Flag is UP, Birds are Singing!

It's official! The block and flag are out and now we just wait for the ice to melt. Larry Rossi put the apparatus out today and Diane sent me a photo this evening. Everything is in place - ready for the next snowstorm tomorrow night into Saturday! We are expecting anywhere from 4 to 8 inches, but the forecast I saw tonight looks as if after that there may be pretty decent weather for the sap to run - warmish temperatures during the daytime and below freezing at night. It would be nice to have some sunshine along with the warming trend, and that could happen, in between snow showers or rain showers, which are also in the forecast for next week. March is like that - even before global warming! Some of our biggest snow storms have happened in March, and plenty of below zero temperatures, too, years ago. Not so much now, but the snow can still mount up. It's all part of the process of getting to flowers and green grass.

Speaking of flowers - I've noticed on social media that some people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania have early spring flowers poking out of the ground already. That is always nice to hear, even though we have a foot or more of snow on the ground in most places. 

Helen Morrison - my neighbor just down the road - told me the other day she noticed the chickadees have switched to their "spring song." So I checked and found that they actually have at least 15 different vocalizations. However, what is most noticeable is that beginning sometime in January, they begin to sing more frequently and increase the intensity of their song as spring approaches. Especially the male. Unfortunately, I cannot hear the chickadees (or other birds) that frequent my feeders, unless I go outside onto the deck. I'm paying more attention on mornings when I'm out clearing the snow from the deck and taking measurements for CoCoRaHS, and they are singing - a lot. 

I have noticed that this year I have more chickadees than nuthatches or other birds. As the weather warms, I'll have more of a variety, I expect. There are jays, crows and turkeys in the area - but they aren't very interested in the seeds, fruit and nuts I feed the small birds. Except the turkeys like to forage under the feeder, picking up what the squirrels have left behind. I haven't seen my two turkey friends for several weeks, but they will no doubt be out and about again as soon as the snow pack firms up or melts down a bit. They don't do well in deep snow. However, they can survive a week or two without food if they are roosting quietly in a tree.

Get ready for more winter if you are here at Joe's Pond! This is great for the skiers and snowmobile enthusiasts. They'd better enjoy it while they can. It won't last very long and we'll begin to see real signs of spring - like muddy roads and more rain than snow. Snow is good - we need it to replenish the water table. We may as well embrace it; we can't do anything to stop it. I have to confess, I wasn't enthusiastic about shoveling this morning - and don't look forward to more of the same tomorrow. I try not to complain - we've had a pretty low-snow winter until these recent storms. But really - every day? Not fun at all.
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