RECENT SIGHTINGS

Well...  There are signs of spring, if you don't look at the snow!  (We still have about 7 inches in our back yard, and that faces south!)  The pond has a lot of free water in it and our migrants have been around.  Recently (last two weeks or so), I have seen on the pond:

• Hooded Mergansers
• Common Mergansers
• American Black Ducks
• Mallards
• A Ring-necked Duck 
• Two Northern Pintails (they are so dashing this time of year!)
• Canada Geese 
• Great Blue Heron (Carol reported seeing two sitting together on their landing - I've never seen two together, except in nest cams!

Common Mergansers didn't like me so close...

Out of the water, new arrivals:

• Song Sparrow
• Common Grackle
• Many House Finch
• Red-winged Blackbird (heard on Moore)
• Plus all the usual winter birds we have had in the yard
• Bluebirds are still here, as are the Juncos, Tree Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows
• Goldfinch are definitely turning yellow! 
• Beautiful Red-tail flew over, and I saw one in the tree right near where the Red-tail was killed on Moore a month or so ago.

Mammels:

• Chipmunks are out and about
• Fox visited 
• No sign of the deer recently, nor the coyote or fisher or otter

I think a lot of the migrating water birds were put off by the pond refreezing.  Also, the snow depth is less, so they can get around more easily and don't need to venture up close to a house.

The picture below was taken on March 13 in that snow storm - it was a BEAUTIFUL day for a walk and noone else was around, so Blake had his first off-leash walk!   The next day, I tried it again 'cuz he was so good about hanging around, but he took off after a (large) puppy and was way too aggressive - back on the leash...

Foot Bridge over Hop Brook, heading into the Hop Brook Conservation Land