sunny after 10:30 or so (fairly cloudy early) -- water tank accidentally on early (and sucked the temp down from 76 to 74 during the cloudy morning)

I'd noticed a tree to the East of the gh (looks like Norway Spruce -- probably at least 60 feet tall) with what looked like a crow's nest in the top (at least a thick mass of branches).  This morning I watched crow antics for a while and was thoroughly entertained and fascinated.  A group of them were chasing each other away and continually going to and fro the top of the tree.  I invited some birdwatching friends over and they brought some books and a telephoto lens with a tripod that we looked through right around noon.  There was just a single pair hard at work building a nest while we watched together (no sign of the extra birds we'd seen earlier).  Allen and Karin's assumption (based on the reference books Allen brought with) is that the other birds are probably last year's  offspring (who may be involved with raising the chicks later as well apparently).  Crows live in family groups of up to 15 (so said one of the references) and I might make an attempt to get a webcam up (certainly I'll try to dig out the binocs and see if I can't keep a close eye on the activity).

In the afternoon I got out on the windsurfer, though there wasn't any good steady breeze so after about 1/2 hour - 45 minutes, I brought it in (having gotten enough windsurfing muscle workout by then to be tired, but not exhausted), and went for a swim.  The water was cold enough that switching from my usual breaststroke to a backstroke didn't work at all (because the temp receptors seem to be on the back of the head, that "ice cream freeze" section has a purpose after all) and when I was out in the middle of the lake I also stopped diving down under water completely for the same reason (because it would cause the back of my head to get cold and I could almost feel my body shunting all the blood to my head (and away from my arms and legs which I really needed to continue to work to get me back in).  There was definitely a "constricting" feeling in my chest, so I can't describe it as a comfortable activity, but it did make me feel good to have gotten in a 1/2 mile swim before May gets here.