Letter: Welcome to spring

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Welcome to spring. Recently our earliest blooming shrub, shadbush, began to flower. Within days, shad showed up at the Milford fish lift. The shrub was named shadbush several centuries ago when its time of flowering was noted to closely parallel the run of shad in the Hudson River. Also named Amelanchier, Serviceberry, Juneberry, and, in Canada, Saskatoon Berry, their sweet fruit matures in June and is widely sought by birds as well as jelly makers.

Shad were virtually absent in the Penobscot River prior to the restoration efforts that removed the two lower dams. Now several thousand shad pass through the Milford fishway while many more reside in the lower river. Shad provide a world-class fishery for fly and spin anglers. On May 7, I caught my first shad of the year and the next day observed shadbush in bloom.

Welcome to spring.

Bucky Owen

Orono