Yesterday's warmer temperature melted away much of the snow and ice cover
on our upland fields. This morning I would say they are now about 70
percent exposed ground, after an extended period of snow cover.
Predictably, but nonetheless gratifyingly, I heard a killdeer screaming
over the field this morning as I was tending to morning animal chores in
the barn. Now that there is something of interest for killdeer, perhaps the
woodcocks will return as well.

Red-winged blackbirds are increasing, with probably a half dozen withing
earshot this morning.

Saturday morning, 3/7, I spotted the season's first sapsucker on a maple
tree down by the confluence of ravines we call the Beech Point. Of course,
the previous morning it was still Zero F. Now that the high and low
temperatures are finally bracketing the freezing point, the sap will start
flowing at last.

It is good to see after our augmented deep winter that early migration was
in fact just waiting to happen.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]