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

SCREECH OWL UPDATE

(Info updated)
First of all, it is a truly gorgeous night!  I stood out with the neighborhood screech owl for about 20 minutes, until it started getting a bit too dark.  

I was walking Blake and heard a screech doing its trill call and I knew that the owl had been sitting in its hole, so I walked down that way to see if it was the owl in the hole calling, or a second one.  I couldn't tell!  I watched the owl in the hole for a long time - it must be a ventriloquist!  

I walked beyond the tree, where it couldn't see me, but I could watch where the hole is and could see if it flew.  I heard the calling from that direction, but it was very quiet, so it sounded far off.  I gradually moved to where I could see the owl again, but still couldn't tell if it was calling or if it was another bird.  Its mouth wasn't moving at all.  Finally, I saw it!  The throat collapsed when the sound stopped!  I also saw it move its head and open the eyes wide and look at something.  

I still have more questions than answers!  Is there a female with eggs is the biggest question?!!  Time to go do some more research. 

Had a red-winged black bird at the feeder today, the bluebirds are still here and the juncos haven't left yet. 

LATER...  Too funny.  I'm reading the info on Cornell, Birds of North America site (wonderful, detailed info!) http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/165/articles/sounds
and it said:

"Adults sing faintly inside nest cavities or close to family members and may seem ventriloquistic"

Another interesting tidbit from that page:

"Monotonic Trill is pair and family-contact song, variously called Bounce, Tremolo, Secondary Song, Warble (Gehlbach 1994c). It is mostly on a single pitch, 3–6 s long, but may rise or fall slightly at the end. Male trills when advertising nest site, courting, and arriving at nest with food; female trills to induce fledging."

And:

"Males and their incubating-brooding mates sing antiphonally day and night, whereas neighboring males sing synchronously at night (Monotonic Trills). Male trills are more frequent closer to sunset and become shorter as nesting progresses. Nesting males mostly give Monotonic Trills, postbrooding females give more Descending Trills and predator-recognition calls, but males increase Descending Trills and calls after fledging. Trills are more frequent during gibbous and full moons and before stormy weather. Male’s voice stimulates female vocalizing (Gehlbach 1994c)."

 Apparently they have many more vocalizations than the trill, whinny and screech.

"Hoots are the same pitch but sometimes descend slightly; they denote mild alarm at intruders and potential predators. Bark is a loud, single, high-pitched hoot given by more anxious individuals likely to attack. Screech is a single loud, piercing or grating call by agitated owls, often during physical defense of nests or fledglings, and can resemble a squawk or scream; it has many variants. Rasp is a rough grating call, usually falling in pitch; nestlings use it as a food-begging call, and adult females use apparently the same Rasp in food-begging during courtship. Chuckle-Rattle is a rapid 3–4 note call, accented on the last note which may be higher pitched. In mobbed adults, it may be longer and grade into a high-pitched cackle; Chuck-Rattle signifies intra- (nestling) or inter (adults) specific annoyance at benign intruders."

Also learned that the females, even when brooding, will sit in the hole for a short time and take a break.  Will also leave at dusk and sometimes dawn, to bath, eliminate waste, eat.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS

The red-winged blackbirds are back!  Blake and I took a walk with Carol down into the Hop Brook Conservation area and on the way back (on Surrey) heard a ruckus in the trees and saw a flock of them near the brook.  We saw a second group on Dutton near the little hollow just up from the intersection with Raynor.  Spring is on its way!  Remember that when it snows tonight or tomorrow... 

Eastern Screech-owl sunning in its hole before heading out at dusk

 Our little screech-owl is still around; it seems happy in the hole in the oak.  Above is a better picture (I set my camera to raw so I could do more of a zoom once it was on my computer).  Fun to see it there.  The sun hits the tree about an hour and a half before sunset and that is when I've seen it.  I suspect it is a male because there is a lot of calling at dusk.  Sure is cute!