Did everyone enjoy the sunny, warm weather we had over the weekend? It is easy to forget about the snow we had last weekend.
The gardens are getting plowed, tilled and folks are planting the early things.
Oats have been sown and the cows turned out to feed on the fresh green grass in the pastures. Spring is here in full swing.
Spring is the time for bird migration and I had the opportunity to spend a day outdoors to see if we can find the birds that migrate in April. The ones we were especially looking for were Fox Sparrow, Golden Crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, and Winter Wren. We started out at the Wilderness Center near Wilmot. Before we even got the car into the parking lot we stopped, got out and the first bird we looked at was a Fox Sparrow! We walked on the trails for a little while and found the Winter Wren. By first hearing it sing we knew it was somewhere. We found about half a dozen Golden Crowned Kinglets and also Ruby crowned Kinglets and one Hermit Thrush. Swamp and Field Sparrows were singing and seen. Tree Sparrows were still here and at the feeders. It was interesting to watch the birds from inside the interpretive building. Our next stop was along Prairie Land south of Wooster where we saw a lot of water fowl including Red Breasted Mergansers, Green Winged and Blue Winged Teal, etc. At Killbuck Wildlife area we saw a lot of variety of Ducks including the Horned Grebe plus lots of Coots. At Funk we added the Caspian Tern, 3-4 different shore birds, Northern Pintail, etc. I forget where is was but we saw the Bald Eagle and Sandhill Crane flying. Our total count for the day was 80 different species.
It is interesting to note where people come from that shop at the Ashery. On Saturday I had the privilege to visit with two ladies from Nova Scotia. It was their first time here. I met a young lady in here that is in the process of learning to speak “Penn Dutch” language. She surprised me by greeting me with “Vie Bist Du?”
For Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,
the flowers appear on the earth,
the time of the singing of birds has come,
the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard in our land.
Songs of Solomon 2:12
