I was home at the farm on Flint Ridge for the week between March 1 and March 8. The heavy snow cover (which peaked around 26 - 28 inches!) decreased significantly, but the ground was still fully covered, concentrating a lot of action at the feeders.

My first singing male red-winged blackbirds arrived (or at least began singing) on the 4th. My first meadowlark of the season was Monday morning, March 8, before I left for the Columbus airport. My first killdeer was heard March 1. Bluebird activity seems to be centered south of our property, around the recently felled trees "cleared" by the county road crew. March 3rd I saw a red-shouldered hawk carrying nest-building or home improvement material. The lengthening days indicate springtime behavior, even if the landscape does not.

Walking in the woods has been daunting, if not hazardous, for Jane and me. With the increasing thaw we resumed our usual almost daily excursions around the property on Saturday, March 6, and we found the snow would more or less support our weight. There are many trees and large limbs down across our trails. One interesting avian sign was a sassafras trunk seriously carved up by one or more pileated woodpeckers. Downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers continue to visit the suet frequently, fighting with the starlings. Something tore into one of the large anthills on the "back forty" (seven acres of successional field.) Perhaps a flicker?

House finches have been more abundant this past winter than we have observed in the previous decade. (This July marks the tenth anniversary or our emigration from urban Columbus to rural Muskingum County.)

A lot of singing has resumed, with cardinals and Carolina wrens joining the omnipresent chickadees, titmice and song sparrows. I haven't seen an overwintering mockingbird this year - two years absence in a row.

Turkey vultures have lingered all winter, and continue to soar over the upland.

I would be expecting woodcocks by now, but they have been sparse or absent the past couple years, and the heavy snow cover probably doesn't help. I haven't seen any towhees yet either.

In celebration of my 56th birthday (a couple weeks ago) I risked sledding over the weekend. Wheeee! I suppose it was middle-aged foolishness, but I was determined to make some recreational use of the record snowpack, since I couldn't locate my cross-country ski boots. I only slightly dinged and bruised myself. 

Jane reports that during the past few days most of the snowpack has vanished, although two thirds of the ground remains covered by four inches or so. Quite a winter! Two of the horses have been celebrating the thaw by splashing around in "Llama Llake," our most prominent vernal pool.

Now begins the season of mud.

It's a real shame about the raven's woods (Bill Whan's recent post.) I was thinking about going over to the River to see them sometime, although it would contradict my usual no-chase tendencies. ODNR may do a good job with some species, but they surely are inconsistent. Large black birds are not favored, unless they have white heads.

That's the view from Flint Ridge.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County
DeLorme 70 A1 (classic editions)

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