March 10, 2018
I received a most wonderful birthday gift today, as fine as any I could wish to see. To put it simply, I absolutely love bluebirds, and to spy the first sighting of the year on such a day really set the mood.
I have been trying to record the date and sighting of my first bird of the year for the past several. Most of the time it has been a bit later, but then again, some even earlier. You just never know what a bluebird has on the brain.
I suppose it has an awfully lot to do with weather conditions, and it would make sense that they are fairly early this year. It has been a very mild winter in my part of western Colorado, with little snow cover left even in the mid elevations. How the birds knew it was time to arrive I could not guess, but then again, maybe they can just get lucky like that.
To follow are a few words from a few years ago, when the weather was quite different, and the birds not quite so lucky in their timing:
I had my first bluebird sighting of the year today, a broad-shouldered male, and it happened in just about the same spot as it did last year but more than two weeks earlier on the calendar.
This male was as bold and blue a bird as I have ever seen, and was in fact a credit to all male bluebirds everywhere. He saw me coming and rose into a buffeting wind with that characteristic bluebird gait, hanging there in the magnificent universe for all the world to admire. I had no way to know that he was particularly interested in showing off to the lone female watching from the dead brown grass and tangled weeds nearby.
It warmed my blood to see him after so many months of bright white snow drifts and steel-gray, overcast skies. I am sure that she appreciated his display in ways I could never fully understand.
It was odd to see a male and female together so early in the season, and it was especially unusual for them to be the first birds of the year. I had always believed that the males arrived ahead of the females in order to establish dominance over other males and secure a territory to their liking.
Obviously, this is not always the case. Sometimes a male and female pair arrive on the breeding grounds at the same time, ready and willing. Still, it seemed a bit odd that they seemed to be the first and only birds to make it back so far, unlike the previous year when dozens of males all appeared almost overnight.
It’s been a strange year all around, with numerous storms and heavy snows which have built upon the ground since last November. The weather as a whole has seemed cranky and confused, with lingering low pressure systems and wild and violent mood swings. The signs were easy to read upon the birds.
A most obvious indication was the arrival of large flocks of robins in January, which seemed strange not only to me but to several of my friends who were quick to point it out. They were wild and agitated groups of birds, milling about restlessly while searching for a comfortable clime found most anywhere but here. One friend stared in amazement, as robin after robin appeared to attack the eves of his house, desperate to catch a drop of snow melt drizzling from his roof.
Image Source Fotocitizen / Pixabay
There is something quite unsettling about the sight of an obvious icon of Spring staring forlornly at deep snow and bare branches, puffed up bravely against the blustering gales. It’s an image not easily processed against what one has always known to be true.
Most of the robins have since managed to remain and survive until the snow banks receded and disappeared, though I know not how. It is true that not all robins migrate to the south, and that some do overwinter even in northern areas. There is also some evidence that more and more robins are migrating northward earlier in the year due to shifting weather patterns.
Yet the birds seem out of synch, as if their internal clock has wound too soon and their surroundings do not quite match their memories. No doubt we feel their distress on some undefined level, and like our feathered friends we can’t quite make sense of the changing world either.
But there is one thing is for sure. The bluebirds and robins have blessed us with their return journey, and stand ready to beat back whatever remains of the cold and dark times of winter.
I shall turn to the East and the rising star to celebrate the passing of another raw and soul cleansing season, while keeping one eye turned to the South for the telltale flash of blue, and red.
For after all, what would the world be like without bluebirds, I shudder to think...?
Image Source Jalynn / Pixabay
Update March 12, 2018
The robins are here...the robins are here!
I heard them before I saw them, but it is true. Two, plumped-up red breasted males perch in the nearest tree as I write this. They seem more than happy to be here.
Welcome Home!
By Michael Patrick McCarty
Parts of this post first appeared at my website at http://www.thebackyardprovider.com/2014/03/04/a-sure-sign-of-spring/
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Top Image Source theSOARnet / Pixabay