RhinebeckFarm.com

I returned to the farm after two weekends away: the first to attend a work conference, and the second to recover from the Covid I got at the work conference. I was feeling a lot better today, especially when I was greeted by this Rose-breasted Grosbeak singing his heart out over our driveway.

Jen is her own harbinger of spring, braving a wet, 40 degree day to get the beans started. This weekend we saw Ring-necked Ducks (f/k/a Lesser Scaups) diving in the pond, Herman the bachelor muskrat giving himself a bath nearby, a coyote skulking around the backyard, and a raccoon in the Hoeners’ driveway.

Most of the birding content ends up on Instagram these days, but here’s an exclusive image for Rhinebeckfarm.com readers: a Cedar Waxwing. Like the morel, it’s something that has always been here but somehow we’ve never noticed until now.

They are very hard to evict at this point.

Everything is bright green at the farm right now. If you can zoom in, you will see our corkscrew willows at either end of the picture, an unwanted Canada goose at left, our tiny flowering cherry behind the pond, and the shimmering bog beyond.

Still, signs of spring abound, including this unusual assortment of ducks (two Mallard males and a female; one Ring-necked Duck). The snowdrops were up, as were a few crocuses. The Canada Geese are returning. And Jen gave Sarah a spring haircut.

After a long hiatus we have spent the last week here at the farm — and indeed we are stuck here indefinitely — as a result of COVID-19. We have all been strongly encouraged to “work” from “home” and I am doing my best to comply. Still there are encouraging signs of spring all around, […]

Here is America’s favorite harbinger, the robin, looking forward to a glorious spring. It was extremely cold when we arrived Saturday morning, justifying an all-day fire, but it warmed up for the remainder of the long weekend.

This house finch wanted to join us Saturday evening. Who could blame him?

We stayed in New York for a dance rehearsal and to watch the New York City Marathon, but here’s a bluebird checking in on the PondCam.