saw the first robins

scottyboy76

Watched a pair feed in the backyard today, and sure enough, tomorrow is the last day of winter.

westmassguy

We saw a couple two weeks ago, and the chipmunks are out already.

zane77

The Sandhills Cranes have been back for about 3 weeks, robins about the same and the ground squirrels have been running around for a couple of weeks. Spring came early here this year.

jimsvm

10-15cm of snow due tonite, so much for spring, and still a meter on the ground. What a winter, worst or best in 20 years depending which side of the snowmobile trail you are on. lol

cnh

jimsvm wrote: »

10-15cm of snow due tonite, so much for spring, and still a meter on the ground. What a winter, worst or best in 20 years depending which side of the snowmobile trail you are on. lol

I'm with you, my driveway is a tunnel of snow. And after a "brief" warm up over the next couple of days we're down below highs in the teens and lows below zero! And now I can't even hear that well out of one ear...not in a good mood.

Robins, I'd take a few crows at this point. lol

cnh

txcoastal1

zane77 wrote: »

The Sandhills Cranes have been back for about 3 weeks, robins about the same and the ground squirrels have been running around for a couple of weeks. Spring came early here this year.

Yum...lunch

Glad you guys are getting out of the winter doldrums

4xoddic

Red-winged blackbirds showed up a couple weeks back, just in time for another snow fall. Sunday, a group of 5 blue jays showed up with the ability to perch on the metal pegs of the hanging tube feeders & snack on black oil sunflower seeds. They must've wintered somewhere that such perchs were the only opportunity, as the locals don't have that knack.

On the dark side, I'm just about out of b.o.s. seeds, white millet & sunflower chips. The neighbor's cat will have to look for some other hunting blind.

It will be spring when the turkey vultures show up.

boston1450

cnh wrote: »

I'm with you, my driveway is a tunnel of snow. And after a "brief" warm up over the next couple of days we're down below highs in the teens and lows below zero! And now I can't even hear that well out of one ear...not in a good mood.

Robins, I'd take a few crows at this point. lol

cnh

i think it made it to 34 degrees today here. Nice day i thought. Way ready for spring

George Grand

The robins don't leave. They hang all winter. Tough birds.

steveinaz

I've seen quite a few very young road runners already.

4xoddic

^^^^^
I had to Google to check on when (greater?) roadrunners nest (early March in TX) so I suppose you're seeing the first brood of the year?

Speaking of Wile E. Coyote, the wife was out last week in W. KS for a USFWS endangered black-footed ferret survey. She drives a pickup over the prairie @ night while someone else spotlights prairie dog towns. IF a ferret pops up out of a prairie dog hole, they stop & trap it.

How do you trap a ferret, you ask. Simple. Take a length of 4" PVC, capped on one end, & set the open end over the prairie dog burrow. Listen for the ferret to scramble up the pipe, & trap it inside.

What about Wile E. Coyote? Over 3 nights, she saw only 1 ferret, but did see a pack of 8 coyotes, a badger, swift fox & deer. Not a lot of activity, as it was pretty windy. She did not see any antelope this year. She proudly states she sees at least ONE black footed ferret every year. Some biologists only get "skunked."

polk500

The way it's going up here it will probably be June or later. If they're smart they will skip the migration this year altogether.

Roger

mhardy6647

I just saw our first red winged blackbird about 30 minutes ago at our platform feeder up here in the CT River "Upper Valley" in NH.

Yesterday, we had a true "Wild Kingdom" moment in the back field... although I wasn't able to get a photograph :-(
A migrating immature golden eagle apparently took a shot at grabbing one of "our" turkeys - the eagle failed, and got swarmed by the local crows on his upsweep. Susan saw this HUGE bird lifting off from the yard and called to me. I fumbled to get the 'scope on it but clearly observed its size, wing shape, flight, and (a glimpse) of white on the tail. I said "bald eagle"... but certified birder (no kidding!) Susan said, "I don't think so..." (not that she ususally agrees with me, anyway!). Meanwhile, Susan got the binos on it and confirmed an unusual white pattern on the underparts of the tail and wings... after it flew from sight (irritated by the crows but in none too much of a hurry), we pored over the raptor books and definitively identified it as a golden eagle.

I kid you not.

We also saw two grey (not red) foxes under one of our feeders Sunday (IIRC) night (in the bright moonlight) and, last Thursday, we had a bobcat traipse across the back field (first I've ever seen in the wild).

Spring really is coming - snow notwithstanding!

cnh

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I just saw our first red winged blackbird about 30 minutes ago at our platform feeder up here in the CT River "Upper Valley" in NH.

