Dust off your binoculars, birds are on their way

Dust off those binoculars

By David Aborn, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Dear Journey North readers,

Spring migration has begun! The earliest arriving species, Tree Swallows and Purple Martins, have been around for a few weeks already, and some of the other swallow species are also being reported. 

I just got back from a trip to coastal South Carolina, and I saw my first Yellow-throated Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Black-and-white Warblers, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers of the season. In addition to gnatcatchers and yellowthroats, White-eyed Vireos have also been seen in Texas, and the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird was seen in Mississippi. Farther west, five swallow species have already been recorded in Arizona (Barn, Northern Rough-winged, Cliff, Tree, and Violet-green), along with a Black-chinned Hummingbird and a Lucy’s Warbler.

Hopefully, you have had a chance to read my primer on how to read a weather map and use it to predict bird migration in a given area. If you look at the current weather map, you will see there is another cold front moving across the country. 

Thankfully, it does not have all the terrible storms with it that the last front had, but it is still bringing rain and snow to the Midwest, and it has very strong north winds behind it. That means birds in the southeastern US and Midwest will be grounded for a couple of days. Farther west, however, the winds are shifting to the south, which will allow new migrants to arrive from the tropics, and those that are already around can make some progress northward. Those birds had better move fast, however, because it looks like another front is moving in from the North Pacific, which will probably bring poor flying weather.

Migration is just getting started, so this is a good time to dust off your binoculars and practice your identification skills! Take care.

David Aborn
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Welcoming robins and Red-winged Blackbirds back 

By Jacob Swanson, Journey North

Among the most popular signs of spring are the return of Red-winged Blackbirds and robins to people's everyday lives, as robins fill our yards and parks in search of worms and the familiar conk-la-ree of male Red-winged Blackbirds fills the air around us. These are also two Journey North reporting categories that have seen a lot of action this spring.

Red-winged Blackbirds have made their way as far north as Gowganda, Ontario (latitude 47.6), where Gert reported one on March 17, writing, "Beautiful sunny day.... what a surprise to see this lone Red-winged Blackbird."

They're a rather early arrival in comparison with other common springtime birds, so they often mark one of our first signs that spring is around the corner as they reach the Upper Midwest and parts of the Northeast. As you can see on the eBird weekly abundance map for red-winged blackbirds, they may not even leave some rather northern locations at all.

"Very surprised to see one Red Wing Blackbird feeding among Starlings and Sparrows in the 6 degree weather of Oakland County, Michigan," Amy Marie wrote in Troy, Michigan, on Jan. 21.

"Heard his distinct call when I was going out to fill the feeders," Greg in Dyer, Indiana, wrote on Feb. 21.

"This red winged blackbird joined with a flock of starlings and stopped at my bird feeder for a while," Sarah in Macomb, Michigan, wrote on Feb. 28, accompanying a bird feeder camera photo.

In the northeast, they've traveled all the way to Prince Edward Island, with David in Summerside writing of a first sighting alongside six grackles on March 16 and Roberta in Nova Scotia reporting four on the same day.

Robins are another bird that some people may see all season in areas of the United States that we consider to be fairly far north, but when spring arrives, there's a noticeable increase. In Madison, Wisconsin, I would periodically see robins on my morning walks throughout the winter, but over the past month, their increased presence is certainly noticeable, with dozens every day in the open spaces of my neighborhood.

Even in the northernmost reaches of the Badger State, there were a few robins to be seen this winter. Paula in Ashland, Wisconsin, a town along Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay, reported seven robins on January 31, for example. 

Others do have to wait for robins as a true harbinger of spring, like Veronica in Calgary, Alberta, who reported an initial robin on March 14, writing, "seen at 5:30 p.m. when he landed on the patio wall and hopped down for a drink in our heated bird bath. This is the earliest date we have actually seen a robin...we usually hear them but don't see them until a few weeks later in March."

Ken in Lethbridge, Alberta, south of Calgary, reported four robins on March 11 along with a Varied Thrush and our northernmost report is from Shannon in Blackfalds, Alberta (latitude 52.4) on March 5, writing, "feasting on mountain ash tree this morning! Yay it's Spring!"

Consider reporting your sightings of blackbirds and robins to Journey North, as well as species yet to come, such as orioles, hummingbirds and monarch butterflies!