Ambling around Salisbury and Leicester today Ron Payne and I found numerous first-of-year birds, and some nice discoveries. While searching the flooded fields east of Otter Creek in Salisbury for shorebirds we watched for over half an hour a Sandhill Crane busy with preening, stretching, and calling. At times during preening it would rub its feathers with a bill-full of wet grasses, perhaps for the mud. It then took off and flew north in the direction of Bristol Pond, 15 miles to the north. Of course, we have no idea where it ended up going. http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/view/checklist?subID=S13978332 East of the Creek Road covered bridge and 2000 feet to the north there were three Glossy Ibises foraging. http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/view/checklist?subID=S13978789 Shorebirds were limited to Snipe, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs. Five American Pipits foraged in wet mud and watery furrows of a plowed field right in front of us for much of the time we were viewing from Creek Road. At the electric transmission power lines that cross Cram Road a first Prairie Warbler was in song, wearing the most brilliant, resplendent clothes. http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/view/checklist?subID=S13978973 In all, eight warbler species were observed: Prairie Northern Waterthrush Ovenbird Black-and-White Yellow Black-throated Green Blackburnian Magnolia And lots of other birds .......! Ian