It may be April Fool’s Day, but I saw my first Meadowlark of the season … no fooling! I know from experience that Spring comes much earlier along the south shore of Lake Superior. In fact the grasslands near Cloverland have warmer temperatures almost three weeks on average (according to me) before my northeastern Boreal forest. The absolute distance between the two habitats is small, but almost all winds which blow across the big lake keep the boreal forest much cooler. Ice out for the ponds and lakes near my house is still a long time off. However, only 20 miles away the world is waking up.

I found this Eastern Meadowlark advertising its presence this morning. In addition I saw Red-Winged Blackbirds and heard a Killdeer. The number of birds that have arrived back in the Northland is still small, and only a fraction so far of these three kinds of birds, but how nice it was to see this color and hear their song!

Meanwhile back at the ranch … the Great Horned Owl chicks were sound asleep just before noon, and the Red-Bellied Woodpecker just would not come out completely from behind its favorite drumming tree.