Spring Is In The Air

Spring is definitely in the air around the property this morning! Several species were singing announcing their territory. Cardinals with their pretty-pretty-pretty call, tufted titmice saying peter-peter-peter, white-eyed vireos with their jumbled song, Carolina chickadees saying feed me-feed me, and Carolina wrens calling tea kettle-tea kettle-tea kettle-tea were the loudest. The Inca doves were calling with their incessent coo-coo call that seems to go on for hours. Even the pileated woodpeckers were getting into the act as if to say, "We may not be the largest woodpecker in North America anymore, but we're the biggest in these woods!" The red-shouldered hawk is sitting on eggs. Eastern bluebirds are in the very beginning stages of nest-building in the nest box in Aunt Nona's yard. Purple martins are flying around. An ASY (after second year) male and female checked out my house as they were flying around this morning. The chances they'll nest in my house is low. Late in the afternoon, two tree swallows flew over for the first of season (FOS) this year.

Even with all the signs of spring, winter is still in evidence. The yellow-bellied sapsucker that has been visiting my suet log did not disappoint this morning. Northern flickers were calling back and forth. Ruby-crowned kinglets and yellow-rumped warblers flitted through the treetops. White-throated sparrows and two brown thrashers were in the heavy cover of the tri-foliate orange trees with their 2" thorns. Cedar waxwings announced their presence with their high-pitched calls as they fly around looking for a yaupon or deciduous holly still holding onto its berries.

I will be birding as much as possible through the second week of May. My records over the past three years indicate northern parulas and black-and-white warblers will show up this week. Hooded warblers will begin showing up in the last week of March. There are some spring migrants that are surprisingly absent on my property list. Kentucky warbler, cerulean warbler, prothonotary warbler, golden-winged warbler, mourning warbler are the ones I would expect to find at some point. Maybe this year . . . With the early start of Daylight Saving Time and getting off at 4:00 in the afternoons, I should have quite a bit of time for birding this spring.

Other wildlife viewed this morning were gray squirrels and fox squirrels.