Journey North Robin Migration

American Robin

NEWS FROM THE NORTHERN OBSERVATION POSTS
MARCH 18, 2008

Diane Sickles: Anchorage, AK
We are cheering on the daylight hours as they increase by 5 minutes, 44 seconds every day. I know the spring equinox is March 21, but we are already at 11 hours, 31 minutes of daylight. That daylight is almost more welcome than warm breezes around here. I’ve had lots of chickadees and redpoles at my home bird feeder, but haven’t seen any robins here yet. We’ll be on the lookout for them in all this extra daylight in the days ahead.

Marc Landry: Beresford, NB
No robins in Northern NB yet. Our winter was milder than usual but snow fall was way above average. Our mildest day was +10oC and coldest was -26oC (with the windchill - 46oC) .

Iris Peters: Prince George, BC
March 12: First Robin! (flying all alone).
March 14: One chirping in my birches and two more flitting around in the back yard. The heavy influx has not arrived yet. Weather for the past week or so has been down to -10 celcius at night and around plus 5 celcius during the day.
March 15: The ground is still covered by a heavy snow pack and it is snowing again today. Looks like it will be a slow spring.

Linda Hoffman: Creston, BC
Feb. 26: A few robins showed up. They didn't look too happy to be back as there is still quite a bit of snow. Our valley, like the rest of the country, has had a miserable winter. The robins haven't arrived in the same numbers as usual either.

Margot Hervieux, Grande Prairie, AB
Spring is arriving in Grande Prairie. We have much less snow than the 4ft last year and there are already bare patches against some buildings. It has been getting up above 0 Celsius most days but is still going down as low as minus 10 at night. The first Canada geese are starting to arrive (always our first migrants)and we expect crows any day. The robins usually arrive here in early April.

Pam Randles: Haines, AK
March 4: Two robins sighted! We still have snow, but it is going fast. Days have been warm and lovely. This is our second year in a row of above average snowfall (last year was 26 feet; don't have figures for this year).

Wayne Dwornik: Lethbridge, AB
For me, hardly any bird activity this winter. Along with most areas in North America this year it was a long cold and snowy winter. In January and February we had a 2 week stretch with temperatures in minus 30 to -40°C (at that point -40F=-40°C). Any way you look at it it is COLD! Here's a link to historical weather stats for Lethbridge, Alberta over a 30 year period.

Ute Keitsch: Port Hope, ON
Feb. 23: Today I could hear 2 Robins making their calls. I will check it out tomorrow if I can find them.

Ava Dumaine: Quesnel, BC
March 14: We see robins but aren't sure if they are robins that have stayed here all winter. In our area the temperature is warming up. Today the air temperature was 12 degrees celcius (54 F). This year we had a lot of snow. We measured the snow depth in our garden today and it was 34-55 cm. We noticed buds on the trees. One of our students reported the return of the Canadian Geese. Quite a bit of snow has melted but we still have some high banks of snow that have been plowed. There is water and mud. The ground is beginning to soften.

Dominique Cloutier, St Sauveur des Monts, PQ
Here we are still buried in snow! There's so much snow that we don't know where to shovel it any longer. I have a feeling that our Robins aren't going to be early this year.

Ken Moore: Sterling, AB
March 14: A robin was sighted in my backyard on the top of a pine tree. Overcast with a southeast breeze, temperature about minus 1C. No snow on the ground but my backyard pond is frozen over.

Bruce Bennett, Whitehorse, YT
In the Yukon we are having a sunny nice and typical Yukon spring with the nights around -15C and the day time temperatures reaching or exceeding freezing. We have a normal amount of snow, but it is fast disappearing with the bright sunny days. Our daylight has increased by 2 hours and 45 minutes now having nearly 12 hours of daylight. The sun rises around 8:30 and set around that time in the evening. On March 21st we all have 12 hour days and then the north starts to increase faster than the south until it no longer gets dark enough to see the stars (around the end of May). There are no flowers yet, not even on the willows, limited open water, no spring birds (though Mountain Chickadees have returned from Northern BC or SE Alaska). There are no insects of any kind (except snow fleas). The chickadees, owls and gray jays have begun to nest, getting a jump on the spring migrants; common redpolls, ravens and pine grosbeak will soon follow. Most of the main roads and highways are now free of snow though the side roads and driveways are still buried in ice. Happy almost spring!

Shirley Bell: Winnipeg, MB
It is still the frozen north here in Winnipeg. The sun is getting warmer, but with the high north winds, nothing is melting very fast. I have not seen a bird for so long, it will be a shock to my system.