The Changing Season of Spring

The following three photos provide a quick glimpse into how the forest changes during the spring. I have shown the late winter shot from the current year, and also mid spring and late spring shots from 2005. The view is more or less the same, so this does a good job of illustrating how the landscape of the forest will change during the next few months. It starts out looking bare and lifeless, but it is not. Under the leaf litter, the spring-blooming wildflowers are starting to wake from their winter "nap." Soon there will be patches of green as small sprouts begin to emerge. And with the green will come many other colors, like white, yellow, pale purple, and pink. Eventually green will dominate the forest as the plants grow larger and their leaves expand.
But, enough talk. Just check out the three photos below for an overview of how the forest will change. And then after reading my little introduction to the story of woodland spring, you can check out the five pairs of photos showing dramatic differences in the forest even from one day to the next.
I can almost feel it. Spring is nearly here.