I was awakened this morning by a singing Carolina Wren, and my husband noticed
a woodpecker drumming on the house yesterday morning. I heard one drumming in
the trees last week. I also heard a few bits of song from a Titmouse yesterday.

My snowdrops, however, which bloomed during the warm spell at the 
beginning of this month,
are lying on the ground in a swoon now that the temperature has gone 
below freezing. But
the squirrels and Mourning Doves are starting to get amorous, so we 
are getting mixed signals.

Speaking of squirrels, we have an odd-colored one in the yard today. 
It's front half looks
like a normal Eastern Gray Squirrel, but its rear half looks like 
it's made from parts.
The upper back is very dark, almost black, and the tail is 
reddish-brown throughout. The hind
legs have more white on them below the knee than other squirrels, 
which gives it a calico effect.
The squirrel is about 2/3 the size of the others.

At 11:10 AM 1/31/2007, June Tveekrem wrote:
>Despite the cold windy weather, the Cardinals in my yard are 
>singing, not just chipping and calling. I also saw one male offer a 
>female a seed. (She didn't take it, but hey, you can't fault a guy 
>for trying.) Spring is coming!

--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