The first wildflowers I’ve seen this spring are Skunk Cabbage! The purple hood (spathe)  is the flower, which appears before the leaves, and inside it is the reproductive part (spadix). The odor attracts flies, which pollinate the flowers.

We also heard wood frogs—they sound like ducks quacking. (We heard the first spring peepers of the season earlier this week, March 12.)

Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus Foetidus). Ridge Hill Reservation, Needham MA.

Audio of peepers and wood frogs: http://www.mister-toad.com/frogcalls.html