Another of the spring bird arrived today, as the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks males have been spotted in the trees and feeders. And at least the males do help the females in the nest building and he takes a turn incubating the eggs for a few hours during the day, although the female has the remaining incubation time.
Returning Rose-breasted Grosbeak
More spring birds have returned including tree swallows and this Savannah Sparrow which seemed to be enjoying the sunshine after the rainy days. A female Savannah Sparrow must gather ten times her weight in food, like insects and spiders, to feed herself and her young during the eight days they are in the nest.
Savannah Sparrow
It felt more like winter than spring today and I bet the returning birds were wondering why they came back. Although the spring birds were not singing very much, some of the winter birds were, like the cardinals who seemed to enjoy the cold sunshine.
Cardinal Singing
The robins were adding their voice to the bird choir along with the rest of the winter birds who seemed happy the sun was out and not snowing. Lofty voices were heard up high in the sky but I wasn’t able to spot the sandhill cranes as they flew overhead. With their large wingspan, cranes can ride the air thermals and they can stay aloft for many hours with only occasional flapping of their wings.
Sandhill Crane
The calendar said that spring arrived this evening, but with my yard still completely covered in snow, I don’t believe it. But I spotted the first spring robins back in a road ditch a few miles from my house so a hint of spring has arrived. I they can find some berries to eat since the ground is frozen so no worms for them yet.
Robins Return
The birds were singing today but so far I haven’t heard any brave spring birds which have returned yet but they might want to see some ground without snow first. Although farther to the south, trumpeter swans have return already, but prior to 1935, seeing their return probably was a rare sight since their numbers had declined to 69 known individuals after widespread hunting in prior centuries.
Springtime Swan
I think the chickadees were happy with the sunshine, which melted the snow off the tree branches, but there still was a steady stream of birds coming to the feeders even though the temperature where slightly above freezing. If they eat this much on a warmer day, I might not have enough bird seed to last the cold month of January.
Sunny Chickadee
The male goldfinches have lost their summertime bright yellow coloring so now it is harder to tell the males from the females and immature goldfinches. But whatever they might be, they all seem rather hungry and today with the sun finally out, they were eating seeds from the black-eyed susans, which has also lost all of its summer yellow petals.
Eating Seed Heads
The snow storm sure moved in quickly as only a few small flakes were coming down when I filled the bird feeders. But twenty minutes later, the snow was coming down rather heavy and plastered snow over the bird feeder covering the seed tray. The one chickadee looked confused why the seed disappeared so I know once it stops snowing, I will have to remove that white stuff.
Seed Lost in the Snow
The chickadees seemed extra cheery this morning and I suppose it was because the sun made a brief appearance. Although the steady flow of chickadees stocking up at the feeder all day has me wondering if they know about the colder temperatures coming again.
Chickadees Stocking Up
