On Ladybugs, Birds and Bunnies

Spring has finally arrived in Madison... well, sort of...   

How do I know spring is here?  I think the photos say it all...


As you can see above, the ducks couple up in the spring and wander through the town together.  Because Madison is really just a thin strip of land between two lakes, the duckies seem to come from both sides and wander along the sidewalks in pairs looking for grub. 

It's so cute, while the males look on protectively, the females forage along the grass strips between the sidewalks and roads.  Then they settle down for a little nap!  So cute and very tame.  Last year I saw them wandering around the street by the capitol building and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them. 

The other morning chirping birds woke me up at the crack of dawn. I wish I could be excited about that sign of spring, but since I couldn't fall back asleep I wasn't terribly impressed!  I'll try to be more zen about this...

This little ladybug spent two whole days wandering through our apartment.  The first day I found him (on this stand next to my laptop) it was pouring rain outside, so I scooped him up and placed him in one of my potted plants to chill for a bit.

The next day he appeared again right next to my laptop!  Since it was a sunny day I took him outside.

Ironically, the next day I almost stepped on a ladybug on the sidewalk.  So I took a photo and then hubby kindly put the ladybug on the grass away from danger. 

(Sorry for the poor quality of some of the photos, they were taken with my phone)

BUNNIES!! There are so, so many of these in town hanging around in people's backyards and you can see like a bazillion of them along the sidewalks after sunset.  The other night I was walking home about 8pm and saw 8 bunnies within 2 blocks.  Adorable and fluffy and tame enough to let you get close, but not too close. 

Oh, and the lakes are melting!  I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the ice fishermen all winter on Lake Monona, but today you could definitely see patches of water through the ice. 

So the birds are waking me up, the ladybugs are crawling around, the duckies are mating and the bunnies are out in force!  Spring is definitely on it's way (and with it, hay fever season.  More on that later)

Now let's just hope it doesn't snow again, like it did last weekend!!

What are your signs of spring?