It is difficult to know how dry the soil is as we recently had a mild shower. The vegetations in the yard are responding to the mild and warm winter we have had this year. Forsythias, which had never flowered since I first planted them, suddenly flowered this year. Some of the chokecherry trees not only have leafed out completely but also forming flower buds. The turkey vultures which return to our yard some time in the summer have been seen roosting in the trees in our backyard.