SPRING SOUND: We figured the combination of warm and wet would
bring us a couple reports of the spring peeper. We weren’t
disappointed!

Perhaps Wilcox is the peeper haven of Elk County because we
actually had two reports from residents late last week. Our initial
report was that peepers were “croaking” in Wilcox at 8:32 p.m. this
past Friday, and Chip Swanson of Wilcox says he heard them at 8:20
p.m. Saturday.

Not to be outdone, we had a report, too, from Brent Burgess that
he actually he heard them back on St. Patrick’s Day while walking
the Tuna Valley Trail.

We are envious, having heard no peepers this year – even though
our home turf of “Marshburg” should be an natural setting for frogs
of any kind. With Monday’s cold and snowy weather, the little
peepers will undoubtedly be driven into silence at least for the
time being.

Meanwhile, we had heard recently from Lance Begin of Bradford
who had some unusual signs of spring – bird droppings on the car
windshield, and “flocks” of medical helicopters in the vicinity of
Campus Drive. The mechanical birds become more numerous when the
weather breaks, Lance noted.

PINE SISKIN: Jim Flynn of Erie passes along a follow-up from his
son in Georgia on our columns about the pine siskin. Jimmie had
written, “Dad, there has been some kind of cone crop failure in the
boreal forests of Canada that has forced pine siskins to invade the
eastern U.S. all the way to Florida. I have had up to 30 or so at
my feeders for most of the winter.”

SPRING WATER: Jim Pringle of Vineyard Haven, Mass., writes:
“Your recent mention about health issues concerning spring water
made we wonder what caused the demise of Kennedy Springs? When I
was growing up in Bradford back in the ’40s and ’50s we used to go
there all the time for water.”

We recall that, at one time, McKean County Motor Club had
revived that spring which is right on Route 219 and high-quality
spring water was again available for several years. AAA had tested
the water religiously to make sure it was potable.

After a few years though, Kennedy Springs was again closed.
Seems to us it was because maintenance and clean-up costs had
become prohibitive. Anyone remember?