Aerie Report, March 12, 2011

Not much going on around here. The rain stopped Thursday night. The sun came out for a short time Friday allowing the temperatures to rise into the mid 30s while the winds blew some light snow this way from the west-northwest. You could actually follow the snow on radar as it swept down over Lake Huron and across Lake Erie into Ohio and then east to PA.
Today the temperatures rose to near 50 degrees although we had little sunlight and even a brief flurry around 1 PM. Even so, there's a great deal of melting going on--again. The fields in the valley are all brown once more and the only snow is above the 1900 foot line on the northwest side of the hill--which is exactly where the Aerie is located. Aside from the mounds of snow piled o the side of the parking area, driveway and edges of the deck where it has been placed by thrower, shovel and tractor, there's about a six inch compacted layer on the lawn. If the sun comes out tomorrow, even that may disappear leaving only the mounds.

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I'm amazed at the number of Common Redpolls that are still hanging around. Perhaps they're waiting for Daylight Savings Time. (PSA: Tonight, Saturday, March 12th, turn your clocks ahead one hour as you go to bed!) I've got flocks numbering approximately one hundred of the little guys swarming about the feeders like locusts on a ripening wheat field.

Today I saw my first Turkey Vulture soaring over the hillside. That puts me three days ahead of Hinckley, Ohio. The "buzzards" don't officially return there until the Ides of March. (That's the 15th for those of you from Yorba Lindo.)

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Well, that's about all for now, Got to get back to following the Iditarod. The leader, one John Baker, of Kotzebue, AK, has traveled some 772 miles and is currently at Kaltag, AK.

The race is getting real interesting for both the leaders and the guys and gals to the rear. And for those of us following it on the Discussion Boards.

Mush! Dogs! MUSH!

(Come to think about it, we have a lot of that around here. Mush, I mean.)

Later.