The bluebird had come from the distant South
To his box in the poplar tree
And he opened wide his slender mouth,
On purpose to sing to me.
- Henry David Thoreau, The Bluebirds
While nearly all of our snow has melted in just under a week, there's still half of March and early April to get through. April snowstorms are not all that uncommon in southern Wisconsin! At Pheasant Branch Conservancy yesterday, I witnessed my first Eastern Bluebird of the year - a gorgeous male perched on a branch close to the trail. He flew several sorties down to the trail and sipped from small pools filling from melted snow. March birds all manner of song and color were busy singing, foraging, and making preparations for the upcoming nesting season. It was a fantastic day to be out, birding, walking, breathing, and enjoying the spring-like weather!
"Nature is wonderful - it is the center of everything - and if you take a serious interest, it changes your life … as you become more aware, you start to get a feel for the reasons for things. All nature acquires meaning. You realize then - and it is perhaps the most important thing to realize - that simply to be alive and aware in such a world as this is a privilege. If people in high places felt this, the world would be very different."
- Colin Tudge, The Bird
Pheasant Branch Conservancy: March 14th, 2010:
Canada Goose
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
All images © 2010 Mike McDowell