Blown by the Wind

I went to the NE Gate before sunset to see what had happened in the Woods. I was surprised. The last 3-4 days we have had almost non-stop strong 20-30 + mph warm and cold winds, as one dry storm system after another tracked across Oklahoma.  I thought the wind would have evaporated the normal flood in the south Woods, and ended the budding population of mosquito wrigglers. But most of the previously flooded areas still have enough shallow pools to sustain mosquito survival and development.
 I found no significant new trees down. I did find a curious patch of Lamium purpureum, purple dead-nettle, flowering 3 m up off the ground, in an old gray snag.
North of the NW pond, the evening downslope wind carried the sweet smell of Elaeagnus autumn olive blooming. Heather has put out four battery powered mosquito traps (two designs) along the northern edge of the NW Pond and a couple floating traps. Interesting to see what she gets.
One large lone deer ran away up the upper terrace.
The north Woods are still filled with the sound of traffic from the highway; but green-up is picking up, with the box elder beginning to flush leaves. In two weeks, the forests' leaves will have filled in and damped the sound of the traffic, so that the heart of the Woods will be much quieter. I listened to chickadees, nuthatches and titmice scolding each other, and watched a large turkey fly heavily up to the canopy of the big bur oak, below the south end of the tree loop. I have heard no owls since I returned. I wonder if they are less active early in the spring, or if they are not in their usual haunts.