on march first, i pulled into our garage and was startled to see what looked like a small owl perched inside the window. a stuffed toy? a joke? these were my first reactions. next i thought 'a visit from athena'? the little screech owl was patient enough to let me go in the house and find my camera.
she or he seemed not at all afraid but when tired of posing, flew up into the rafters and disappeared.
then as ellie and i walked through the crusty snow in the field, we heard loud, insistent calls from several sandhill cranes back in our swamp. this is usually about the time they come back and we're always happy to know they've arrived.
but were they agitated because the gas pipeline people had come through in december and cleared out a large swathe of the wetland, exposing their favorite nesting spot?a natural gas pipeline runs under our hayfield from se to nw, and the roots of trees growing near it may rupture it (is it really so weak?) so they must be cleared, but about 50 feet by a couple of hundred yards of cattail swamp was cleared also.
coming back to the house, ellie spotted a young possum working through the detritus under the bird feeders. we've seen this critter before, and seen its act before, so i didn't try to call her off.
the possum closes its eyes, rolls on its side and plays possum. ellie takes a good sniff or two and walks away. here is the possum about fifteen minutes later.
the male redwing blackbirds have returned and visit the bird feeder and a male tufted titmouse is in a frenzy flying at the kitchen windows over and over again. he sees his reflection in the window, and thinks it's another bird in his territory. his mate stays demurely in the craapple tree, waiting for her hero to drive away the intruder. a bluebird was behaving the same way last spring.
thick snow still covers the ground but the signs of spring are clear.
