More Signs of Spring

Last week we were treated bona fide signs of spring. I mentioned turkeys as a harbinger in an earlier post, but early last week they were joined by our first Common Grackles and "our" Red-winged Blackbird, who spent some time perched on our tallest spruce reclaiming his territory.

This wild bunch is a late-February, early-
March fixture at our feeding station.

OK, they're not charismatic signs, like warblers or hummingbirds, or impressive signs, like migrating raptors or geese, but they are a true sign. Later in the week we did record thousands of Canada geese streaming overhead, which continued well into the night. I still heard steady honking while listening for owls 11:00 (no owls to report). We don't really get much of a Snow Goose migration here, maybe we're too far west for the Chesapeake Bay wintering birds to pass over head? Thousands of them pass over Ithaca, to the east, and rest on Cayuga Lake. I find that interesting, but don't know how to explain it.

Bee balm seed heads, protected underneath an overhang.
Seeds were picked out long ago; the new flowers will be a
food source for hummingbirds and other wildlife.

And all of this while a coating of ice still covers much of our yard, supplemented with another coating from this weekend - more on that soon. Ah, the mixed messages as winter and spring battle for dominance. The question isn't whether spring is just around the corner, it's how far away is that corner?

A bee balm seed head not protected. Much of our hill looks like this!