A bluebird arrives at a next box. (Photo by David Durrant)
Spring is eagerly awaited here at the farm, not only because we look forward to harvesting asparagus and lettuce, but also because it heralds the arrival of our spring migrants. Recently the morning chorus has been glorious; identifying individual songs is our current challenge.
This year my wife, Pam, and I have seen many spring migrants earlier than we did last year, probably because of the early warm weather and favorable southern airflow. Before the ice was totally out of our pond there were wood ducks, mallards, and hooded mergansers swimming about—close to a week earlier than last year. We saw a killdeer in our pastures on April 1, only a day later than last year. The barn swallows and tree swallows arrived a week later than usual, but the orioles were a week earlier, causing me to scramble to put out some orange halves for them to feast on. Since the birds seemed to be returning at unusual times, I decided to put the hummingbird feeder out two weeks earlier than I did last year. The next day a ruby-throated hummingbird arrived and has been here ever since.
For many birders the return of the warblers is a highlight of the year. Recently we went to the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury to see what birds we could find. We were rewarded with fine views of warbling vireos, yellow-rumped warblers, and yellow warblers, all perched in the trees around the parking lot. We spotted common yellowthroat warblers scratching around in the scrub. Later we found dozens, if not hundreds, of yellow-rumped warblers flitting about in the silver maples, and saw a few blue-grey gnatcatchers and common yellowthroats in the trees along the river.
One recent morning we went down to the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge, where we saw warbling vireos, blue-grey gnatcatchers, and yellow warblers, and heard common yellowthroats, although we did not see them. Alerted to the presence of a black-and-white warbler by its distinctive squeaky-wheel song, we soon spotted one flitting around in the canopy of the trees. High up in the trees we spotted a couple of rose-breasted grosbeaks in the same area where we found them nesting last year. Though several people have reported seeing rose-breasted grosbeaks around this year, I had never seen one on the farm in the 26 years we have been here, but this spring we saw one at our platform feeder and have heard it singing. These birds are easily identified by a bright red triangle of feathers on an otherwise white breast, and most notably by an enormous beak. Thirty-five years ago flocks of grosbeaks were regular visitors to this area. Unfortunately the grosbeak is one of many songbirds whose populations have been in a decline.
Nesting season is here for most of our birds. In the coming weeks I will be out looking for signs of nesting birds and monitoring our bluebird boxes, one of which already has young in it.
David Durrant lives with his wife, Pamela, on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they run their business, Durrant Design, and watch birds—their own peacocks, chickens, and wild birds.
