Warm day today, nearly 80 in the Boston area. On our evening dog walk it had cooled down a bit, and the Riverway was thick with birds. We saw a half dozen catbirds, three groups of Canada geese with goslings, and a few unidentifiable warblers. And then on the way back I heard my favorite bird song. It was right by the path, so we stopped for a while until we could see him. He sang for a few times more, and at the moment when Alexis pulled her camera out, he flew off.

Over last weekend I saw my first turkey vulture of the year, and on Monday one flew over the zoo low enough for me to see the pink skin on its head. Also on the weekend, we were trying to pick out an unfamiliar bird song from a cacophony, but lost it in the cardinals, robins, titmice, chickadees, mourning doves, and blue jays that were all calling at once.

Song sparrows have been singing (and pretending to be red-winged blackbirds) and I saw one yesterday join the house sparrows in stealing food from the Keas. Also yesterday I walked from the punchclock across the maintenance yard to the tune of about 50 grackles in a tree, scranking and kleeking together, probably chattering about how much nicer the weather was down south.

In short, the birds think it is Spring, as does the calendar. It will take a few weeks to convince the plants, who are wisely huddled up, knowing that another snow and several more frosts are not just likely but guaranteed. Hardy cultivated plants like crocuses and snowdrops (and hybrid witch hazels) have been blooming for a while, and the daffodil sprouts are up all over. You can't blame people for planting these bulbs and other early bloomers. There aren't any insects awake to pollinate them, but it sure is nice to see some color in the landscape.

miz_geek posted pictures of skunk cabbage, the first conspicuous native flower to pop up in New England. It comes with its own heater, so that the few small bugs that are out have a warm place to hang out and help out with plant sex. I haven't seen any skunk cabbage blooms myself, but that's because I haven't been looking. Likewise, the Boston Birders google group has been reporting red-winged blackbirds (males only, of course) for a while now. I just haven't been actively birding--being a passive birder is more my speed. They also have been reporting armies of woodcocks, but again, these birders are deliberately going to likely spots at likely times (dusk) to find them and maybe watch their bizarre breeding displays. That's something that I should add to my "things to do before leaving New England" list.

Happy Vernal Equinox everyone! If it were up to me it would be xmas, new years, and earth day wrapped up into one, and we'd all get the week off. Enjoy it in whatever way seems best to you; may I suggest going outside and listening to bird song?

Not to give anyone any ideas, but in the United States, it's legal to own a European Starling as a pet (or pretty much do anything you want to them, as long as you don't run afoul of animal cruelty lawas). Here's someone in (apparently) South Carolina who has one, and has taught it a few phrases to speak. It's interesting how the quality of its voice is different from other talking birds.

http://myspace.com/talkingstarling

Edited to Add:

Interesting article about starling song choices: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=104&articleID=1323