It was getting a little discouraging when we experienced snow squalls as late as Wednesday. But Thursday was the start of a streak of sunshine, higher temps, and more signs of spring. Perhaps the most heartening was our first calling Western Chorus Frogs of the year. One visitor commented about how good it felt when he was walking along Ferguson Bayou Trail to stop, soak in the sunshine, and listen to the frogs. The main spring migrants to arrive were Eastern Meadowlark and Eastern Phoebe. Red-winged Blackbirds are singing throughout the cattail marshes and singing Song Sparrows are now widespread. Killdeer, Turkey Vultures, and Rusty Blackbirds are much more common. The ice is still leaving our marshes slowly and waterfowl numbers are increasing at the same rate. Especially more common are Northern Pintail, Wood Duck, and Ring-necked Duck. Over 400 Tundra Swans were counted this week and the high count for Sandhill Cranes inched up to 39. Another significant event was the sighting of our first Woodchuck of the year. Silver Maple and Quaking Aspen buds are noticeably swollen. Muskrats are being seen much more frequently on the marsh edges and on top of the ice. Opossums and Eastern Chipmunks are beeing seen as well. The MI DNR conducted their aerial survey of the Bald Eagle nests on the refuge and reported that all six are active. Plus, there are still many immature and migrant Bald Eagles to be seen. An immature Golden Eagle was seen circling low over Ferguson Bayou Trail Thursday. We are looking forward to seeing what the south winds and high temperatures of the weekend bring us. After the prolonged cold these conditions should bring a big wave of new migrants. Why don't you come out and take a walk along one of our four trails and let us know what you see? If you would like to see the fine Horned Lark photo that accompanies this report on our Facebook page, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shiawassee-National-Wildlife-Refuge/437597322966257 . Steven F. Kahl Refuge Manager Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge 6975 Mower Rd. Saginaw, MI 48603-9783 P (989) 777-5930 ext 16 http://www.fws.gov/midwest/shiawassee/ <http://www.fws/midwest/shiawassee/> Find us on Facebook!<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shiawassee-National-Wildlife-Refuge/437597322966257> ______________________________________________________________________ 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]