Morning all,
A nice morning to be able to walk around the yard without too much trouble. Not a whole lot around but I did see a smallish flock of Common Grackles with some Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in. They are singing vociferously, as was a Carolina Wren and several chickadees.
The E. Screech Owl was perched in his roost hole, and so I decided to go fetch the scope for better looks. He was actually rather animated this morning, preening a lot while I watched. My scope views of him/her are from about 100 yards away, maybe a bit more, but from the back fence in my yard. I still have a screech owl box up in my red oak tree, but a closer examination this morning revealed it was full of leaves,  likely a squirrel nest. 

One of our mockers ids defending the barberry bushes in the front yard from all comers, as they still have remaining fruit. Also, I noticed the groundhog has broken through the snow just beyond the fence and thrown dirt up as it excavated a hole! 

Springs a'comin...

Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD