New bird on the feeder - It's not new to the backyard. A White-throated Sparrow was on the sunflower hopper feeder a couple of minutes ago. I threw down the last of my millet yesterday. There was bare ground near the house, so I scattered it in a lot of places. But the snow this morning is obviously making it tough for the birds to find it.

Return to winter - Not that we have been far removed from it. Overnight, there was rain, which turned to freezing rain, sleet, and finally snow this morning. It's probably snowed about an inch at the most, but it looks nice outside once again. The bird activity was high this morning. Over a dozen Juncos showed up. A Flicker was on the hopper and suet feeders. A Grackle has even stopped by. He's on the hopper right this instant. It's suppose to become partly sunny this afternoon and warm to the mid 30's. Then tomorrow the first spring warmup begins. We may hit 50 on Friday. This weekend, we will be near 60. Say goodbye to the snow. I'm on the tower for hawk watching on Saturday, so I'm expecting good things. Maybe a Golden Eagle will drift by.

Backyard update for March 12, 2003 - The Northern Flickers are still making occasional appearances to the suet feeder. A Flicker visited a couple times last winter, and I'm pretty certain I saw a Flicker in the trees around our house last summer. So these could be local birds. I'll have to check the Peterjohn book, Birds of Ohio, but I think the Flickers do most of their migrating in April. Still have a handful of Juncos feeding in the yard. The Cardinal activity has dropped, minus the usual male and female, which can be seen after sunset. Then there are still the usual regulars.

Cold morning for hawk watching - Yesterday, was my third stint on the tower at Magee, and it turned out to be the best so far. I've been lucky my first three times on the tower, because I've had south winds each time. The temps at 9:00 A.M. yesterday were around 20 degrees. I stayed until about 2:00 P.M where the temperature was up to a balmy 34. It was overcast early, then sunny, then mostly cloudy. The winds were from the southwest at 10-15 mph. I was never cold. I was layered up like an onion. I cannot stand or sit still very long, so my constant pacing on the tower helped to keep me warm too. At 11:10, things started happening. The first bird was a Cooper's Hawk, which was immediately followed by two Red-tailed Hawks, and a Turkey Vulture. When I left, I had observed the following migrating raptors: 20 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 Red-shouldered Hawks, 4 Cooper's Hawks, 1 Turkey Vulture, and 1 Northern Harrier. I saw three local Bald Eagles and a couple local Red-tailed Hawks. A lone Sandhill Crane flew overhead at a medium height. The raptors were low. Most were below 100 feet, with many below tree-top height. Not a lot thermal activity, of course, when it's 25 degrees. Several flew close to the tower, so it was a good day.

Apparently, a Northern Shrike was spotted at Magee last weekend. While on the tower yesterday looking north, a bird flew east to west, and without my binoculars, I thought the bird looked different, because of its flight. I put my binoculars on it while it was still flying, and I noticed flashes of white. It landed in a tree, but it was not close. I could see its side profile, however, and it definitely had a long tail. After a few minutes, it flew to another tree, putting it even further away from me. It then flew back to the east and went low and disappeared from my view.

Oak Openings walk - On Monday of this week, March 10, I took a 90 minute walk at OO in the woods and fields along Jeffers road. I parked by some run-down house and made my way to a cross-country ski trail that was real nice. It winded its way through a pine forest. The trail contained several little ups and downs due to the sand dunes. I started around 11:00 A.M., and the temperature was about 20. I figured it would be one final wintertime-style walk.

The high temp last Saturday was 47. It raineed that afternoon and evening. After the cold front moved through Saturday night, the temperatures plunged to the single digits by sunrise on Sunday. The water on the sidewalks and roads froze almost instantly it seemed. The 2-4 inches of wet snow on the ground froze solid and felt like walking on concrete. Walking at Oak Openings was easy, because there was no give in the snow.

I ran into a group of Chickadees and Titmice in the pines, so I started pishing. They responded with their mobbing calls and got closer to me. I was hoping something else might fly in. A Golden-crowned Kinglet did make an appearance, I think. I spotted a small bird that was hovering while picking something from the pine limb. The problem was the sun behind a cloud was behind the bird, so I only saw dark. He only stayed for a moment.

Not much else birdwise, except for the regulars. The walk was more for fun, enjoying the winter weather, which is ending. 55-60 degree temps are expected this weekend. There's still an inch or two of snow around, but there are bare spots in some areas.

Saturday's hawk watch - All of my scheduled hawk watch days are from the tower at Magee Marsh. At 9:00 A.M., there was a heavy overcast. The winds were from the south all morning at 5-8 mph. The temperature at the start was in the mid 30's, warming to the low 40's by Noon. As to migrating raptors, I counted 10 Red-tailed Hawks and two Red-shouldered Hawks. At least there was some movement. The birds were low, with some appearing to have just lifted near the tower. They were struggling for thermals. The marsh is still frozen, and more imporantly, there's still two to three inches of snow covering the ground. Other birds seen from the tower: a Canadian Goose sitting in one of the nesting platforms next to one of the ponds near the tower, Common Grackles moving, a Brown Creeper working the trees next to the tower, a flock of around 500 Canadian Geese flew east to west a little north of the tower, with two Snow Geese in the front, eight Red-headeded Ducks, a Scaup, and a Ring-necked Duck were all in the tiny open water area in the pond near the nature center, a bunch of geese were also in and around this water opening, which is kept open by a pump. I stayed for a little while past Noon, but the sky clouded up, and there was no more movement, so I left.

The high temperature in Toledo on Saturday was 47. This morning's low was in the single digits. It was 18 below zero this morning in Grayling, Michigan and minus 12 in Traverse City. On the 11 P.M. weather last night, it was 4 degrees above zero in Traverse City and 60 in Lexington, KY. Today, it's been mostly sunny and windy, with high temps 20-25. The low temp tomorrow morning is expected to be around five above. The high temps forecasted through Thursday are supposed to be 30-40. But then the crack in winter begings. High temps on Friday through Sunday are supposed to be 50-60.