I have been enjoying my "yard" this year, particularly since I spent almost all of the spring and summer of 2014 away, at sea. Fostering the wildlife on a piece of land has its rewards, what I personally regard as the "intangible harvest" of our farm. The birds figure heavily into this. Although I have long read about rose-breasted grosbeaks visiting feeders, and although we have always had nesting season grosbeaks here, they have always been only occasional visitors to our feeders, until this year. For some unknown and perhaps unknowable reason from the summer of 2000, when we moved in, until the spring of 2015, this has been the case. I have seen them at the feeders (black oil sunflower) perhaps half a dozen times each and every year. This year there are at least two males that are daily, almost always present at or around the house and feeders, often singing and bringing a new delight to the scene. My non-birder but knowledgeable wife Jane remarked on them when they first stared showing regularly. They are such showy birds. This morning a nearly fully grown juvenile perched on an adjacent garden hook while its father cracked sunflower seeds from the tube feeders and fed them to the eagerly begging and trembling youngster. No leisure time this Father's Day for the grosbeaks... The usual suite of nesting warbler species are present around the field edges and forest. This morning's walk yielded the voices of common yellowthroat, yellow, blue-winged, redstart, Louisiana waterthrush, ovenbird, and hooded. Two days ago as I checked on the progress of the black raspberries I scared up a chat. Yesterday a fledgling wood thrush hopped up from the forest floor as I explored following the recent torrential rains. Four and a half inches here in the past week... the well will certainly not go dry, and my trusty Muck Boots (a brand of "Wellingtons") are getting lots of use. Wood thrush song permeates the forest soundscape. All three mimids are around, including the sometimes elusive brown thrasher. A thrasher this morning was acting rather agitated as my old dog Nancy and I walked down the berry trail, possibly signalling the presence of a fledgling nearby. Nancy (14) couldn't care less, can barely hear, and none of our farm cats accompanied us this morning, so "nothing to be too concerned about Mr./Ms. Thrasher." Barn swallows have nested again this year in the horse barn, and at least one successful brood of tree swallows have emerged from my "bluebird" boxes. House sparrows remain an issue, as well as multiple house wrens. So it goes. Many other species also present and playing their respective roles in the struggles and successes of life... All in all, the conclusion of a very satisfying spring season. 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]