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| The red-winged blackbird I saw at my feeders on Feb. 23, 2014 did not have the bright patches of this blackbird which I photographed in breeding season in Maryland on April 11, 2012. The amazing thing is that my first sighting of a red-winged blackbird at my feeders last winter was on Feb. 23, 2013! (Photo by Don Comis) |
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| I also saw my first robin at my feeders on Feb. 23, 2014. I photographed this robin even earlier last winter, eating berries of one of two crabapple trees along Apple Valley Drive, on February 9, 2013. I believe these robins are northern robins that spent the winter here and will leave as our real spring robins come back from south of us. I saw one long ago this winter, at the edge of our yard, near woods. (Photo by Don Comis) |
And what a morning after my first zero count yesterday! Eight species in eight minutes, including a second harbinger of spring, my first robin of the winter. It seemed fat to me but spent a long time under one of my raised feeders. It could have been eating dropped seed, but it seemed to be digging for worms and insects.
I know the robin is probably a false harbinger of spring because it's likely one of the robins that migrated here this winter from farther north. Robins are fairly rare at feeders because they're insect eaters, and northern robins are even rarer at feeders because they're shyer and prone to be in secluded wooded areas away from homes.
Still, my guess is it's still too early for our spring robins to return, so it's probably one of those northern robins with its own bold personality, or just one desperate after all this snow. We can identify!
All in all a great eight minutes that included a northern flicker. Birdwatching has many lessons for life, including that no matter how many times you're disappointed, you never know when life is going to give you a box of chocolates.
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