NEWS FROM THE NORTHERN OBSERVATION POSTS April 11, 2006 Kris Owens: Homer, AK I asked my class what signs of spring they have been seeing. Here are their responses: "I heard a thrush..." Genevieve Tymrak "The snow is melting." Taylor Iredale "The mud smells bad." Caroline deCreeft, Lily Wills, Molly Bowan "My birthday's coming up." Patrick Cashman, Kaya Morelli "There is more light." Hannah Larue, Kaya Morelli "There was a caterpillar in the field the other day." Maddie Bowen "Earth Day is coming! It is officially 'break-up.' Humungous potholes, really dirty cars, and inaccessible roads for buses. There is water running everywhere! Dogs need to be tied up because of last year's baby moose. It has been a long winter for these little guys!" Kaya Morelli Bears are waking up... not sure if anyone has seen one around here yet. Several students report seeing earthworms and some have claimed to see a butterfly. No signs of robins though... Joyanne Hamilton: Innoko River School, Shageluk, Alaska As of this posting--NO MIGRATORY BIRDS to our area. We'll let you know when the first spring bird comes our way! More Mike Sterling: Anchorage, Alaska Spring progresses here. We've seen a definite increase in bald eagles around town, and just a few ducks or geese--it's always hard to tell whether they're migratory or not, as some stay. Temperatures are increasing slowly, the snow in Anchorage is mostly gone, and the creeks and lakes can't be far behind. A burst of insect activity last weekend usually foreshadows the first robins. We'll see--I usually spot my first one in a particularly tall cottonwood while riding my bike to work. I'm all ears. Farther north in Talkeetna there is still a couple feet of snow, though the Lakes and ponds are getting iffy. I had to do some pretty fancy footwork when I was riding my bike last week. An ice bridge collapsed and I had to cross it or detour several miles. Made it with dry feet, but won't be doing it again any time real soon. They're predicting another hot, dry summer this year. We're going to have all sorts of wildfire worries if that's true. Ken Moore: Stirling, AB It's cloudy here today and about 10C ... with 10 to 15mm of rain forecast for this afternoon. When I was out this morning I caught my first robin singing on territory. It wasn't singing in my backyard but a neighbour's ... but I do have an adult male flitting about my trees as well. Yesterday was a perfect day weatherwise ... broken cloud, no wind and warm. I think it was 17. It was so great being in the backyard. We were senenaded by hormonally-charged males of various species. But one of the nicest songs is still sung by our resident house finches. House finches or migrant sparrows, it's all terrific. Now, add to that the voice of the robin. Dominique Cloutier: St Sauveur des Monts, PQ I was so excited the other day seeing my robin that I forgot to ask! Have I told you that his girl joined him the next day? I see them every day! Now, as I was writing this message, I spot 2 robins, and then a 3rd one comes along. They start to jump from one branch to the other; meanwhile, the girl's watching from a bit higher! One of the robins leaves and flies towards another tree. The 2 seem to court and get along, when the 3rd one comes back... then 2 go and one stays! I don't know what they're up to, but it's going to be dark soon...! They are really cute and it's the very first time that I have 3, except when the babies are born :o) Marc Landry: Beresford, NB Here, robins are all over the place but are not showing any territorial behaviors. The weather is much colder and we had snow for the past two days. No major accumulation. Temperature is hovering around freezing. April 10: Robins are singing this morning!!! Lots of territorial behaviors and singing. Bruce Bennett: Whitehorse, YT Spring is finally coming to the north. Friday we reached double digits with +13C as a high in Whitehorse. It is still below zero in the mornings +ranging from -1C to -5C. Last Sunday the first Mountain Bluebirds were reported with flocks of males preceding the more drab females. The harbingers of Spring, the Trumpeter Swans, have arrived in large numbers with groups of over 300 being counted at Swan Haven. Along with the swans are Barrows and Common goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, Mallard, Northern Pintail and mergansers. By Friday we had the first flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos. I would expect the first American Robins should be seen any day now. The snow