~An Early Sign of Spring?~

This morning while I was letting my dog out to do his business, I noticed a bunch of birds in the far part of the yard.  After watching them a bit, I thought...could those be robins??  So I put Banjo back in the house and grabbed my camera to get a closer look with my zoom lens.

While watching them, I started clicking away on my camera.  Sure enough, these fine-feathered friends were indeed robins.  We've had a fairly mild winter, but is Spring coming already?  Surely not.  I went back inside and went to my next best friend, next to my camera.  Google.  I started doing my research and found this article..."The Robin Is Not a Sign of Spring".  Surely they jest, I thought!

Excerpts from article went something like this... "I saw a bunch of robins in the middle of January's snowstorm.  It sure didn't look like Spring to me!"  "I saw a robin last week.  Spring must be coming!"

Robins are a sign of Spring, right?  Wrong!  (what???...my thoughts)

Robins are not a sign of Spring any more than Punxsutawny Phil, that pampered Pennsylvania ground hog, is a predictor of weather. (darn!!)

So why do we cling to the old wives' tale that a robin is the sign of Spring?  Because, as we all know, all robins go south for the Winter and return in the early Spring.  Unfortunately, that is not true.

In part, we are just not paying attention.  Maybe, during a long winter, we are too housebound, or too bundled against teh cold to notice.  But if we strap on our snowshoes and wander the garden or roam the woods - or if we just walk to the corner store for a coffee or newspaper - we may hear the rattle of the robin on any day of the year - even a mid-winter day.

...perhaps, like the ancients of old, you want an omen from the skies, a bird sent from the gods with the message that "Indeed, Spring is on the way - Persephone returns to bring life and fecundity to the earth." (whatever that means)

Red-winged Blackbird                                      

If that is what you are looking for, then watch for the Red-winged Blackbird...with his "Conk-a-reeeee, Conk-a-reeee". (his mating call).

That is a sure sign that Spring is coming.  Other birds will be following along in quick succession....

Well, rats!  Not that I'm in any hurry for Spring to come because that means Summer is not far behind.  So, in the meantime, I'll enjoy the splash of color we get from our little feathered friends. 

Note:  The excerpts from this article were taken from the Tails of Birding blog.

May God bring you splashes of color on this winter day~