Anne (the flower gardener in this household) takes a much less favorable view of Chipmunks than I, and thus always has a lookout for them (as the Southerner in her has for any species of snake!) spotted our FOY on Tues, Feb 25. The day after that we saw our FOY Mink, and just yesterday I followed (with my bin's) the resident Woodchuck on our lot as it took it's annual spring walk upstream along the river bank and back for a purpose that remains undiscovered.
We're also seeing WODU's daily now as they come to partake of corn on the cob on the bank at the river's edge and the kernels I dribble into the shallows below it. I assume that the latter practice is much less likely to facilitate the spread of bird flu virus, since any virus particle shed during feeding will be washed downstream, soon to be so diluted as to represent virtually no threat to wildlife or humans. It also seems to me that the dispersion of Wood Ducks at this time of year makes them less susceptible to viral exchange than occurs within the large assemblies of more social species like Canada Geese. (I'd appreciate the opinions of better-informed birders than myself on that and other matters related to back yard feeding during viral wildlife pandemics like the current one with bird flu.)
Attached, such as they are, are date-tagged confirming pics of recent visitors to our stretch of the Saline River.
John and Anne, near Milan
From: Fred Kaluza <fkaluza...> Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2025 2:53 AM To: Birders UM <birders...> Subject: [birders] Non-Bird
Other signs of Spring.Has anyone seen their first Chipmunks of the year yet? I keep waiting for ours to pop out of their burrow near the House. Last year, a female emerged and was seen with two offspring. The young ones were slightly smaller and were clearly new to the world. They slowly gained confidence in their surroundings and I was kind of hoping I'd gain their trust. Then one morning we saw their friendly "Mom" get carried off by a Hawk. Nothing seen or heard here yet this year. -- Birders is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Birders" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to birders+<unsubscribe...> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/great-lakes.net/d/msgid/birders/SJ0PR22MB34783F7 <9100F98F65F7829D4F9DD2...>
-- Birders is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Birders" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to birders+<unsubscribe...> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/great-lakes.net/d/msgid/birders/002b01db95c7%24662b35e0%243281a1a0%<24...>
