First cardinal heard at 6:25 (EST) this morning. I saw a pileated woodpecker behind Eric’s house along Limestone when I walked Bella. Ed Oxey called to report he had seen a question mark butterfly and about a dozen honeybees yesterday. He has snowdrops and crocus and aconites in bloom.

On tonight’s walk at 6:00, I saw a small flock of grackles, all facing the setting sun, cackling in the trees. Flowers were emerging from one maple near the park. Doves and cardinals were calling, one robin whinnying. In the garden, thin ramps foliage has emerged, maybe an inch tall, pacing the peony spears. One daffodil is budded. At the mall parking lots, and in the wetlands on the way to Beavercreek, geese were looking for nesting sites. In the pond, the small koi have disappeared. They were active around the 5th, before the storm, but I haven’t seen them since.