It Begins.

Well, in many ways this has been a good week. Spotted my first Red-winged Blackbirds and Turkey Vultures - welcome back, little buddies! Also a good crop of the usual spring ducks and associates: Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Mallard (of course), Canada Goose (of course), Bufflehead, Redhead, and one Scaup (whether it's Greater or Lesser remains a mystery; whatever expertise I gained with them last year seems to have vanished).


Redheads


(Greater?) Scaup - at first glance, a female, from the white on the face. But the colour pattern is more like a male, which is why it was suggested to me that it's actually a young male just transitioning to his adult plumage.

I'm going to try to keep a close eye on the rivers for the next few weeks, see what else turns up. I'd like to try for some shorebirds this spring, as well, once they start to move, although I'm not sure where to go to find them. Other than Presqu'ile, of course, which was great last fall but is three hours away.

Other goals for this coming migration? I'd like to add some more warblers to my 'collection' - Wilson's and Blackpoll, anyway, those ones regularly get seen in my area for all that I've never been the one to see them. Canada and Cerulean, on the less-common end of things. Maybe this will be my year to get down to Pelee, who knows.

If you can believe it, I've never seen a Mockingbird, either, so that's something that I should probably fix.

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Is... Still Frozen, But Working On It

It's truly amazing how a few days of above-freezing temperatures and sunshine can make everything feel better. I didn't really notice how heavy the winter depression was until it lifted.

The ground is still covered in snow, but the days are getting noticeably longer and apparently the early migrants are already moving. So I may have to restart last year's habit of stopping for a quick look on the river trails after work, see what kind of ducks are hanging around.

Somewhat optimistically, I'm also starting to think about my gardens already. Mostly because I've discovered a community garden in my neighbourhood, which means that I might actually be able to grow some of my own vegetables this year. My own little yard is prohibitively small, and the sheer malicious intelligence of the local squirrel population has meant growing nothing but flowers for the past six years (and even then, only certain flowers; let's not speak of what happened to the lilies, blazing star, and tulips).

In summary: spring! Coming soon to a season near you!