Spring Is In The Air!
Spring is in the air! Flowers are blooming, warmth from the sun pokes through chilly winds, and the world is filled with bird chatter.
Springtime brings on the breeding season, so birds are doing their best to show off brightly-colored plumage, inviting nesting territories, and belting out their best tunes. It’s a birder’s paradise and a welcome change from a cold, gloomy winter.
Now is also a great time for patch birding – observing birds in the same area over a span of time. A patch could include your backyard, your neighborhood, a favorite hike in a park, basically any place where you become familiar with the surroundings and eventually start to notice patterns.
I consider a neighborhood walk as my birding patch. During the winter, a single White-throated Sparrow would appear with a flock of White-crowned Sparrows in a bush in front of a certain house. I’d only see it before the noon hour. I noticed that the larger flocks of Bushtits have reduced in size, sometimes with a single Bushtit or a pair foraging alone. I followed on and found it building its hanging nest, which I now check on periodically. From my window, I noticed the neighborhood pigeon pair starting to fly back and forth to a certain spot on a nearby building. A closer look confirmed nesting material was being transported in their beaks – a sign of nest building.
Patch birding is a great way to get to know your community of birds, and what better time to begin than in the spring with all its highly visible activity!