Fox Sparrows and Dark-eyed Junco. © Mike Powers 2007But the cold and snow sure was a big deal to the birds, more specifically, the ones at our feeder. Goose migration is in full swing. The last couple of weeks brought huge skiens of Canadas with smaller skiens of Snows mixed in. Blackbirds are starting to populate the Horseheads Marsh, which is just starting to show open water after months of ice cover. Reports of returning sparrows are hitting the listserves, though nothing has appeared in our yard. These are all harbingers of spring, balmy days should be imminent. April showers would be bringing May flowers, and following on the heels of these early migrants would be warblers, thrushes, orioles, tanagers, hummingbirds, and flycatchers. You could almost hear the dawn chorus reaching us on the warm, southern winds.
Then the weather teased for us, halting any plans of putting up the skiis and putting screens on the windows, and took the birds by surprise. The snow started Friday afternoon, and with it came the Fox Sparrows. Saturday morning we had seven Fox Sparrows under our feeders.
Fox Sparrow in Butterfly Bush. © Mike Powers 2007Their arrival is a little early, based on my records for our yard. Usually they appear sometime during the last week of March, though they're certainly in the region by now. And when I finally find them on our hill I have to go find them, the one or two who make themselves known, by visiting the brushy patches and sifting through the more common sparrows and finches. But the snow brought them in droves to where I could shoot some photos from the comfort of inside the house, and watch for hours as they used both feet to scour for seeds underneath the snow.
They'll be on their way soon enough, gone by mid-April, but we're glad to host them while they visit.
