Spring Visitors

Yesterday was a real spring day. Lots of sun and a temperature that broke the 60 degree barrier (and didn't fall below 49.8 over night!) caused huge amounts of snow to melt, robins to appear in abundance and the earth to give off that heady aroma that promises growth--soon.

In addition to our daily horde of common redpolls (Why haven't the headed north to their boreal forest breeding grounds yet?) I had some exciting visitors. Late in the afternoon a group of five turkey vultures coasted over the hill, caught a favorable breeze and surfed their way along the ridge heading northeast. At twilight there were half a dozen male robins establishing territories nearby. I suppose I'll have to be on the lookout for their mud and straw nests on the log ends at the corners of the Aerie. I could also hear several woodcock doing their thing with their "peent" calling on the ground and the flutter/whistling of wings in the air. As the snow melts, I expect their mating flights and calls will increase.

I listened for the calls of spring peepers and American toads, but they must still be buried in the mud of the streams and marshy areas. Terry did say she heard them down in Maryland, however.

Oh yeah, about Maryland. Thursday, Terry left to travel to Maryland for a stitching class, and then to South Carolina to visit her cousins. Usually, whenever I take off for the Bolt Hole and leave Terry and the kitties to fend for themselves at the Aerie a bear shows up at the bird feeders the first night I'm away. I guess turn about is fair play as I got a visitor of the bruin persuasion just after I went to bed at 10 PM. I was wondering when I would have to start taking in the bird feeders at night and now I know.

The noise he made when he pulled one of the stick feeders off the shepherd's crook pole alerted me to his presence and I redressed in order to go save my feeders. By the time I got to the sliding door heading out onto the porch, he had yanked the full suet feeder off the crook and was trying to puzzle out how to get the suet cake out of the cage and into his mouth. This was a big fella. Somewhere in the 350-300 pound range upon emerging from his winter sleep, I imagine he could reach 350 or more before the fall hunting season. I flicked on the outside lights, shone the flashlight at his eyes and shouted. He headed off--slowly--as I walked toward where the feeders were on the ground. I heard him stop about 25 yards or less away in the darkness as I gathered up all the hanging feeders to bring them in. As I turned to head back to the porch, he let out a grunt and a "woof" that helped me move a wee bit faster. Getting the hanging feeders in, I went to the front of the deck and dumped the seed from the tray feeder on to the lawn.

I forgot about the covered tray on the lawn. Mr. Bruin didn't. This morning it was tossed and damaged. The damage isn't extensive but is certainly annoying. This is the third time I'll be rebuilding the "roof" over the tray. Between bears, raccoons and even deer sticking their heads in to get sunflower seeds, it's been taking a beating.

Bear damaged covered tray.

So the three season routine of bringing the feeders in at night will have to resume.

Today we are supposed to see the 60 degree mark again before a bit of a drop into the 40s on Saturday. Temperatures rebound a bit Sunday and then settle into the normal spring range of high 40s and low 50s for the remainder of the week. No snow is to be seen in the forecast but there are a few showers and the occasional night time lows in the 20s. Tempted as I am, the snow shovel will remain on the porch. After all, it's only March. We had to shovel snow off the deck in late April in 2006 when we were building this place.