As for true early signs of spring, I'll go with a copulating Mallard pair on 20January in the Poudre River (Fort Collins); the recent arrival of Pine Siskins at lower elevations along the Front Range (from wherever they've been all winter) to breed at least one cycle in parks with numerous and big enough conifers; and the characteristic lust-mixed-with-pain squeal of female Fox Squirrels being forcefully "courted" to produce 2014 brood #1. Then there are the Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches recently observed going for sugar-laden sap dripping from the Silver Maples (who needs taps and buckets), and American Robins deciding certain small-fruited crabapple varieties, ignored since last summer, have had their fruits frozen and thawed enough times to be sufficiently softened for easy dismantling.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
From: zroadrunner14@gmail.com
To: cobirds@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [cobirds] Sure sign of spring
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:32:15 -0700
I'll still go with Red-winged Blackbirds.
Ira Sanders
Golden, CO
From: cobirds@googlegroups.com [mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jeff J Jones
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2014 8:22 AM
To: tedfloyd57@hotmail.com; 'cobirds'
Subject: RE: [cobirds] Sure sign of spring
White-breasted Nuthatches have been singing (wak wak wak…) in the morning here at home this week. And they appear to be travelling around in pairs.
But I don't think this is out of the norm for this species. They tend to start at this time of year in my experience up here.
Nonetheless, it is a welcome sound and a harbinger of spring being just around the corner.
From: cobirds@googlegroups.com [mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ted Floyd
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2014 4:21 AM
To: cobirds
Subject: [cobirds] Sure sign of spring
Hello, Birders.
I'm always cheered by first-of-season reports to COBirds, for example, Bonny Boex's recent American Robin up in Summit County.
Here's my first, from yesterday afternoon, Thursday, Jan. 23rd, in Lafayette, Boulder County: a singing Northern Flicker.
Other bird species have been singing for a while, but they don't count! Birds like American Dippers and House Finches sing all winter long. Black-capped Chickadees start so early (warm days in December are fine for them) that they don't really count, either. Marsh Wrens and Red-winged Blackbirds quiet down a bit in the winter, but if you spend enough time in their habitats, you'll hear them singing even in the bleariness of November and December. And then there are cool species like Common Goldeneyes and Great Horned Owls, with definite annual rhythms to their singing and courting, but they don't do the normal start-singing-in-spring thing, so they don't count either.
So I'm going with this flicker. The bird sang just once, then looked around as if it had said or done something inappropriate in a concert or at church, then quieted down, said "kee-yer!" (I think that's flicker-speak for "Excuse me."), and sheepishly flew away. But the deed was done. The bird sang--indeed a full-on, belt-it-out-at-the-top-of-your-lungs song--and that's good enough for me. Next thing you know, the skies will be filled with swallows, nighthawks, and migrating Upland Sandpipers . . .
Dave Leatherman wondered recently if the End Times are upon us. No doubt, but I think we got a bit of a reprieve with this flicker.
Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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