I hope you’re right. I’ve had enough of the cold. We’ll be heading back down to 
the teens for high for a few days. I see a -4 for a low too
I just saw a low of -12F for Friday. 
Still not -20F, gotta think positive!
Funny, but yesterday I heard the first robin singing.
This morning, they are singing EVERYWHERE.
Just weird, b/c here in the Chicago area, they are pretty much the most commonly heard song - from first thing in pre-drew until latest dusk. I LOVE appreciating the difference between the months when they are ABSENT, vs when they are UBIQUITOUS. I just don’t understand people who lack curiosity such that they will ask, “What bird is that?” (as my neighbor did last year) for one as common as the robin. The same sort of folk who will say, “It’s a TREE! I don’t know what kind!”
A mockingbird has staked out our yard as his territory. Hours of singing have commenced. Hopefully he won’t start doing overnights, which some of them do.
I took the dogs for a walk in the woods around our home, mostly to tire Kizzy out for her agility class. We always see something; deer, turkeys, birds of prey, rabbits, you name it. Yesterday I saw something in the woods I’ve never encountered there before! A 93 year old man.
There is a father/son that live about 1/2 mile from us in neighboring homes. They each live alone; the son is 68 and the father 93. They both walk a few hours almost every day, but never together. One typically heads east, the other west.
So, the 93 year old guy was kind of lost. He always walks on the road, in fact his son insists that he stick to pavement, but someone told him he could cut through the woods and reach a particular back road. He was only about 300 yards from the road he was aiming for, so I got him headed in the right direction and wished him a good day.
I saw a little herd of wild pigs alongside the road as I drove to work this morning. I might not have paid them any mind (a group of small black creatures beside the road is usually just a flock of buzzards snacking on a carcass), but one of the piglets was beige, while his mama and all his siblings were black. Poor little feller!
Had a stroll around Nymans this afternoon - sunny and mild. The garden is managed, so the fact that, for the first time this year, we saw snakes head fritilleries in bloom doesn’t really count for Today In Nature…BUT the crocuses (croci?) and heather were covered with bees, working their tails off! We’ve seen the odd bee here and there, but this level of activity was a first for the year. Makes me happy.
j
That is a sight to make one happy. It’s not quite spring here yet, but I do like to go to some of the garden centers at this time of year and ask to walk through the greenhouses. I go to enjoy the scent of wet soil and see green shoots pushing out of the little pots. It gets my hopes up.
A Stellar Jay has taken to visiting my bird feeding station. He seems to like the sunflower seeds I put out, I’ll buy a couple of cobs of dried corn next time I’m in town. I love the mouthy critters.
Lucky for you. Hunting season for 90+ year olds doesn’t start until April. Dodged a bullet, so to speak.
I’m envious. I don’t see them every year but really enjoy them when I do.
Haven’t lived in that part of the country for a long time. Used to love them when out hiking. They are such scroungers and many have no fear of people. I always saw them in picnic or camping areas. It’s like they’ll eat, or steal, anything.
I saw some big-ass turkeys in the cow pasture this morning, but couldn’t get a good picture.
Is there a prize for first gosling?
These are Egyptian Geese and are reasonably common in the UK. The chicks were a surprise, though. Maybe early March in Egypt is appropriately warm for that sort of thing?
j
ETA - just up the road at our local park, BTW.
Only two? The ducks on our pond hatch a clutch of 15…then they lose one a day to various predators/accidents/disease, eventually getting down to two.
Weeeeellll - I found them today, but apparently they were local Facebook stars with a rather larger brood a week or so ago. Predators, accidents, disease - plus we’ve had some cold nights recently. (I say “apparently” because I don’t use Facebook - so, second hand information.)
j
Saw a bald eagle just now, maybe ten minutes from my home.
There were three large brown shapes in a tree a bit farther on, which I suspect are juveniles, but I was driving alone & couldn’t rubberneck further.
How cool is that, though?
Waaay cool. I remember my first bald eagle (Delaware) and my second (Foxburg, PA). Then I saw a bazillion on an Alaskan cruise!
Huge, powerful, majestic birds.
Saw the first baby squirrel (maybe 5" long body) of spring today in SE Michigan. He was eating peanuts on my back deck.
Awww! We love squirrels. It seems like everyone has squirrel proof feeders, but we go out of our way to feed them.
Watch a squirrel today. It always looks like it’s their first day figuring out how-to-squirrel.
Since I started working from home 2 years ago I have taken to feeding the critters almost daily. I buy bakers nuts from Costco (walnuts, pecans and almonds) along with a sunflower seed mix. The bluejays love the almonds, one if them can hold five in his mouth/throat!
My squirrels are pretty fat after being fed all winter. Nursed one back to health after it tangled with a hawk.
Saw a pair of wild turkeys walking along the side of the road this morning. They were a fine looking and healthy pair.