I finally got all my seeds planted – just ahead of the spring thaw. I planted the last of the seeds on Monday, and today the fields are almost completely brown with just a little snow at the edges.

The Horned Larks follow me around in the field, eating the seeds – fortunately there are usually only 3 or 4 birds – not huge flocks – so there should be plenty of seeds left.

We had a few days in the 50s and 60s – it was fun to watch the creek rise through the day. By afternoon it was rushing and foaming with brown water, and it rose nearly to the top of its banks. The rush of water cleaned out most of the sand and silt in the part of the stream near the driveway and exposed the rocks along the creek bed – the trout should like that.

On the warm days there are running streams everywhere – through the woods and the fields. This year I found a stream running through Volvo Meadow for the first time.

The Frog Pond is full almost to the overflow pipe. Today it’s frozen, with big chucks of ice at odd angles.

I keep trying to make it into a year-round pond, but I think it will just have to be an ephemeral pond because it always dries up during the dry part of the summer. Ephemeral ponds are still nice to have – they’re good breeding places for frogs and other amphibians.

We’ve been seeing large flocks of Wild Turkeys and even more of their footprints in the snow. They like to eat Wild Grapes – the grapes may be especially attractive when the snow is deep and they can’t find their normal foods on the ground. It’s funny to watch them fly up to the small branches of a tree, cling there, and lean down to gobble the grapes hanging below them. They’re such ungainly looking birds.

Here are some Turkeys in the cornfield – I think the birds in the trees are crows. The cornfield is a food source for lots of different kinds of wildlife – I always see something when I walk by.

Tonight I saw 36 deer in the cornfield – the largest herd of deer I’ve ever seen on our land. In another year we won’t have any crop land left – I hope that will help reduce our deer population.

Some days start out cold and misty because of all the melting snow. On those mornings I usually find hoarfrost on some of the trees and on the bushes along the creek. Here’s hoarfrost on some oak leaves and twigs.

And on Wild Rye.

I’ve seen several spring birds in the last week. A pair of Sandhill Cranes and a pair of Trumpeter Swans flew over when I was up on Western Field. They fly close to the top of the bluffs, so when I’m up there, they’re not very far above me. The Trumpeter Swans were a new sighting for the farm – I’ve never seen them from here before. One bird had a yellow neckband, but by the time I realized it, they had already flown far enough past me that I couldn’t see the numbers.

I’m pretty sure I heard a Woodcock “peenting” in the woods on Monday, and today there were at least 11 Bald Eagles riding a thermal above Hidden Oaks Prairie.

On my way up the hill I heard a scrabbling noise on the hill on the opposite side of the valley. With binoculars I could see a male Ruffed Grouse, with his tail spread and neck feathers ruffed out, following a female across the hillside.

On the drive back to the cities on Monday, a bat flew out over the road above us.

I cleaned out the bluebird next boxes today – and on my way back to the house I saw a bluebird along the Knife Edge. The boxes are ready for him now.

I’ve been enjoying walking without snowshoes. It’s much easier to get places, although I’m looking forward to having no snow on the paths at all. It’s fun visiting all the spots that have been so difficult to get to all winter. They don’t look like spring yet, but it’s fun to see them again.

Here’s the Knife Edge – still with some snow on the ridge.

And here’s Indian Grass Prairie, with most of the snow gone from the south-facing slope.