Springtime happenings

I'm going to try growing a few vegetables this year, and have started a little garden in one of the only perpetually sunny places on the property.  In "square foot gardening" style, I've got tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, onions, parsley, rosemary, cilantro and chives crammed into this tiny but efficient space.  To keep our numerous veggie-loving critters at bay, I've crafted some wire cages that fit handily over the raised beds.
 

It seems like everywhere I look, there's a Robin nesting somewhere.  There are little blue eggs in our new (second) Wood Duck nest box, a nest in the head of our oil well (that gets an amusement park style ride every time we make some oil), and another nest on the steps of our oil tank, right out in the open.  

A couple of days ago I saw a Red-tailed Hawk flying over the pasture with a big, black snake hanging from his talons.  I've seen a lot of snakes around the property, but never one that big (probably a black rat snake).  What a breathtaking sight! 

There are tent caterpillars starting to appear on some of our trees.  In years past, I've noticed that we start seeing the Scarlet Tanagers around the same time we see the caterpillars, so I've been keeping my eye toward the treetops for these bright red tropical birds.
 

Recently, I saw a mother raccoon moving her baby to a new den site.  I've read that it's normal for raccoons to change their sites while rearing their young.

So far, I haven't seen any ducklings paddling around the pond, so I'm pretty sure that Lady is still sitting on her eggs in there.  I saw her hurriedly returning to the box yesterday morning when a pair of Canada Geese stopped by for a little rest.
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As for the photos, they're all mine, except for the Scarlet Tanager, which I copied from naturalpatriot.org.