March 22, 2005 [LINK]
Signs of Spring
Even though there are hardly any flowers or green sprouts visible yet, the cardinals have begun singing on a regular basis, so spring can't be far off. On Friday I saw a flock of 15 or so Tree swallows in the Bell's Lane area, along with an American kestrel or two. Tree swallows are one of the earliest migrants we see. Robins and grackles are also making more frequent appearances, but woodpeckers are strangely scarce lately.
I just got a batch of incredibly sharp bird photos from my brother John, who traveled to Minnesota several weeks ago. The Northern hawk owl and Great gray owl shots are worthy of publication. I've also updated the Costa Rica birds page with a second scrolling menu that shows the second batch of photos, which were taken from video clips. That page is now more or less complete.