AND THE WINNER IS . . . !

The winner of the 2024 Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest is Stuart Ramsdell of Danville. Stuart is retired and bought five tickets at Hastings Store. One of his guesses was April 14 at 4:09 a.m, and that turned out to be the closest to the actual date and time of April 14 a5 4:02 a.m. Congratulations to Stuart! He's a lucky fellow and probably feeling pretty good right about now! 

Just an update on the ice - the smaller two ponds are ice free, but the big pond still has a small amount of really dark ice floating around out there, pushed by the wind.It would normally be gone by now but last night was pretty cold and today has been mostly in the 30s. I was coming home from Danville at about 3 o'clock this afternoon and there was a brief period of mixed precipitation hitting my windshield. It was raining in Danville, but at Joe's Pond, the "rain" had a bit more "substance" to it. Not unusual in our JP world.

This morning dawned with bright sunshine, but it didn't last. I was up fairly early and was entertained by four beautiful turkeys in my back yard. They spent a lot of time picking up seeds and insects along the shore of my pond, and finally disappeared into the pucker-brush at the far end of the lawn, apparently headed for Jay and Kate Chatot's. They were fun to watch. The big one with the fanned tail was likely a Tom, strutting for a mate. I didn't dare open a window to hear if the big guy was gobbling, because I knew it would likely spook them. The two pictured on the right came fairly close to my house and I was concerned they would catch a glimpse of me in the window as I took their picture. They made their way along the shore of the pond and then I spotted the other two. I was glad to see that they looked very healthy and seemed happy! There will no doubt be some nests close by in my woods, and this fall the flock will be considerably larger. They usually have 12 or so chicks - but of course some will be lost to predators. 

Years ago while Fred and I were walking in our woods, we found a turkey nest in our lower wooded area with 16 eggs. We had accidentally gone too close and the hen took off almost within arm's reach - startled me big time! We didn't touch the nest, but I counted at least 16 eggs from where we stood on the walking path. We didn't walk there again until after the nesting period was well over with. 

I'm noticing that the wooded area around my house and the surrounding countryside is beginning to show muted colors of pale green, indicating buds are forming on hardwood trees. Summer is on the way - we just need to be patient a little longer!