An early April storm dumped up to a foot of the white stuff on our Valley this week.  Today I found many birds feeding in a frenzy at the feeders in the yard and several species along roadsides where the plow had scraped all the snow away.

On a Sherman Road walk, I found two Killdeer near the intersection of Sherman and East Warren Roads, further on, the first Fox Sparrow of the year foraging in the road.  There were many reports of Fox Sparrows around the state today, so maybe they all arrived together from the south.

Around noon I spied four White-winged Crossbills feeding on birch and poplar buds on East Warren Road.  They were in the same place I saw them earlier in March, what a thrill to watch them until they flew west out of sight.

Late this afternoon, I was driving East Warren Road and flushed several Song Sparrows just north of the East Warren Store.  The biggest surprise, just north of Wadhams Stable, was an Eastern Meadowlark that kept flying up when a car came by, but would circle around and land in the same spot.  Although the Spring Arrival Chart that Jeannie posted on the website says Meadowlarks return the third week in March, this one looked pretty cold to me.  It is only the second Meadowlark I’ve seen in the Valley, the first being on Elwin Neill’s field on Meadow Road several years ago.  

Eastern Meadowlark Seen on East Warren Road

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