Brown spots on flowering apricot twigs - Cause for concern?

I'm seeing these brown blotches on the twigs of some of my Japanese flowering apricots. They are planted in the ground and growing vigorously, so I don't think it's anything life-threatening. They are unsightly, though. I'd appreciate any advice.

to me that looks like they're starting to harden off. no prob its good thing.

Probably not, considering the time of year, etc. Anttal is probably right.

Hmmmm. Not sure. I'd like to culture from the twigs to make sure (almost possible, since I'm also in Maryland- Hi William!), but I wouldn't worry about this unless the twigs all of a sudden started to die back.