Frogs!

The last couple of weeks were cold and there was little activity on Muskrat Pond. It appears the mink really did destroy the muskrat house, and we hardly saw any muskrats. I was very happy to see one Friday morning, swimming out of the culvert and into the "old" muskrat house--the one used last year.

There have been geese and mallards and deer--and roadkill. Three deer in about 3 weeks, a raccoon, 2 possums and a skunk on Friday night.

But Friday night something wonderful happened. We got home from dinner with friends and the frogs were singing! What a thrill. A true sign of spring. And then yesterday it got really hot--like a summer day--and I went out to clean winter debris out of the brook, and there were the frogs, sitting on rocks, warming themselves in the sun. It amazes me how they can winter over at full size like that. So now, even though it won't be hot like it was yesterday, spring is really underway.

Bird sightings on the pond over the weekend included a female Eastern belted kingfisher and a chipping sparrow. A great blue heron was sighted in flight. Hooray! The house finches have been back for a couple of weeks, as are  the cedar waxwings who passed through in a big flock of 40-50 a couple of weekends ago. Goldfinches are getting golder every day.