Agog

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz,
I wonder where the birdies is.

The little birds is on the wing,
Ain’t that absurd,
The little wing is on the bird!

- childhood poem

There is so much springtime activity going on, particularly with the birds, that I am completely agog. I am having a very hard time keeping up with all of the excitement. The biggest news in the province of New Brunswick at the moment is the fact that the Saint John River is reaching flood stage in our capital city, Fredericton, and down river from there in smaller farming communities. We had a lot of snow this past winter and the spring runoff has driven the river to near record flood levels, creating the worst flooding since 1973.

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated and hundreds more have at least flooded basements. Over forty streets in the capital are closed because they are under water. At the moment probably even the farmers are having a hard time seeing the bright side of things. There is at least one, though. Along the river there is land that floods almost every year that is used as farm land. Referred to locally as the ‘interval’, this land is preferred for growing crops because the annual flooding enriches the soil.

At the moment for me a big preoccupation is the birds. For the last few days my feeders have been overrun by two different large flocks of birds, one group getting ready to leave here, and the other group just arriving from down south. The former, Common Redpolls, and the latter, Chipping Sparrows are eating as much seed as I will put out. They are emptying a feeder in a day that would normally be filled once a week. The Common Redpolls are fattening up for their migration and the Chipping Sparrows are starved from theirs.

The usual collection of Black-capped Chickadees, Purple Finches, American Goldfinches, Downy Woodpeckers and Blue Jays are coming to visit every day. The male Purple Finches and American Goldfinches have just about finished moulting and are in their bright springtime plumage. There are Common Grackles about and this morning I saw Canada Geese on the wing. So far, as near as I can tell, there is no activity at the Bald Eagle’s nest although I did see a Bald Eagle cruising the marsh the other day. The warblers are beginning to arrive and soon springtime birding will be in its high season.

A real treat for me each year is the first sighting of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). One came to visit my backyard the other day. This is a rather large member of the woodpecker family with very distinctive markings. John Burroughs referred to this bird as the ‘high hole’, which I presume has to do with where they make their nest. Usually I spot the flickers in Victoria Park which is next door to our house and features a bandshell, flower gardens, fountain, the city's cenotaph and some very nice trees.

This is also high season for what I refer to as the ‘small flower bulbs’. Today’s flower photograph is of Glory Of The Snow (Chionodoxa luciliae) which is one of the early blooming spring bulbs. Daffodils and tulips are also beginning to bloom and soon there will be a riot of colour everywhere. So spring will soon be in full swing. The woodland flowers will begin to bloom in the next few weeks. I can hardly stand the excitement!

Visitors

I don’t know about you, but I love to have visitors, especially if they are congenial and well behaved. For the past several weeks just such a visitor has been showing up at my bird feeder. I am talking about the common redpoll which my Audubon Handbook of Eastern Birds identifies as Carduelis flammea. The common redpoll can be found on Plate 375 of Audubon’s Birds of America as Acanthis Linaria. I am always happy to see them.

The redpoll is a bird of the far northland where it breeds and raises its young on the tundra and in northern forests. During the winter these birds will come south to over-winter in places like New Brunswick. I often think that if this is where they come to spend the winter imagine how brutal the weather must be where they normally live! They do not come and visit every winter and a number of years can pass before you see them again. I look for them eagerly and always count a winter when they return as a special one.

The redpoll is a gregarious and very gentle bird. Its distinguishing feature is a bright red patch on the top of its head. It is as if the redpoll had been held upside down and dipped into a can of red barn paint. It is a very handsome little finch and usually quite tame. If you stand quite still you can get very close to them while they are feeding. The other day, after one of them had finished eating, he sat very contentedly for the longest time surveying the world about him. I felt very fortunate to have such a long view of him as well.

Soon the redpolls will leave us and return north to think about raising their families for another year. They never really announce their departure and it is not something that you immediately notice. It just gradually dawns on you that you aren’t seeing them around anymore. Whether they return next winter we shall have to wait and see.

On another note, one of the reasons that I started this blog was to inspire young people to become interested in the environment around them. I spend some of my time mentoring a group of tweenagers and I am genuinely impressed with the level of interest and concern that they have for the planet. I encourage this as much as I can.

I have discovered the website of one such young person that I should like to suggest to you. Her name is Helena and her blog is called Adventures of Bird Girl. For a fresh perspective on the world around you I highly recommend that you visit her website. To quote Helena directly, “I love nature and wildlife more than anything in the world.” She is definitely a person after my own heart.

Winter Birds

There is a blizzard here today in the woods. It has been snowing since last night and it is now waist deep in the backyard. It will be a while before we are tramping about the woods again. Still, there are many ways that we can observe and enjoy nature at this time of year. One of the things I like to do is feed the winter birds that come to my backyard. It does not cost very much and it provides me a world of entertainment. Currently, I am getting visits from black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, purple finches, bluejays, redpolls and a pair of downy woodpeckers that live in my neighbourhood. Bird populations are dwindling dramatically and anything we can do to help them out would be beneficial. It is important that, if you have started feeding the birds, that you keep it up for they come to depend upon that source of food. If you are not feeding the birds, consider putting up a feeder. The pleasure that you will receive will more than pay you back for the effort. For more information, or to simply be inspired visit Sharon Stiteler's website found here:

http://www.birdchick.com/blog.html

Sharon is a birdwatcher extraordinaire and you can share in her birdwatching adventures, enjoy her beautiful bird photography and find helpful links to encourage you to get to know our fine feathered friends. The more you get involved with nature, the more you will appreciate it and understand the need to preserve it. Happy birding!