spring is coming!

Saw these little snowdrops by the side of the road today. Have just returned from a three month stay in Ireland where daffodils and crocuses are already over but here in the North East it is just beginning. Snowdrops and skunk cabbage mark the beginning in this zone. Have you spotted any other plants that herald the good news that winter is closing out and, miracle of miracles, trees are budding again, days are warming up and the forest is awakening? Tree frogs, peepers, little birds are all active,. I even spotted three black butterflies with yellow edged wings on the sandy driveway yesterday!