Journey North Robin Migration

American Robin

NEWS FROM THE NORTHERN OBSERVATION POSTS
April 10, 2007
Make Your Predictions!

Shageluk, AK: Site of Our Early Bird Contest
Students at Shageluk's Innoko River School have no robins yet. Last time we showed dates for the first robin's arrival in past years. All were in April. They wrote to say they're having a nice spring so far, with 8° C almost every day! (How many degrees Fahrenheit is that? Is it colder or warmer than where you live?) They think colder weather farther south is keeping their robins from making northward progress.

Mike Sterling: Anchorage, AK
We had a cold February and March with steady nighttime temps in the below zero range, winds, and highs in the single digits. Last night, however, the low almost exceeded the freezing point for the first time! Things are breaking up. Out the window, I see three swans flying in formation! Wow! They’re going to be getting pretty hungry, as the snow still completely covers everything and the lakes are all frozen. Even the rivers are covered by thick ice! No robins, but things are moving.

Marc Landry: Beresford, NB
We are under a fresh blanket of snow! Forecast is for 20 cm. Still no robins!!! Even the common grackles are not arrived. Usually they get here a week before the robins.

Margot Hervieux, Grande Prairie, AB
We have had a cold week with highs around -5C and lows of -15C. We still have at least two feet of snow on the ground but the migrants continue to arrive on schedule. I will be watching all weekend for robins since they are next to arrive but the weather could easily be a deterrent. The forecast for the weekend, however, is 12C — so spring may be truly arriving

Jari Heikkila, Inuvik, NT
No robins yet.
We have had gorgeous spring weather for a week or so. Yesterday our min. temperature was -18C and max. -7. Sunny and calm. Today, April 5, the current temperature ( at 9:30 a.m.) is -13, but because we also have 20km/h wind, with the windchill it feels like -20. According to the forecast, the temperature should rise to -6C. But it is sunny. The sun rose today at 7:47 and will set at 10:08 (lots of light by now already). The regional normal for today in Inuvik are max. -10C and min. -21C, so we are a bit above the average. For the coming 5 days the forecast promises lows between -10 and -13 and the highs between -2C and -8C.

Shirley Bell, Winnipeg, MB
The weather is cold and colder with the very cold north wind, whose only blessing it kept a winter storm to a minimum here in Winnipeg. Those dreaded words have reappeared in the weathercast. Temperature -12C wind chill-25C. It is grand to see the sun again. The geese are very unhappy because the ponds have iced over again and so they strut around and settle in near the buildings out of the wind. No robins to be seen, but have seen a few gulls, a lot of crows, and my friend in Pinawa saw a eagle feasting on a deer carcass on the side of the highway leading in to town.

Bruce Bennett, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Winter is loosening its grip on the north but other than a few open south-facing slopes, some roads and most of downtown Whitehorse, snow still dominates the land. All the lakes are still frozen and even the open water staging areas have been reduced to mere slivers of water. In the bush the snow still is up to your waist. Needless to say there are few signs of spring. We have no catkins on the willows. There are a few migrant birds including Trumpeter Swans, and pair of Tundra Swans, a pair of Mallard ducks, Common Goldeneye, Bald Eagles and the first report of a Red-tailed Hawk. It is snowing now but we are hoping to reach temperatures above freezing for the weekend. Great cross-country skiing!

Linda Hoffman, Creston, BC
It is supposed to get to 14C today and up to 17C this weekend, then back to 9-10C by Monday. It has been colder than normal here the last few days though, barely getting to 9-10C. The robins are noisy in the early morning but not very ambitious yet.

Pam Randles: Haines and Talkeetna, AK
According to the local Talkeetna radio station, we had the coldest March in about a century. It has now started warming up. The last week has been lovely, in the 20s and low 30s in Talkeetna. It is 28 today, but rain/snow is predicted for the rest of the week. That will probably mean slushy stuff, but it will be spring instead of winter.

Haines had a warm spell. The sun shone and the snow began to melt. But they have had record snowfalls, so there is still a great deal of snow on the ground. It is 24 there right now, but the have heavy wind and rain predicted for the rest of the week with temps in the 40s. With 5 or 6 feet of snow on the ground, that bodes ill.

Ute Keitsch, Port Hope, ON
Just a short note from cold and rainy Port Hope. Still waiting for the female Robins. They are waiting too. It is not getting better or warmer here. We are looking at -6 C (about 22 F for the next 4 days ), and lots of rain.

Dominique Cloutier: St Sauveur des Monts, PQ
Finally, I saw him April 6! Actually two of them. They seemed a little lost as we just got 37 cms of snow within the past 2 days. Weather is supposed to improve as of tommorrow! We've had very mild weather, flowers starting to grow, heard my robin and...bingo...we just got 37 cm of snow, and the temperatures are dropping like crazy. If this keeps up, they're going to turn around !

Richard Darling: Nipawin , SK
At Nipawin, Saskatchewan, we still have not seen a robin, but the robins have traveled up to places 200 km south of us. Soon, I think, we will be able to report seeing our first robin!