Chasing Peanuts

This morning I opened the drapes and my friendly black squirrel was staring at me from the tree.  I opened the window and threw some peanuts into the snow and caught this shot of her blazing a trail through the snow to find them.  It got up to 42 F (5.5 C) with bright sunshine today and melted most of the snow.  It supposed to be progressively warmer for the next few days so I'm sure it will soon be gone without a trace.

I've been checking on the Osprey Cam for the last few weeks to try to catch their return to the nest.  When I checked in today, a male Osprey was sitting beside the snowy nest, having first been spotted this morning at about 7:30.  No sign of the female yet and there are some comments suggesting that this doesn't look like the male from last year so it will be interesting to see what unfolds.  It was so wonderful to follow them last year from their arrival, through laying and hatching eggs, raising their 3 young until they fledged, and all leaving the nest in late September to spend the winter in a warmer climate.  For those who weren't following me last year, my house is about 2 miles from the nest so I visit them regularly and then watch their progress online from the live camera feed from above their nest.  This can be seen in the link above.  I plan to visit the nest tomorrow and hope I will have my first Osprey blip of the season.  :-))

If you haven't been keeping up with the Blip Central Blog, please click here to read about the survey they have asked us all to complete by March 31st.  As promised, they are consulting the community on decisions that need to be made.  Thanks Fab Four!