The sunny days afforded me the opportunity to work outside and enjoy the sounds of spring. Saw and heard my first Eastern Phoebes of the year (1 male, 2nd silent so prob. female). We've had some Eastern Bluebirds singing off-and-on for a couple of weeks but two males were singing like crazy today. Song Sparrows have been singing for a couple of weeks also. Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, and Carolina wrens have been singing for a while now but they've increased in numbers lately. At least two Red-winged Blackbirds are setting up territories I think, plus several flocks of several hundred each have been making momentary stops in the trees and local fields. We've had good numbers of American Goldfinches but no songs yet, just lots of contact and alarm calls. Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied woodpeckers all were drumming. I also thought I heard a Pileated woodpecker give an alarm. Blue jays, American crows one Red-tailed hawk and one Red-shouldered hawk all were vocalizing as well today. Accompanying these avian minstrels was a distant chorus of spring peepers. I also found a casting (owl or hawk, I dunno) containing /Peromyscus /(white-footed or deer mouse, hard to tell which) bones. On a sad note, I saw what I think was a carcass of a Cooper's hawk about 1/4 mile south of Rt. 306 on the north side of Bainbridge Rd. Chris Caprette Geauga Co. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]