It’s the First Day of Spring, According to the Birds

Longtime readers know I like to cover the signs of spring. The birds were unusually active today, after last night’s cold rain. It’s about 40 on the porch at 3:00 but the birds have been active all day. I’ve maybe seen a little mating or territory establishing behavior down in the woods. But I know I saw a Carolina Wren looking all around my porch, probably for a place to build the nest she – or another Carolina Wren – builds every year. And I know I saw a really big hen turkey moving briskly through the yard. It would be way early for the turkey mating season to begin, but why else would she be on her own, away from the same-sex flock? After all, the Christmas Bird Count around Carter’s Lake had woodcock mating displays, lots of them. Maybe, despite the cold winter, the birds think this is the first day of spring.