is disappearing rapidly, with large open areas being found throughout the valleys. The lakes continue to be frozen but the rivers are opening though you can still drive a 27,000 kg (60,000 lbs.) truck over the Yukon River at Dawson City. There are still no flowers, not even catkins on the willows, but with temperature like this it won't be long. Ute Keitsch: Port Hope, ON We have so many Robins we can’t count them. That means not all are paired yet or not all the females arrived. It is sunny but still so cool and windy. Other birds we have seen are Turkey Vultures, Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Tree-swallow, and Song-sparrow. I have some Hyacinth and Crocuses blooming. The trees and shrubs are showing the first hint of green. Linda Hoffman: Creston, BC There is something special about going out really early in the morning and listening to the robin choir singing their little hearts out. Most of the singing is the treetop "come live with me" variety but there is also a lot of “get away - this is my turf" squawking too. It rained all day yesterday and the road is almost coated with suicidal earthworms so the robins have a banquet to feast on. It was a lovely warm day today and the grass is really greening up. The trees are in full bud and another warm day or two should bring out some leaves. The crocuses are also blooming and the tulips are tall. Our pond is a noisy combination of blackbirds and frogs with the odd duck quack. But for the many, many robins here this year, this has to be a great time of year. Nancy Seamans: Quispamsis, NB We are having an early spring!! Beautiful temperatures and sunny skies. I have already cleaned out my water garden pond and put my lilies back in. I over winter them in the house as my pond is not deep enough for them to stay in there during the winter. I know this is the first time in many years I have been able to open the front door in March to let the fresh air in. Yet I only saw my first robin April 5. I have been seeing the male and female cardinal around a lot so I hope they are choosing a nesting site. One evening we looked in the backyard to see 6 deer enjoying the seeds put out for the birds. Margot Hervieux: Grande Prairie, AB We have had a week of great weather and the snow is pretty much gone but still no robins (just geese, crows, gulls, ducks, trumpeter swans, and killdeer). I have heard reports of robins from Edmonton so they are definitely headed this way. Richard Darling: Nipawin , SK In Nipawin, Saskatchewan, our winter has just begun to disappear! Each day browner lawn and dark garden soil appears. Today is warm (46 F) and if it rains tomorrow, we will see almost all of the ice and snow go! Birds: We have not seen many birds yet. There are a few crows, which have replaced the winter ravens. We have seen several sparrows, but that is all at the moment. I hope I can report seeing some robins in another week or so. Steve Arthur: Fairbanks, AK The snow is starting to melt around Fairbanks, although its still a bit cold at night. One sure sign of spring is the pair of Boreal Owls that have moved in to an owl box we put up a few years ago. The male (I think) calls at regular intervals all night, perhaps to announce himself as he comes and goes between the box and his foraging bouts. A flock of geese were sighted about 50 miles southeast of here, so they should be arriving before too long, although right now they'd have a hard time finding anywhere free of snow and ice to land on. Steve Paulson: Lewistown, MT Today is Friday, April 7th, and Spring in Central Montana is here. The spring snow storms have given way to heavy (for Montana) spring rains. In the last two day, almost 2 inches of rain was recorded in parts of Montana. In Lewistown, we are at about 1.26 inches of Precipitation for April, and 3.31 for the year. Average for today's date is 2.86 inches of Precipitation. This year we have had heavy snow through out the winter. Our maintenance staff keeps track of the amount of snow they remove by snow blower, and we are up to 74 inches since the first snow in Oct. 2005. I have enclosed several photos of Central Montana. We were a big part of the Brewery Flats Stream Restoration Project in 2000. The Design of the valley was to act as a Flood Plain in spring. It's under water in the photos. Other photos are of the area. Ponds are full for the first time in a decade. Out tulips are growing like crazy in front of the school. Copyright 2006 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form.