Laughing because there isn't any open water, except for on the rivers and streams.

They circled the town pond, then milled around as if realizing they had been buffaloed.

My neighbor Norm said, ``Wonder who is leading them?''

This afternoon, I saw that quite a few of them had landed on the town pond, despite somewhere near 10 inches of ice remaining. That's a few above that I was able to photograph.

It is March 1, but the ice will be a bit longer coming off.

There's a tendency to credit wild animals with some secret wisdom, when I suspect some of it is simply trained response to a set of circumstances. Say when the sun is this high in the sky, it is time to migrate, even if there is no open water.

I will say this, the ice is getting that look to it. A day or two of wind and warmth and it will go fast.