Date: 2/22/26 12:40 pm From: Carole Winslow <cjwinslow94...> Subject: Clarion Co- first woodcock of the spring last evening ! and a screech owl pair again
After the past week the ground had thawed and all the snow was gone yesterday evening. It was a beautiful calm, clear evening after a little afternoon sun, it smelled wonderful and so I went out at dusk just on the off chance of hearing the first woodcock. After the pretty brutal winter I wasn't really expecting to hear one yet but shockingly, there it was right on cue at dusk, twittering up into the evening sky and chirping its way down again. If I hadn't heard it twice I might have convinced myself that I dreamed it. It's always such a treat the first one I hear, giving me hope that spring will indeed arrive. We are missing the blizzard today up here and the next week doesn't look so bad, so I think it should manage to survive the late winter weather.
Also my female screech owl that spent the winter roosting in the barn has survived and the other day a male showed up roosting next to her in the barn. Last night one was also calling after dusk. Good news for another nesting season ! He looks mostly gray but with some reddish around the face and ears so I guess he'd be called a brown morph.
