Spring Fever

This is what 123 inches of melted snow looks like. The frost isn't out of the ground yet, so there it sits. It doesn't look like we'll be doing any yard work for, at least, another month. THIS is the part of spring I HATE! The days are warmer, so we feel like being outdoors. BUT, there's not a damned thing we can do out there! Our landscape is nothing but dreary, leafless, muddy, dirty SLOP! Cabin fever is at it's worst now.

Adding to our misery is the epidemic deaths of Red Polls in our county. Red Polls are tough, cheerful little birds that always brighten our winters. They are so tough that our area is their idea of flying south for the winter. They should have headed back to their Arctic Circle breeding grounds by now. I imagine our late spring has kept them here longer than usual.

The past 2 weeks I've picked up 5 Red Poll bodies from our back yard. I feared Bird Flu. This happened about 5 yrs ago with Pine Ciskins and Slate-Colored Juncoes being the victims. At that time, our local DNR office tested the bodies for disease, with no conclusive results. The DNR's theory was that there must have been some kind of fungus in the bird seed that everybody was feeding the birds.

This time one of our local vets tested the bodies and found a salmonella epidemic. Fortunately, we'd already moved Hairry to the front yard, and away from our birdfeeder, when our back yard flooded.

In an article in our local paper, our vet suggests that we all take down, and sterilize, our birdfeeders for the remainder of the spring bird migration. I really hate to do this as the influx of birds to our feeder is the bright spot of our spring. I also hate to deny food to our nesting chickadees. But if this is what it takes to help slow the spread of disease in our bird population, I guess we'll have to comply.


The good news is that our grill is now accessible. L will be grilling the first steaks of the season tonight!