The weekend of March 26 and 27th was the annual Wildlife Awareness Event at Billings Bridge mall, in celebration of National Wildlife Week. There was a lot of enthusiasm and lots of visitors to the FWG display, as well as to all the others. Much interest was expressed in the native plant sale coming up in June. Kudos to the volunteers who turned up, as Diane and Sharon here did, to staff the display over the weekend.

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning at the FWG. Under the Backyard Garden feeder were three song sparrows. Red-winged blackbirds were scattered around the garden, particularly by the pond, cardinals seemed to be everywhere, pine siskins and common redpolls were calling from the New Woods, starlings were in the kestrel box, a red-tailed hawk was flying over the Old Field and more song sparrows were also in that habitat. Cardinals, chickadees, juncos, and both a hairy and a downy woodpecker were also around.

As I approached the barn, I could hear the happy musical gurgling of a couple of starlings. One was sitting on top of the barn, and this one was investigating the kestrel nest box. Whether starlings will nest there this year, who knows. Probably depends on whether a kestrel pair arrive and turf them out. But we have not had kestrels nesting at FWG for at least three years, maybe four, after a long run of annual nesting activity. We rarely see them around the garden anymore either.

The little chipmunk with half a tail, was out and about again. She was slightly less skittish than last time I saw her, but it was still difficult to get a good photo of her. Still, it was fun to see her racing past the song sparrows and big grey squirrels, back and forth behind the feeder, under the cedars, along the rock walls.

Another shot of the singing blackbird. The light was soft and the bird looks happy to be "home". Of course, I am anthropomorphizing madly!

This black phase grey squirrel was having a grand time snuggled into the feeder and eating the seeds. The feeder was the perfect size for him too!

You can see that this squirrel was really getting into the sap! The contortions he underwent to reach this first tasty spring treat were comical in the extreme!

It was a glorious morning at FWG today. The sun was shining, it was mild, with just a nice nip in the air. There were signs of spring all over, including this crow, one of several, gathering twigs for nest-building. Like us, the animals have no doubt been waiting for more signs of spring: lengthening days, warmer weather, sap-running!

Jeewa took this beautifully crisp shot of the female cardinal. The females are often overlooked when near the males who certainly catch the eye with their vivid red plumage. But I think the females are equally beautiful!

On this beautiful sunny but cool day, Jeewa visited the FWG and commented that she saw a number of cardinals, a pair of juncos,a small flock of house finches hanging around the garden, along with some crows and four mourning doves.

As this blue sky shows, it was a clear, sunny day today. Yesterday, February went out with a roar as a big snowfall dumped much snow on the region. In contrast, today was sunny, mild and perfect. Some crabapples still have fruit on them, an indication that they hold no interest for wildlife.

The Amphibian pond lies under a perfect blanket of pristine snow, unmarked by any tracks at all. Which is a bit sad, because usually a fresh snow fall the day before provides a clean canvas on which the nocturnal visitors can leave evidence of their journeying. Here, this would normally mean rabbits and foxes. Even our resident beaver has been conspicuous by his absence in the last 8 or 9 days. Up until we had the big thaw and re-freeze, he'd been chewing open holes in the ice. But alas, he has either had an accident or has decided to remain below the ice for the duration, meaning (we hope), that he now has enough food to see him through.