Yesterday I strolled the wildflower walk below the dam. Very few 
spring migrants--
just a Phoebe calling and Northern Parula. The hillside was 
spectacular, though.
About a quarter-mile of it was carpeted with Dutchman's Breeches, and 
I mean carpeted.
Another quarter mile or so was carpeted with Spring Beauty. No Trillium
or Bluebells yet. Lots and lots of tadpoles in the vernal pools, 
which are nowhere
near as extensive as they have been in rainy years, I saw a Zebra Swallowtail
and a real surprise: a small brown grasshopper!

Loads of Great Blue Herons, of course, in batches of 16-20 in the shallows.
Way on the far shore were small gulls--Bonaparte's? I couldn't tell 
without a scope.
Forster's Terns were there, and one Caspian Tern. Cormorants everywhere.

The Bald Eagles and Ospreys were entertaining. Ospreys seem to have 
possession of the nests
on the power line towers. One of them was harassing an eagle as I 
pulled into the parking lot.
I saw at least seven eagles--four adult and three immature. It was a 
nice way to spend an Easter morning.

--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods.
More than any other thing that pertains to the body
it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato