Sunrise over Hoffman Pond and the Boys Dam. March 1st was sunny and in the high 20s. Side roads are still hard going, but most of the main roads are clear. Lots of Canada geese out on Hoffman Pond.
(last year's March 1 picture and article)
***End of March Update***
Buckets and bags for maple sugaring are attached to the big sugar maples along the back country roads. Throughout the month we had snow, snow, snow. Kids built snowmen for Easter! One storm mid-month dropped about eight inches. It snowed again on the 26th. When it warmed up slightly, there was spectacularly high water.
It was sad to see the red red robin bob bob bobbin' in six inches of snow.
The skunk cabbage blossoms, pink and yellow, stuck up above the snow like Easter eggs in the marshes along the river.
Mergansers (common) were seen almost daily on Hoffman Pond throughout the month. Hooded mergansers were spotted right above the dam, doing a courtship dance, on the 17th. They would bow and flip open their "hood". Goldeneyes also were seen throughout the month. They make me think of penguins.
Usually the mergansers are gone by the end of March, but here they were, at the same time that the geese were walking the banks of the river, scouting for nesting sites. The geese think it is spring. And then it snows again.
At the feeder the pair of cardinals were daily visitors, along with nuthatches, house finch, an occasional bluejay, and downy woodpeckers. I heard the downy drumming his song on tree trunks in the woods.
On the 29th, a Carolina wren appeared on the redbud tree, head tipped back and singing his monotonous song for all he was worth.
(Lily's Easter snowman)