Yesterday, we had a true "Wild Kingdom" moment in the back field... although I wasn't able to get a photograph :-(
A migrating immature golden eagle apparently took a shot at grabbing one of "our" turkeys - the eagle failed, and got swarmed by the local crows on his upsweep. Susan saw this HUGE bird lifting off from the yard and called to me. I fumbled to get the 'scope on it but clearly observed its size, wing shape, flight, and (a glimpse) of white on the tail. I said "bald eagle"... but certified birder (no kidding!) Susan said, "I don't think so..." (not that she ususally agrees with me, anyway!). Meanwhile, Susan got the binos on it and confirmed an unusual white pattern on the underparts of the tail and wings... after it flew from sight (irritated by the crows but in none too much of a hurry), we pored over the raptor books and definitively identified it as a golden eagle.

I kid you not.

We also saw two grey (not red) foxes under one of our feeders Sunday (IIRC) night (in the bright moonlight) and, last Thursday, we had a bobcat traipse across the back field (first I've ever seen in the wild).

Spring really is coming - snow notwithstanding!

You have much too much Radical Amazement [Abraham Heschel] for someone your age, mhardy. The rest of us are just poor slobs waiting for Godot and we don't even know why?

Be happy that your soul is still "young" and perhaps "unsoiled"!

cnh

mhardy6647

I'm just sittin' here watchin' the wheels go 'round and 'round - just as Dr. Winston O'Boogie did towards the end of his (all too-brief) life ;-)

The eagle bit was cool, man... I've got a fistful of turkey tail feathers out in the garage as mute testament to the 'incident' :-P

gudnoyez

Saw a few today myself now if they are able to extract worms from the ground, as I'm sure the frost line is still there after the winter we had then they will be in business, also seen a couple flocks of Canadian Honkers heading north so better days must be ahead.

warren

scottyboy76 wrote: »

Watched a pair feed in the backyard today, and sure enough, tomorrow is the last day of winter.

in my back yard in Tucker, Ga. Two weeks ago..

mhardy6647

Spring comes to the Connecticut River upper valley on the wings of 4 inches of beautiful but wet and heavy snow...

muncybob

George Grand wrote: »

The robins don't leave. They hang all winter. Tough birds.

We live in the middle of an over grown christmas tree farm, lotsa cover for birds/deer,etc. Normally we see a fair amount of robins over the winter but it occured to me after seeing a yard full of them last weekend that we really did not have many stay this winter. Perhaps they knew it was going to be a tough one?

westmassguy

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Spring comes to the Connecticut River upper valley on the wings of 4 inches of beautiful but wet and heavy snow...

We got a dusting, and then rain. No Heart Attack snow here.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

The robins don't leave. They hang all winter. Tough birds.

Uh-oh, I am channeling Cliff Claven again:

It's a little known fact, but, interestingly, the robins we see on the East Coast on the wintertime are often actually migrants from much farther north... they tend to be slightly different size (bigger, if memory serves) and color (darker, ditto) than our summertime robins. Robins will (fortunately) actually alter their feeding habits in the dead of winter when the ground's frozen and eat seeds instead of (worm or grub) meat.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have mail to deliver... ;-)

bigstereo

Woodchuck in the yard Monday morning

cnh

How about a squirrel in my garage that tore out a 1/4 of the fiber glass insulation and spread it across the floor probably leaving a nice hole in the drywall the garage shares with the main house wall? Is that springlike, or just a nuisance, because now I have to patch that! I couldn't even believe a squirrel would do something like that. We've had some minor thaws for a day or two that flooded the garage floor with an inch or so of water (then turned it into an ice rink the next day), since the house is a couple of feet above the garage floor, no problem. But some of the drywall got wet and is probably rotting.

The roof on my front porch looks like ONE more good snowfall will bring it down, the garage roof has some weak spots, the HUGE driveway of the two car garage needs a few thousand dollars of resurfacing, my 125' x 125' fence is starting to go. My front steps tilt at an angle, and the brick upper foundation needs attention, stripping and resealing. And while I'm at it, I should probably spend 20-25K on new roofing for everything and repoint the chimney and, and my car might not pass inspection because of rust? And...

Winter "sucks" and not only does it suck it "costs". I already had to replace the brain center of my 36 year old furnace at $700 this winter. I'm paying exorbitant prices for fuel oil in a colder than normal winter, and last year I had to spend almost $3000 to install at Boiler-mate for hot water since my furnace coil was shot. And my daughter will be in college in a year, at probably $61,000 plus a year?

Spring? At this point, it better be spring for the next THREE years! lol

Sorry boys, but this winter has been Hell! And to top it off, I have a collapsed Eustachian tube that prevents me from hearing stereo as I should. Fifth day of STEROIDS and still not much relief? The "silence" oh the "silence"!

On the positive side, since I'm on steroids, I'm considering a run on the Tour de France!

cnh