a Book of the Seasons, Signs of the Spring: Buzzing Flies

I perceive this spring

 that the year is a circle.

I would make a chart of our life,

know why just this circle of creatures

 completes the world.

Henry Thoreau, April 18, 1852

I have seen signs of the spring. 

February 23, 1857

A cold and strong wind yet very warm in the sun – a fly on this rock. March 4, 1855

February 18.  Another remarkably warm and pleasant day. The nights of late nearly as warm as the day.  . . . I thought at one time that I heard a bluebird.  Hear a fly buzz amid some willows. Thermometer at 1 p.m., 65.  February 18, 1857

February 23.   I have seen signs of the spring.  February 23, 1857

February 25. I go through the woods behind the Kettle place. The leaves rustle and look all dry on the ground in the woods, as if quite ready to burn. The flies buzz out of doors. Though I left my outside coat at home, this single thick one is too much . . . The thermometer is at 65° at noon. February 25, 1857

March 4. Though a cold and strong wind, it is very warm in the sun, and we can sit in the sun where sheltered on these rocks with impunity. It is a genial warmth. The rustle of the dry leaves. . .reminds me of fires in the woods. They are almost ready to burn. I see a fly on the rock. March 4, 1855

March 6. Mr. Stacy tells me that the flies buzzed about him as he was splitting wood in his yard to-day. March 6, 1860

March 8.  Heard the first flies buzz in the sun on the south side of the house. March 8, 1853 

March 17. A remarkably warm and pleasant day with a south or southwest wind, but still very bad walking, the frost coming out and the snow that was left going off. The air is full of bluebirds. I hear them far and near on all sides of the hill, warbling in the tree-tops, though I do not distinctly see them  . . .  Even the shade is agreeable to-day. You hear the buzzing of a fly from time to time, and see the black speck zigzag by. March 17, 1858

March 22.  The phenomena of an average March . . . Many insects and worms come forth and are active,- and the perla insects still about ice and water, — as tipula, grubs, and fuzzy caterpillars, minute hoppers on grass at springs; gnats, large and small, dance in air; the common and the green fly buzz outdoors; the gyrinus, large and small, on brooks, etc., and skaters; spiders shoot their webs, and at last gossamer floats; the honey bee visits the skunk-cabbage; fishworms come up, sow-bugs, wireworms  etc.; various larvæ are seen in pools; small green and also brown grasshoppers begin to hop, small ants to stir (25th); Vanessa Antiopa out 29th; cicindelas run on sand; and small reddish butterflies are seen in wood-paths, etc., etc., etc.  March 22, 1860

See also  Signs of the Spring:

• A Change in the Air
• Alder and Willow Catkins Expanding
• Braided Ripples of Melting Snow Shine in the Ruts
• Bright Blue Water
• Buzzing Flies
• Ducks Afar, Sailing on the Meadow
• Frogs, and Turtles Stirring
• Geese Overhead
• Greening Grasses and Sedges
• I begin to think that my wood will last
• Insects and Worms Come Forth and are Active
• Listening for the Bluebird
• March is famous for its Winds
• Mosses Bright Green
• My Greatcoat on my Arm
• Perla-like Insects Appear
• Red Maple Sap Flows
• Ripples made by Fishes
• Skunks Active
• The Anxious Peep of the Early Robin
• The crowing of cocks, the cawing of crows
• The Days have grown Sensibly Longer
• The Eaves Begin to Run
• The Gobbling of Turkeys
• The Grackle Arrives
• The Hawks of March
• The New Warmth of the Sun
• The Note of the Dark-eyed Junco Going Northward
• The Red-Wing Arrives
• The Skunk Cabbage Blooms
• The Softened Air of these Warm February Days
• The Song Sparrow Sings
• The Spring Note of the Chickadee
• The Spring Note of the Nuthatch
• The Striped Squirrel Comes Out
• The Water Bug (Gyrinus)
• The Woodchuck Ventures Out
• Walking without Gloves
• Woodpeckers Tapping

A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Osier in Winter and early Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, A Sunny Nook in Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau:, I Have Seen Signs of the Spring:
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, February 25

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: Buzzing flies

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau

 "A book, each page written in its own season, 

out-of-doors, in its own locality."

 ~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx ©  2009-2024