April 11, 2013

The arrival of spring birds starts with a trickle in the North Country. Little by little more and more species return adding life to the cold forests and frozen wetlands of the region. It doesn't take long before it feels like spring, and it is surprising how a few species can change the complexion of an entire landscape.

The movement starts with waterfowl along Lake Champlain, and they have also been showing up further west in the park as well. Two weeks ago I was watching skeins of migrating snow geese heading north day after day despite the continued cold. Ducks too have been arriving – I've already seen both hooded and common mergansers on the opening waters of Lake Flower in Saranac Lake.

junco home
Many birds which overwintered, such as this dark-eyed junco are starting to sing on warm, sunny days.

And while returning and migrating waterfowl are exciting, it is the songbirds which seen to change the landscape and spring time mood the most. It starts with the songs of birds which have spent the winter here. The laughter of a white-breasted nuthatch (the song my friend calls the sound of melting snow). The sweet song of a brown creeper or black-capped chickadee. And the cartoon laser-esque cadence and tone of a cardinal's song. Add these songs to a warm, sunny day and it does feel like spring. But these melodies can also be quickly silenced when a stubborn cold blasts comes down from the arctic and winter reclaims its bite for a few days.

And so it is the arriving birds which have migrated north that get birders most excited – their appearance takes a great deal more risk and conviction that spring is, in fact, coming. I've been in the Champlain Valley a couple times over the past month, trips that have been highlighted by species such as eastern bluebird and American goldfinch. But it may have been the blackbirds which caught my attention the most. In the space of a few days red-winged blackbirds and common grackles descended across the region, arriving at wetlands, fields, and yards. Large flocks flew overhead chipping, and came to area bird feeders to refuel. They were soon dispersed on territories singing – sitting on prominent perches - and I hear them advertising for mates every day along Lake Flower.

grackle home
Common grackles (shown here) and red-winged blackbirds are some of the earliest arriving songbirds.

Song sparrows and American robins too have recently returned – feeding in my yard and singing in my neighborhood. In fact, I hear a song sparrow singing outside my window as I type this. Like the blackbirds, they arrived first in the Champlain Valley where I heard one singing on Crown Point a few weeks ago. But now they are in many wetlands, yards, and other brushy areas – and more are arriving as warm air pushes up from the south.

And while all of these species are common species to which birders generally don't pay much attention during the summer, they are important harbingers of spring now. More than the birds themselves, they represent that winter is ending and spring is coming and with it a seemingly exponential increase in bird diversity – something all birders crave. The trickle of spring arrivals is growing, and we will soon be happily inundated with arriving birds. I can't wait.

junco home
Many birds which overwintered, such as this dark-eyed junco are starting to sing on warm, sunny days.
grackle home
Common grackles (shown here) and red-winged blackbirds are some of the earliest arriving songbirds.

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