You may have seen on national news that a pair of bald eagles have chosen to nest in Washington, D. C. again this spring.  They have been named "Mr. President" and "The First Lady," and are busy overseeing the hatching of two eggs.  Web cams are set up 24/7, and you can read and watch by clicking above.

Seeing them reminded me of the osprey nest on the Maine coast that has a web cam; but it is too early for that pair, "Rachel" and "Steve," to return.  The information at that site has not been updated this spring, but the camera is turned on if you'd like to watch for them to return sometime in April. 

The ice here is holding together so far - we don't expect much very warm weather for the next several days, so we may have a normal end to the contest after all.  It's still hard to tell - one good rain storm pummeling the ice and brooks pouring warm water into the pond would make a big difference.  For now, today's temperature has been in the low to mid 30's, and last night was below freezing.  There's still a really cold wind out of the NE, and that keeps the air cold enough to prevent much melting.  Nights are going to be below freezing for the remainder of the week into the weekend, and days won't get above the low 40s, according to the forecast.  We may even get a little snow later this week.


We are in "spring mode" according to the calendar, but it really doesn't feel much like spring here at Joe's Pond.  Aside from the fact there is no snow, it's cold and raw, even with the sun shining; no soft breezes and I haven't heard a single frog peeping yet.  There have been geese, and probably a few ducks - Evelyn Richer usually reports these things to us, but she and Ray are really busy these days, so she hasn't had much time for e-mails.  I miss her ice and wildlife reports.  Being at the far end of the pond where the main channel flows in gives them a different perspective of how spring is progressing.  Perhaps Fred and I will walk down there tomorrow if it's not too blustery, and then I'll have an updated report for you.

 Locally, tickets are selling well.  We have lots of them still to come in - we think people are holding onto them as long as they dare in order to make a better guess, but we're still urging people not to wait too long because we want every ticket to count.  As of now, April 1st at midnight is the absolute deadline, but if the weather suddenly shifts and the clock stops before then, no more tickets will be sold or accepted as of when the clock stops.  As they say at the auctions, "Fair warning!"