Spring arrived last Wednesday, a week late but no less welcome. We were in Kelvington in the afternoon, and the water was running down the street in a torrent. Here at the Park there was more road surface visible but not much different otherwise. Since then we got some very strong winds, especially Friday, and that took the snow down. Funny – it was only -2· but with that wind, walking was colder than it was in the winter!

Then it turned cold again. Yesterday there was a very strong north wind all day, with temperatures well below freezing. It's a bit better today - still cool, but the wind is much lighter.

Another sign of spring - the ice fishing huts are disappearing from the Lake. I believe they have to be off by tonight. There seemed to be a fair number of anglers hoping for a last minute catch; if the deep freeze isn't full by now they will have to do without for a few weeks.

Congratulations to Lana and Derek Woulfe on the birth of their son, Hunter Michael. Hunter arrived on Saturday, March 23rd at Melfort. Mother, father and baby are all doing fine, but Jack looks a little stressed out.

At the Doghide River Festival last weekend, I met a couple from northeast of Tisdale who, like a lot of us, like to feed the wild birds. Also like a lot of us, they don't claim to be bird experts, but they do know a goldfinch from a grosbeak. For the past three months, they have had a pair of cardinals coming to their feeder, one a brilliant orange/red, the other with more muted colors, more brownish. That sure matches the pictures in my bird book! It says the cardinal is non-migratory, but has been gradually expanding its range both north and south in the 20th century. I have heard of the odd one being seen in Winnipeg, but never this far north. I suggested to the couple that they try to get a photo of it, and notify the Sask. Natural History Society. Doreen suggested that I not mention their name for fear of having them inundated with bird fanciers, which is what happened to Donna Wickstrom when she had a painted bunting in her yard. I will keep in touch with them, though, and give their name when they say it is okay.

Last week's Bjorkdale Bandits Ice Fishing Derby was another success, though the fishing was unimpressive. A total of twelve fish were caught, and the winner was under two pounds. I phoned Rocky Chysyk and he said they sold over 200 tickets, but there weren't more than about 150 people fishing. Candace Thorpe with her 1 lb. 14 oz. jack won first prize; Ed Yablonski won second, Donna Clark took third, and our own George Renneberg got 4th. Of course, modest old George wouldn't say a word about being a championship angler - not much!

I heard an interesting story about a fishing derby over at McBride Lake: an angler was calling it quits and reeling in his line, but noticed a minnow following his lure. He scooped it out and took it to the judge's stand where it was duly measured, weighed and recorded, and it won 22nd prize!