Song Sparrow - First Day of Spring 2009 | Click for larger view
At 7:44 a.m. this morning, Spring began for those in the eastern time zone of the United States. Here at home, the weather said otherwise. The skies were clear but the temperatures were in the low 20′s throughout the morning and topped out at 34° this afternoon.
But the signs of spring are evident. Our snow pack is at 8″ with bare spots showing up here and there. The cove is now approximately 60% ice free. (The 40% that is ice covered is on my side of the cove.)
I volunteered for the Birds of the Equinox, a project to document bird life during the March 20 equinox.
I don’t know if I have ever specifically documented birds on the first day of spring, summer, fall or winter. With this project, there’s no better time to start.
So, without further ado, here are the birds that I recorded this morning on both sides of the equinox from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Location: Bath, Maine (Home)
Observation date: 3/20/09
Notes: Partly cloudy, temp. 23° (begin 7:00 a.m.) and 25° (end 9:00 a.m.) Winds 8-11 mph NE gusting to 20 mph.
Number of species: 37Canada Goose 63
Wood Duck 2
American Black Duck 64
Mallard 18
Green-winged Teal 8
Northern Pintail 4
Bufflehead 5
Common Goldeneye 17
Hooded Merganser 11
Common Merganser 31
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Common Loon 1
Bald Eagle 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 6
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 5
Northern Cardinal 3
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 3
American Robin 4
American Tree Sparrow 4
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 16
Dark-eyed Junco 11
Red-winged Blackbird 21
Common Grackle 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Purple Finch 2
Common Redpoll 4
Pine Siskin 6
American Goldfinch 9This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 http://ebird.org
Not a bad two hours at all! And if you need another sure sign that it’s spring, take a look at what was running around on the snow covered ground today.
Chipmunk - First day of Spring 2009 | Click for larger view
Happy birding!
{ 5 comments }
Aw
I loves the chipmunks!
Very nice two hours… quite impressive especially considering the temps! Lots of birds you saw. I tried to see some this morning, but it was rather foggy and I think nearly everyone was still snoozing until the sun came out. This afternoon I heard a lot, but was too busy at work to find them.
Very cool John!!! What a lot of birds!!! Glad to see you saw a chippie too!
That’s quite a list you compiled. Love the chipmunk photo, I had three of them chasing each other around the backyard the other day.
You have a beautiful blog. I grew up in Norway, Maine (western part of state – headed toward Bethel) But now live in New Mexico. So it was a walk down memory lane to visit your wonderful blog. I adore the chipmunk photo. I am also an avid birder. After leaving Maine many years ago I lived for some time in the rainforests of Australia and the birds there are almost beyond belief. You would love it.
Thank you.
Robin Easton
http://www.nakedineden.com
Wow..impressive list for two hours! But…Yikes ..John…still all that ice and snow?
I am sending a heat wave over to you soon.
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