"My" Red-shouldered Hawks have been flying and calling loudly all over the woods and yard since Friday afternoon. Their cries are shrill and wild-sounding. At first when they arrive in the spring I think it's just the jay that has learned their call, but then I hear their repeated cries and see the shadows as they fly over the house. I find their nest each year before the trees leave out.
Later in the day a Raven called as it, too, flew over the house. Now there's a wild-sounding call, echoing over the bare trees. Their call brings to mind memories of days in the wild north. I find it interesting that they have come to Carlos to nest. Perhaps they have always been near here but picked a nest site nearer to my house a few years ago so we see and hear them often now. The Sandhills are getting louder daily. We saw several flying in the direction of the southern end of Carlos today, so they are amassing for the dance. Today at Wargo Nature Center the redwings are already on territory, singing from every wire and tree-top. I didn't have my binoculars (helping son with Eagle project) but I think the small flocks of sparrows flitting along the edges of the road as we walked by were Tree Sparrows. Heard a killdeer while standing out on the front walk in the warm sun, watching the dog cavort in the old fall leaves (she is the exact color of them and can disappear like one of those puzzles you have to stare at to see the second image of, if I take my eyes off of her!) The robins are still sounding their high-pitched alarm calls, I've heard no singing yet. Many, many geese and a few ducks in the vernal ponds produced by the rapid snow melt. Overhead today, saw either an Eagle or an Osprey carrying a fish near Peltier Lake in Centerville. Did not take eyes off road much, as helping son learn to drive takes all MY concentration as well as his! I've had quite a few folks telling me where to find the Eagle nest up by Center City, so I'm looking forward to finding it when I go up next weekend to help 4 Scouts become Eagle. That's pretty exciting, too! Still have many siskins eating me out of nyjer seed, but expect that one day soon relative quiet will descend, more's the pity. Their rising calls are so uplifting! Holly Peirson Columbus, Anoka Co. ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
