[CT Birds] Spring

[Peregrine Information Consultants]

I see spring in the changing quality of the light from "winter" light to "spring" light - with winter light being more transparent, paler, slightly watery. So, too, do summer and autumn have their own quality of illumination. My daughter (14) also notices these changes in the light and commented to me on a recent warm day that although it felt springlike, the quality of the light was still wintry.

I am already seeing signs of spring around the feeders: The goldfinches are slowly brightening. The downy woodpeckers are becoming more territorial and less companionable with each other. The blue jays are becoming more companionable and less aggressive with each other. (I delight in watching their feeding rituals later in the spring.) The male mourning doves are beginning to develop that rosy blush on their breasts. The house sparrows have been breaking twigs off the wistaria for some weeks, but perhaps they do that year 'round. I saw two red-tailed hawks circling together last week... And of course the squirrels are going nuts.

Redwings are also one of my favorite harbingers of spring. 

Plants -- I see buds forming. The forsythia and willows are taking on a golden cast.

The constellations change from season to season, of course, as the earth tips this way and that.

Thanks for asking this question!

Sarah

Sarah Hager Johnston, BMus, MLS
860-676-2228

Peregrine Information Consultants
www.peregrineinfo.com
Research and writing for insurance, risk management, safety & health, business, and medical professionals 

Grace Notes
www.grace-notes.com
Program annotations, research, and writing services for classical musical ensembles and the professionals who serve them

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Varza [mailto:dennisvz at optonline.net]
Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 10:10 PM
To: 'Posting Bird List'
Subject: [CT Birds] Spring

Hi Folks

Here are some thoughts on Spring

The seasons are more than dates on a calendar.  It is more of a sense  
or perception. Different people use different criteria for spring. My  
cousin once commented that spring is here when the Robins arrive. I  
told him they were here all year. I even bet him that he could pick  
any date and I’ll show him a robin. Fortunately he didn’t take the  
bet, some days in February could be pretty tough. But really, there  
is a time when all of a sudden the Robins turn up on lawns (the  
migrants) instead of skulking in thickest. When I was in farm country  
Pennsylvania spring became the first meadowlarks. A wise guy friend  
in college said spring is when the Great Horned Owls start nesting  
(early January). I have come to look at the returning Red-winged  
Blackbirds as the sign of spring, I wait all winter to hear them  
calling in the marshes, then after a week of it it gets annoying.  
Other popular signs are singing Cardinals and House Finches. If you  
are plant oriented you would consider Snowdrops, Crocus, Skunk  
Cabbage, willows and Red Maples.

I have come to categorize each day as either a spring, summer, fall,  
or winter day. The weather alternates between cold fronts and warm  
fronts producing warm and cold days. This time of year the warm days  
feel like spring days and the cold days like winter. Come May, the  
warm days feel like summer and the cold days like spring. Come late  
July, the cold days feel like autumn and the warm days like summer.  
and In November the warm days feel like autumn and the cold days  
winter. It is not necessarily temperature that determines the “feel  
of a day” but you know it when you experience it. I remember one  
bright clear day in early January and I was shoveling snow and it  
occurred to me, that this was a spring day!

When is it spring for you?


Dennis Varza
Fairfield

_______________________________________________
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.  
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org