Red-winged Blackbirds???

In January???

I can hardly believe they are back so early. Bookworm just called out to me, "Mama, there are some black birds that just swooped into the yard. I don't know what they are!"

Well, nothing pulls me away from a grammar workbook like a bird sighting, lol! Sure enough, there was a huge flock of starlings in the backyard and three (that I could count) red-winged blackbirds under the feeders!

These pictures are mighty blurry, but I am going to post them anyway:

I can hardly believe they are back north so soon. Last year, I blogged about their return - in late March!

Goodness - WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? It's going to be NINE degrees on Thursday!

Of course we went right to our favorite local bird book and read the following:

"A birder's blahs are often remedied by the sound of the season's first Red-winged Blackbird. The males get an early start on the season, arriving in wetlands and farmlands with other blackbirds as early as mid-March ..."

Um, okay, but this is mid-JANUARY!

Sorry for all this "shouting" but we are just all fired up over here, lol!

Maybe, just maybe, this means an early spring for New England? Do birds know things we don't?

Well, for their sakes I hope so, because March is still a long ways off!

Comments

[Angel]

We have juncos and geese back, and they didn't show up last year till March. It's supposed to turn into winter again here, so I really hope they're going to be able to survive this! Will they just fly south again if it gets too cold, I wonder?

[marcie]

Maybe it's because we are having such cold temps here in the south. Our high temp today is 35.........very out of character for us.

[Jane Ramsey]

That's pretty cool, Dawn!

[Theresa]

ack, I had a comment... but it must not have gone through. Hmmmm

[Nissa]

Oh I love our redwing blackbirds when they're here. We also miss the bobolinks that live here all summer.

Gosh, I'm really wanting to keep a good nature journal - my grandfather always did. Wonder what happened to them?