White maple buds partly opened

March 7. 

Frost this morning, though completely overcast. 3 P.M. — 34º. 

A little sleety snow falling all day, which does not quite cover the ground, — a sugaring. 

Song sparrow heard through it; not bluebird. 

White maple buds partly opened, so as to admit light to the stamens, some of them, yesterday at least. 

C. says that he saw a swarm of very small gnats in the air yesterday.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, March 7, 1860

Song sparrow heard. See January 28, 1857 ("See a song sparrow sitting for hours on our wood-pile in the yard, in the midst of snow in the yard."); also note to March 5, 1860 ("the song sparrows begin to sing hereabouts")

White maple buds partly opened. See March 14, 1857 ("White maple buds . . .have now a minute orifice at the apex, through which you can even see the anthers.”); March 17, 1855 ("White maple blossom-buds look as if bursting; show a rusty, fusty space.") March 23, 1853 (“The white maple . . . has opened unexpectedly, and a rich sight it is, looking up through the expanded buds to the sky.”); March 25, 1854 ("White maple buds bursting, making trees look like some fruit trees with blossom-buds.")

A swarm of very small gnats in the air. See March 20, 1858 (" It cheers me more to behold the swarms of gnats which have revived in the spring sun.") See also A Book of the Seasons: Fuzzy Gnats