News from the NOPs (Northern Observation Posts)
for the March 16, 2004 Robin Report.
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Which NOPs have seen their first robins since our March 2 report?
Ken
Moore , Stirling State/Province AB
03/13/04 First Robin: No snow, warm (+12C), no appreciable wind.
Nancy
Seamans, Quispamsis, NB
Here in New Brunswick it is not bad for us...0 degrees Celsius. The forecast
is calling for 5-10 centimetres of snow tomorrow (3/12/04). No robins
have been seen yet though. I did see a deer out my kitchen window as I
was preparing supper
last night. The deer enjoy the bird seed I put out as much as the birds
so.
I have to constantly replenish the feeders.
Susan
Flewelling, Calgary, AB
I've been watching for robins and hopefully will have something to report
from Calgary soon. I had heard on the radio on March 8, however, that
a robin
has been seen in the City but as I have not seen it myself, did not report
it. What the announcer was saying was that the robins follow the frost
line
as it retreats north. This I had not known before but it does seem logical.
I'm really looking forward to being able to report spotting that robin!!
Ute
Keitsch, Ajax, ON
Yes I did see my first Robin March 13 at about 3:30 pm. I can just see
the
look in his body language: Why is it snowing again?
Wayne
Dwornik, Lethbridge AB
Well, here it is, and with thanks to my good friend Ken Moore. Ken was
in town on Saturday MARCH 13 and spotted a Robin in the heart of the city.
My neighbourhood on the West side of the city has far fewer mature
trees and so things tend to be slower and quieter here, bird-wise.
Marc Landry, Beresford, NB
March
7: A robin flew by and landed on the telephone wires about 50 feet from
me. I
can't remember a sighting this early in March.
Joyanne
Hamilton, Teacher ar Innoko River School in Shageluk, Alaska
March 7: No robins yet! We finally have winter this year! Last year--the
year when the Iditarod Sled Dog race was scheduled to come through our
village--we had no snow--only rain and ice! It was as if we had our own
weather system from the rest of the interior. This year we have about
4 feet of nice snow and the coldest is got was -40 F. Rather mild actually!
We are all anxiously waiting for our first "spring bird" sighting--the
Bald Eagle. The earliest we have seen Bald Eagles come here was last year
(our wet winter) March 9, 2003. In an average winter, the Eagles arrive
around the third week in March. We'll see what this year brings!
Kris Owens, Fireweed Academy, Homer, Alaska
March
1: After three weeks of very mild weather, many of us up here are beginning
to wonder if spring might really be one the way. After school on Friday,
I tried to go skiing and it was challenging finding long enough stretches
of snow. The grass is poking through!
Another sure sign of spring is the changing daylight. Our school does
the Journey North "Mystery Class project." On February 2nd,
when we first gathered our home time data, our photoperiod was 8 hours,
8 minutes. As of March 2nd, we are at 10 hours, 40 minutes of daylight.
That is a gain of 2 hours and 32 minutes.
Finally, our precipitation here at latitude 59 has been of the liquid
sort, rather than the solid. An occasional flurry here or there, but mostly
rain. So overall, here in Homer, Alaska--we are wondering if our winter
is running out or if there is more to come.
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:
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