Spring is here!

As this past Sunday was one of those sunny winter days where I ran through beautiful landscapes, along rivers, through a 600-year old picturesque city, had a very nice lunch with my family, and continued reading this wonderful book about an American couple buying a house in Tuscany and all that happens (Under the Tuscan Sun), I did not feel like turning on my computer and hence this blog is a day late.

Now the other thing is, I don't believe in coincidence. I wanted to write about how beautiful Sunday was but simply did not know how to describe why that day inspired me so much. Then on Monday, one day late, I found out about the event described in this posting which also happened on Sunday. And for sure ... this event explains perfectly why I had such a wonderful day this past Sunday ... Spring is in the air!

While in the US the groundhog predicts the start of spring, in the Netherlands it is tradition to look for the first Kievit's egg(s). For my Dutch readers, according to wikipedia, "Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog (bosmarmot in Dutch) emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks."


In 2011, the groundhog did not retreat back to its burrow and an early spring was predicted.

In the Netherlands, it is the Kievit, or rather its eggs, that symbolize the beginning of spring. The Kievit is a bird you typically find on grassland. It is well-known in the Benelux and Britain.

Besides the fact that finding the first nest with eggs symbolizes the beginning of spring, it is also a sign for farmers that birds have started breeding on their grasslands. From the beginning of March until the end of June, bird watchers will look for nests and eggs (of any type of bird) and put marks around them for the farmers so they can leave the birds breed.

The first Kievit's eggs of 2011 were found this Sunday, March 6, on a pasture near "Maasland" (about 15km West of Rotterdam). Considering the fact it has been freezing at night in the past week, according to the experts, finding the eggs now was quite exceptional. Also in the past six years, only one time were eggs found earlier than March 6.

Originally, the search for the first Kievit's egg is a Frisian tradition. Friesland is one of the Netherlands' northern provinces. As my grand-parents are originally from there and lived there their entire life, the search for Kievit's eggs was an activity my sister and I would sometimes undertake with my grand-father when we were little. I remember that at least at one time we did find a nest with eggs, for sure not the first ones.

When the first Kievit's egg in Friesland is found, it is offered to the Queen's Commissioner (political head) of the Province of Friesland. Friesland is the only region in Europe where people are allowed to actually take the eggs when they find them (up to a maximum per season of 6934 ... you wonder how they got to that number ...). Apparently, when the eggs are taken out of the nest early in the season, Kievits typically lay another set of eggs which is why Frisians insist it is not so bad to take the eggs. In all other regions in Europe you can look at it but you have to leave the egg(s) in the nest (which sounds like the right thing to do, to me!!).

So, here is what they look like ... the actual Kievit's eggs ...

And, here's to spring 2011!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Rose