Suzie, my diabetic Springer spaniel, awakened me around four in the morning. Efforts to fall back asleep were futile. I signes an executive order to myself…GET UP and head for the woods! 
The skies were emmersed with darkened and heavy clouds and a brisk wind forced me to wish I had worn a little extra clothing.
My walk wasn’t long when I heard that increasingly rare sound of a woodcock “sniping” his mating call. I miss hearing those call. I stopped to listen as the sky lightened a bit. The bird would ascend making a certain whisting call. Shortly, he would decend making a completelydifferent call until he landed close to begin making the raucous snipe-like call. On one of his decnds I actually could see him until he was almoost on me. The bird detoured twenty feet, landed and began calling. They are an interesting little bird!
I heard two very distant gobbles as the wind diluted the volume. I approcahed a listening area and failed to hear any gobblers. Maybe the gobbles were absent this morning, or maybe, the lusty calls were out of my hearing.
I enetered a pine area and watched a great-horned owl exit soon to be chased by angry crows. I saw , at least, four different white “flags” of deer in the gray and dismal woodlands. I heard and saw one grouse flying from an old fallen log. I saw a Cooper’s hawk and a red-tailed hawk too.
The dogwood blossoms were early to bloom this spring for the warm weather that had become the norm over March and most of April. The leaves were rapidly emerging too…as are the allegies!
Before the morning was completed I saw four gobblers crossing near to a house. Later, I saw a struuting tom with 4-5 hens. While traveling home I saw three longbeards with one hen. I am wondering if hens are going to be an issue while hunting. You can bet on it!
Virginia Bluebells
Later I took some photos of wildflowers I have growing around my creek area. The Virginia Bluebells are really out in force as are the Harebell flowers. Tomorrow, Bob Miller (my step-father) and I will try my luck with gobbler chasing.
Greek valerian (Harebell)
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