The winter that sort of wasn’t

I have lived across the road from Severn Sound on southeastern Georgian Bay for almost thirty years and have been boating on the bay for all of that time, and I have never seen the ice disappear from the sound before the first week of April. This year’s melt is off-the-scale early. Buffleheads promptly returned and mergansers were out front yesterday (pictured above). The weather for the next week is looking crispy with flurries possible, so we may not be completely done with winter yet. I’m erring on the side of caution and have booked our boat’s launch for May 6.