Hi all, Since our list has taken on a phenological twist in the last week or so with all the first-of-season observations of Turkey Vultures, red-wings & robins etc.recently I thought I would add a couple of observations. For the past several days, I have numerous goldfinches coming to my feeders: 3 of which are showing a patch or so of obviously bright yellow feathers. Nothing like a basic plumaged songbird switching into an alternate plumage to lift one out of the winter doldrums with great expectations of more to come. Yet another very early sign of spring. My Snowdrops (*Galanthus *sp.) have been in very heavy bud for more than a week - just waiting for the next warm sunny day to break into full bloom, This is at least a month ahead of "normal" bloom time here. Roger Troutman Lexington Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]