Red-Winged Blackbird Singing
Spring Birds
Until this week, Spring had been slow to come to these parts what with late snow and very cold temperatures, but with some warmer weather and a lot of rain, all of a sudden things are looking much more “springy”.
One of the surest signs of Spring is the return of many of the birds that migrate to or through Nova Scotia. Last week, the woodcock were found in the alders, our geese returned to our pond and there were Green-winged Teal in local marshes. This week, this cheery Red-Winged Blackbird was discovered – and we heard him long before we saw him, trilling away among the cattails. The grouse are now out drumming and looking for mates, and yesterday while out in the rain on the first day of Trout season, I heard loons calling on our nearby lake.
Nova Scotia, because it sticks out into the Atlantic off the coast of the “mainland” (although technically we are connected by a narrow isthmus), is a favourite stopping spot for the migrating birds. The Province in Spring and Fall is amazing with the variety of species present and observable.
The sure signs of Spring, if one stops, looks and listens.
