ON WING: This past Monday we heard from Frank Milks on Ocracoke
Island in the Outer Banks:
“Just thought you would like to know I think the robins are on
the way to you. Last week, I noticed a large flock of robins here
on the island. I didn’t think much of it but noticed last Friday I
couldn’t find a robin on the island. So I’m thinking spring has to
be coming soon. I sure hope so.”
No mention of the “Bradford or bust” signs but no doubt it’s
part of the same group spotted in Florida about a month ago. (Who
doesn’t stop at the Outer Banks on the way back from Florida?)
Every year the calendar turns to March, we get into a constant
state of anticipation. So many things bode the arrival of
spring.
Robins, even if they’re hundreds of miles distant, are
nonetheless headed our way. This year, we even get to turn the
clocks ahead earlier than normal — March 14, to be exact. On March
15, each and every year, the turkey vultures return to
Westline.
Speaking of birds, we’ve been getting a few people commenting on
that big pileated woodpecker seen near Fisher Avenue. Apparently,
these Woody Woodpecker birds have been sighted at several locations
in and around Bradford.
Dick Thomas tells us he has seen this type of woodpecker near
the Pitt trail. “It’s quite a sight to see,” he says of the
crow-sized bird with a big red head. “It made quite a racket
pecking on the other side of ‘the pond,’” he reports.
Lance Begin saw 3-4 “hammering away” on two maple trees in his
yard.
ANOTHER SHOW: Barney Snyder follows up some of our concert
write-ups with a memory of his own: “Speaking of entertainment, in
my day we traveled ‘far and wide’ to see good entertainment. I
remember taking my date to Chautauqua to hear Vaughn Monroe and his
orchestra. At that time I was 18 and probably looked 15 and got
served without ID.”
“Several of us went to Buffalo with dates (no, we did not spend
the night with them) and drove home the same night. Now days some
of the parents would be asking where we were spending the night.
I’m glad I’m not a teenager now.”
