawrence’s Goldfinch at our stainless steel thistle feeder.  We also saw our first Turkey Vulture (the true sign of spring in Portal).  An additional sign of spring comes when the reptiles come out to play.  Today we had several Ornate Tree Lizards sunning on the walls of our turtle enclosures. They were a joy to watch as they sunned for a while and then scurried around grabbing small insects which were landing on the walls. We should develop a Lizard Crossing sign to put up on the sidewalk between our house and our office as quite often, in the summer, the lizards come close to plowing into us as they pursue their food in our path. Our first Ornate Box Turtles were out and around in their enclosure and two Russian Tortoises were out exploring today. When the cold blooded creatures come out we know that spring is truly here and that the freezing weather is behind us.