Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Welcoming the Spring Equinox in the Pacific Northwest
It happened March 20th this year, the astronomical start of spring.
The March equinox (also called the vernal equinox) is the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn equinox in the Southern, when the sun crosses above the earth’s equator and night and day are roughly equal in length.
Here in the Seattle area, it means, we’re marching towards the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, when we hope to see more blue skies and sunshine!
Strangely, we only got our winter snow recently and while it was beautiful, it was a bit late in the year for my taste.
The snag was covered in snow for a few days, but before that the Northern Flickers had already returned to their nests in the largest cavity,
where this youngster was born a few years ago.
The Flickers have always been willing to share the snag with smaller birds, including Chickadees
and Nuthatches.
But this year, for the first time, there’s been competition from a more aggressive bird – the European Starling.
Though the flickers were watchful,
I’m afraid they lost their nest to the interlopers.
I hate to see the bullies win.
On a more positive note, the Rhododendrons are blooming – did you know they’re Washington’s State Flower? They come in all sizes, shapes and colors.
As do their cousins, the Azaleas.
See how they glisten in the rain?
“April showers bring May flowers,” so the saying goes, but here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s October, November, December, January, February, March, and April showers that bring us our May flowers!
May is, indeed, the floweriest month in my garden, when the Clematis takes over, here’s a sneak preview!
I’m happy to be hosting #Sunday Stills again this week while Terri is road-tripping!
Feel free to link up with your own Equinox post, whether Spring or Autumn, and use the tag Sunday Stills.
Debbie from Between the Lines will host next week’s challenge.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Beautiful photos, Susanne. I love your photo of the azaleas in the rain. And, Rhododendrons are such stars; they just blossom a sense of calm.
Thanks so much for your comment! The Rhodies and Azaleas are both faithful workhorses in the garden! 🙂
Yes well said, Susanne. Thank you so much for hosting Sunday Stills.
You’re welcome! I was happy to do it! 🙂
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I’m sad for the flickers and you, that they lost their long time nest cavity to starlings. I hope they find another cavity nearby soon, and they can return to their long-term cavity next year. Interesting to see a marked drop in starling population here in the Willamette Valley this year. Not sure why.
I was sad to see the starlings come in and take over the nest that the flickers had excavated and used for years. There are other cavities in the snag, but I don’t know whether the flickers will move into them or not. Time will tell.
The azaleas look as if they’re made of very fragile glass.
Yes, amazing how the rain makes it appear translucent!
🌸🩷🤍🌸🍃🤩
Great Spring picture
Starlings are such bullies, grrr! 😡
I’d heard people complaining about them before but hadn’t had any problems until now. It was very discouraging to see them take over the Flickers nest. 😦
I curse the man who introduced them to Central Park decades ago… look how they have spread and the scourge they have become. Argh!
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Sorry to hear about the starlings. They’re definitely bullies. But your rhodies look lovely and the clematis is wonderful too. Used to have one of those and they’re showy bloomers. Here’s mine this week, I guess I misunderstood Terri’s list! https://grahamsisland.com/2026/03/22/early-one-morning/
Thanks, Graham. It was very discouraging to see the starlings take over the flicker’s nest. And I wasn’t sure about ‘early’ either, so I stuck with the equinox! It all works! 🙂
A lovely gallery, Susanne. The bird pics are great but I’m sorry about the starlings. I didn’t know they took over nests. We haven’t had any snow to speak of this winter. Look forward to your favourite places next week! https://betweenthelinesbookblog.com/2026/03/22/sundaystills-celebrating-the-spring-or-autumn-equinox-nature-photography/
Thanks, Cathy. I hadn’t realized the starlings were that aggressive until I did some research. It was so disappointing to have them take over the flicker’s nest! And I’m looking forward to the challenge next week! 🙂