Watch your feeders: Absent birds starting to head back north

March is coming in like a lion in some places. Most of the snow that has been falling is what I call spring snow or sugaring snow. It melts almost as fast as it falls or seems to rot the snow it falls on.

Freezing at night and thawing at night brings the sap up the maples for those who collect it. This may be a normal season compared to last year’s when those who didn’t collect it in February missed it.

The fur prices are up, so next year you will want to watch where you step as there will be traps out everywhere. When the stock market goes up so do fur prices.

Most of the fur offered at auctions is sold to Russian and Chinese buyers. This is one way to get our money back from the Chinese—get more trappers out there.

Much of the fur is used as trim on coats but there are still several full-length coats and jackets made from beaver, wolf, mink, marten and lynx.

Many pelts are sheared. The longer guard hairs are taken off before the furs are made into garments.

I made another trip to Richfield Springs to hunt coyotes with Jason Harter and his hunting companions on Saturday (3/2). It was snowing a little and the wind was howling.

But Jason located some tracks that had been made overnight, so It wasn’t long after going into the woods that the hounds were on a hot track.

We were on snowshoes as there was about 18 inches of snow covered with a crust that would hold up the dogs and the coyotes, but not a person.

The dogs were running a pair of coyotes and it wasn’t long before I heard a shot not far away. Jason came on the radio and said that one was down. 

The dogs continued on the other track which circled in an old field of crabapples. They did this a couple of times.

I saw the dogs once but the coyote had already gone through. Soon after I heard another shot and Jason had gotten the second coyote.

We went to another patch of woods but all the tracks there were blown in and the dogs couldn’t get a coyote started. They weren’t in the third patch very long and this coyote took us on a merry chase for about three hours.

It crossed roads three times and no one ever got a shot. Once, as I was getting into position, a farmer came by and said the coyote was standing right out in the next field.

It was just over a rise from me and it got across the road before I got there.

The wind and snow got the best of us and the dogs and we quit about two. This was another enjoyable day with the chorus of hounds in the hunting woods.

Many birds have started north. There are reports of Redwing Blackbirds in the Boonville area so it won’t be long before some of these will be at your feeders.

A Sawhet Owl visited Mary Blanchard in Raquette Lake while making its way north. Some nest in this area using old Pileated Woodpecker holes for nesting sites.

A few Goldfinch and Redpolls are lingering or moving from south to north, getting a little food before their trip.

A batch of Crows showed up this week on my deer carcasses and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would attract an Eagle and some Ravens.

It only took a day and I had two Bald Eagles on my trail camera. I didn’t see them on Saturday as I was away during the daylight hours. The camera recorded them here twice during the day.

While I was clearing the driveway Sunday I saw one Eagle flush off the pond and land in a tree across the way.

I retrieved the camera and found the Eagles had been here a few times.

One of the eagles is banded with a blue band on the left leg and a metal band on the right leg. I don’t think the pictures can be blown up enough to read the band number but I will try.

Five Loons were found frozen on a hole in Lake George a week ago. One died and one was taken to a  rehabber but it also died.

The other three were fed a couple days. They were so hungry, two of them would come out on the ice and eat minnows.

These birds—all beached—were captured and taken to open water in Lake Champlain.

They all ate some minnows and were banded before being released. They were seen and doing okay the next couple of days.

The local Bald Eagles were diving on them, but so far the Loons seem to be faster than the Eagles.

Spring things birds do, but that’s another story. See ya.