Spring is attempting to break through the intermittent snows. Slowly but surely, the hillsides are melting off, exposing bare soil and sagebrush buttercups. Birds are arriving right on cue, and the winter residents (humans included) welcome back these migrants after months of absence. Red-winged blackbirds are singing in the middle of blizzards, and must wonder if they picked the wrong week to return. Swallows are flying around the open ponds and under bridges. Bears are waking up and starting to wander around in search of winter casualty carcasses. Elk and Bison are migrating off their wintering grounds to reclaim their pastures throughout the ecosystem. All of the following birds were seen in the last 24 hours around Grand Teton National Park. Stay tuned for mammals.

Trumpeter Swans have been resisting the cold all winter, but the muskrats have finally stepped out from under the ice

Ring-necked Duck (right) and an American Wigeon. Ducks of all species are paddling around in shared ponds.

Great Horned Owls are incubating eggs right about now.

Mallards weathering a storm

Barrow's Goldeneyes

A Bald Eagle, a winter visitor or a yearlong resident, watches Pacific Creek for a meal.

Trumpeter Swan slowly becoming an igloo as American Wigeons preen.

Clark's Nutcrackers are beginning to harvest some of the 25,000+ seeds they cached last fall.