While I have been busy catching up from our trip during the last two days, spring apparently came and went! Purple Finches have been singing in our Pownal yard, and Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are visiting the feeders at the store. Meanwhile, during the course of the day, while carrying bags of seed to cars, I would look up to see passing flocks of blackbirds, and a few Turkey Vultures heading north. Temperatures in the 50’s was melting snow, and large patches of bare ground were appearing.

It’s the rapidly lengthening days that are triggering the urge to migrate, establish territories and sing. Meanwhile, the southerly winds this week facilitated the northbound movement of a number of species. Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Turkey Vultures, and many ducks are just some of the species on the move. Take a look at this week’s Southcoastal Maine Rare Bird Alert: just about all the species mentioned were migrants!

This morning was a little different. Temperature around 20, a stiff, raw northerly wind, and a big snowstorm is on its away. However, birding at some favored locations in Portland proved that the birds are affected more by the season than a particular day’s weather. But, yes this storm will impact some birds, but most will do just fine. I do expect, however, that feeders will be quite popular in the next few days as birds look to find easy, fat-filled meals to make it through this bout of winter weather. Feeder watching should be good this weekend!

But, back to today. I began at Portland’s Dragon Field. A few Red-winged Blackbirds are on territory already, there are more Song Sparrows in the bushes, and my first two Killdeer of the spring were foraging on the open ground atop Mount Trashmore. A Merlin buzzed by, and the local pair of Red-tailed Hawks were working on their nest in the quarry. My highlight, however, was an unexpected surprise – Dragon Field Patch List Bird #148! Two drake Green-winged Teal flew by, possibly having just checked out the marsh in the quarry – which was frozen solid. My patch list here has been stagnant for a while, so this lucky sighting was most welcome. While I have been seeking out specific birds there of late (Northern Shrike in particular), “finishing” off a patch list often involves dumb luck such as this. (This also exemplifies one of the benefits of patch listing: every bird, even common ones like Green-winged Teal count just the same!)

Not much was happening (yet) at Evergreen Cemetery, but Capisic Pond Park was its usually birdy self! Three more “First of Year” sightings (although I do not keep an official year list as many birders do – my Patch Lists are more than enough!): 1 Fox Sparrow – one of my favorites, a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a pair of Wood Ducks. Meanwhile, their were 30+ Red-winged Blackbirds, many of which were singing and displaying, 20+ Common Grackles, a small flock (15-20) of Dark-eyed Juncos, and more Song and American Tree Sparrows than there has been of late.

Spring, is in fact, springing, no matter what the upcoming storm will bring!