News from the NOPs (Northern Observation Posts)
for the March 2, 2004 Robin Report
 |
Linda
Hoffman, Creston BC
I heard them yesterday but today (2/23) I saw my first spring robins.
They are a wonderful reminder that spring is just around the corner in
the Creston Valley.
Marc
Landry, Beresford, NB
So far this winter, we have escaped the heavy snowfalls. Precipitations
are much lower than usual. Ski centers had to wait until later December
to open. Even if we had 2 weeks of very cold weather (-40 degrees F wind
chill) in January, the Bay is not frozen solid.
Sue
Toymil, Shaktoolik, Alaska
Our daily easterly winds blow across the tundra, through our village of
180 inhabitants and out to the Bering Sea. We have gravel pathways with
5-foot drifts of snow to climb over between our houses. The temp has been
between -10 to +10 and mostly clear. Great snow machining weather! As
for robins... not a sign yet...lots of ravens, snow buntings, lynx, wolves,
fox, wolverines, and caribou though.
Margot
Hervieux, Grande Prairie, AB
Things remain quiet on the robin front here in Grande Prairie. We are
having
a winter full of everything. In January we had a spell of -40 followed
by warm
weather and freezing rain. The last two weeks have been reaching above
zero
in the daytime so the snow (probably about 18 inches) is now slowly
disappearing. There is a lot of ice around plus an icy crust layer in
the snow. I am glad I am not a deer or moose. I have heard reports from
the Edmonton area of
Horned Larks returning and even an active Richardson's ground squirrel.
Another
couple of weeks and we can start watching the sky for Canada Geese.
John Nagy, Inuvik, NT
We are still heavily entrenched in winter. Temperatures have been in the -40 to -45 range for most of February. During periods when it warms up to the -25 range we've been getting alot of snow. We have at least 3 feet of snow in the bush now. The sun is back and the days are getting longer--it is now not dark at 9:00 in the morning and not dark at 7:00 in the evening. Don't expect to see the robins back here for at least 2.5 to 3 months.
Dominique,
St Sauveur, province of Québec, Canada
As most of you already know, we've had really severe temperatures in January
and part of February. It went down to -40 C which is the same as the Fahrenheit
-40 ! Of course robins woudln't survive under these terrible temperatures.
The weather has been warming up, although nights are still rather cold,
-20 C, and we are hoping to hear or see robins soon :) There's still a
lot of snow on the ground but it's melting rapidly with the sun, in daytime.
In our yard, we have a lilac tree that robins seem to favor and that's
where I always see them first, so, every day, I look at the tree
waiting for them :) Last year was in the middle of March, not much longer
to wait!
Hoping to send you "good" news soon.
Stan
White, Homer/Voznesenka Village, Alaska:
Spring is on its way here on the Kenai Peninsula, but you have to kind
of look around for the signs of it. The most obvious is the lengthening
days; we are gaining more than five and a half minutes of daylight every
day. We need to gain daylight fast here in order to get to 12 hours of
daylight by the equinox; we started with less than six hours at the solstice
in December. At that time the sunrise was at 10:00 in the morning and
sunset at 3:50 in the afternoon. Now the sun is up from about 8:15 am
till 6:10 pm, a very noticeable difference!
Try This! Journaling Question/Activity
- What are your predictions for dates when NOPs will (1) SEE and (2) HEAR their first robins this spring? Keep track of your predictions and results with these download-and-print worksheets for the 2004 season:
Copyright 2004 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
