Despite still having snow on the ground, I think spring has finally arrived here because I saw my first mourning cloak butterfly of the season. FINALLY! It has been a long, hard winter for me.

Another clue that spring is here is that I saw these Northern Pintails, which is a marsh duck that is a spring/fall migrant to my area and only a rare summer bird in my neck of the woods.

They are a beautiful bird, aren’t they??

My baby sister claims she is sick of seeing the spider every time she checks the site for updates…so time to change to something not so arachnid-like…

Or maybe not. Check out the pseudoscorpion that was wandering my dining room wall tonight.

I really need to upgrade to a new lens…my current long-distance lens is getting on my nerves, but check out this 3-legged deer I saw about a week ago. Not every day you see one of these.

Man, I am really itching for spring and for the insects to start popping.

You might think that a nice sunny field of wild flowers is my favorite place to take pictures of insects, but actually it is the bathroom or the hood of a car…the reflectance of light really helps the images

Here was a bathroom dweller from tonight. He didn’t want to stay put on the porcelain though,  so  toilet paper had to do.

Kind of looks like the following pictures should have been taken somewhere else…but they are from central NY all the same.

Ring-neck Pheasant rooster:

Josh and I went birding for the first time this spring, if thats what you can call the season we are in. There is a place here in NY, called Derby Hill, that is one of the best spots in the state to see the return hawk migration every spring. The hawks started flying back about a week ago.

Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating for hawk flight. But the Snow Geese were flying in flocks by the hundreds. The only other things we saw on the hill were Canada Geese and Crows.

There were also some ducks on Lake Ontario, I think white-winged scoters, but I am not sure…anyone have any thoughts as to what they are. Sorry for the crappy pic:

So since we didn’t have any luck on the Lake at Derby Hill, we went to a local sanctuary that is supposed to have migratory owls roosting in the pines. Didn’t have any luck there either (maybe its too early), but we did see some resident white breasted nuthatches, brown creepers, and a pair of pileated woodpeckers.

Not everything has made it through our rough winter this year though…

And last week while working I came across a wild ring-necked pheasant rooster…too bad I didn’t have the dogs with me.

Bad news is that my lens has been acting up and I think I need to send it in for a tune up, which stinks because I don’t want to let it go for however long it will take to repair it. Total bummer   Wish I had the money to buy a telephoto lens. Stupid Nikon and their ridiculous prices.