This evening, shortly after 6PM, a ruby-throated hummingbird, male, visited
our feeder for the first time this spring. We have had the feeder up for a
week anticipating this arrival.

Usual and expected, but thoroughly appreciated, migrants have been filling
our fields and forest with song and color.

For instance, I have been hearing hooded warbler in the woods since Monday,
but this morning one singing male came within easy binocular distance of
our path when we took our regular post-chore hike on our farm. Hooded
warble is a special bird for me, since it was this species that sparked my
intense interest as a boy of 8, 54 years ago, and set me on a lifetime of
appreciation of birds and nature. So I consider it my "Anniversary Bird."

Another species of note, red-headed woodpecker, I think has set up
housekeeping somewhere in the snags left from the derecho windstorm of
2012, in the wooded hollow just north of the farmhouse. I see red-headed
woodpeckers here every year, but usually only five or six times. Now it is
daily, sometimes hourly, and repeatedly delightful. The "Valhalla 5"
species of woodpeckers are now the "Valhalla 6."

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County

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