For the first time in many years, "Joe in the Woods" and Linda headed off to Magee Marsh without me. I'll admit to being fairly grouchy about missing the trip. But, from my desk yesterday afternoon, I saw EASTERN KINGBIRDS hanging with the EASTERN BLUEBIRDS in the prairie, and was lucky enough to spot a RED FOX dash across the field. After feeding the CHICKENS (Joe usually does this), I fed the ten 5-week old border collie puppies in the back yard. The pups were too busy eating to notice the singing HOODED WARBLER, SCARLET TANAGER and WOOD THRUSH, but I was grateful to hear them. As Joe always says, it helps to have a 60-acre yard. Good birding to all of you at Magee Marsh, and for the rest of us wishing we could be there too -- (almost) nothing compares to the everyday blessings of our yard birds. BTW, ten 5-week old pups can polish off 4 cups of food way faster than I can drain a 4-ounce glass of wine. Regards, Vicki B. Derr Envirotech Consultants, Inc. 5380 Township Rd. 143 NE Somerset, OH 43783 (740) 743-1669 (740) 743-1644 (fax) www.envirotechcon.com [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]