warm weather for the first cold-weather bird

I was hoping for something of turnout this morning. It didn't happen but, warm weather or no, I did get one early late-fall/winter bird in the form of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Also Eastern Wood-pewee and a party of eight or ten scolding Blue Jays chasing around a Cooper's Hawk. The Wild Turkey flock now seen every day consists of one hen and six almost fully-grown poults. On the creek: Belted Kingfisher, Royal Tern and usual gulls continue to dominate but a Greater Yellowlegs has appeared calling loudly and circling over the marsh. At yesterday's Climate Change Symposium at SOFO, Carl Safina noted that, from his experience watching and banding hawks at a South Shore hawk watch, Merlins peaked about this time of the year. Shortly thereafter, I saw three Merlins flying over Vineyard field at the back of the SOFO buildings where the symposium was taking place. A smallish (or perhaps medium-sized) Box Turtle, lured out by the warm weather, had a black carapace and only quite reduced orange markings. Apparently orange is not the new black for some of these reptiles. Eric Salzman