SPRING FEVER Dustin of Pulaski Road School did a great job testing the Spring Fever theory about robin migration. Here is a summary of his findings:
"Dear Folks, I have been charting the mean temperatures for seven days at a time by getting information from the United States Weather Service over the Internet since February 12th. The weekly mean jumped over the 36 degree mark for 6 days (Feb. 20th to Feb.25th) but I didn't sight any robins. The weekly temperature mean has again been over 36 degrees since March 6th. I finally saw my first robin feed on the lawn today March 18th at 12:25. I think I really should have seen one sooner. I live in East Northport, NY on Long Island. Have fun bird watching. I did."
(Dustin checked back to the reports from other Journey North students on Long Island, New York and this is what he discovered:)
"A group of three robins was sighted on Northern State Parkway in Nassau County on March 4th. Another was sighted in Elmont, Queens on March 6th. On March 5th the seven day mean temperature rose 2 whole degrees and on March 6th it rose 2 more degrees. On March 7th it rose three more degrees. I have the actual temperatures on a spreadsheet that my dad showed me how to make on my computer. I hope this information helps you. Thank you for your reply to my message. I will show it as part of my Science project for Boy Scouts and school." Dustin at Pulaski Road School bartley9@li.net
In contrast, here are the findings of Ms. Hoffmann's class in Crested Butte, Colorado:
"We sighted our first robins! (3/15/95) We are in Crested Butte, Colorado, 107 W,39 N, 9,000 ft. elevation. The first one we know of was spotted on Wednesday March 15 (the Ides of March). The average temperature for the week was 29F. The following week March 22-28 was 25F, and the next one, March 29-April 4 was18F. I guess we kind of "messed up" the theory. Also, we started seeing earthworms on Friday, April 7, although the robins probably saw them sooner. We still have lots of snow on the ground, but it is starting to melt away from the roads, and that's where you see lots of robins, especially when it's snowing. Susan Hoffman shoffman@csn.org
What about the old saying, "It snows 3-4 times after robins return each spring"?
"Dear Journey North, We were checking the theory that is snows three or four times after the robins appear in an area. The robins came back to our town on March 8th. So far we have not had any snows after that day. Since it is the end of March, we don't think we will see three or four snows, even though April has surprised us sometimes! If we need to we will send you a new report to tell you about snowfalls. At this point we are concluding that the theory is NOT correct in our area for this year. Your friends in Pennsylvania, Mr. Roades' Class Titus Elementary School hes00011@llpptn.ll.pbs.org
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