Harbingers of Spring

[Kevin McCormack]

Friday night when I put my dog up and brought in a fresh load of firewood to beat the coming rains, the sky was slightly overcast with almost no wind. I paused for a moment before going in and caught the sound of the barely audible melodious yodel of a huge flock of Whistler Swans on high, headed back due north off the Chesapeake to the breeding grounds on the frozen tundra, driving hard above the clouds. It has captured me for years as almost a Druid ritual; I hear them in the Fall just after Halloween but well before Thanksgiving, coming South, heralding yet another season on the water and in the fields. We are so blessed!

[David Hamilton]

The swans winter here and their majestic flight is very inspiring. Considering the human population density of the East Coast the wildlife abundance is breathtaking. David

[Jeff Kuss]

The sandhill cranes have been flying around here this week. Spring is getting close.

[Harry Collins]

Kevin,

No flyway in central Kentucky. The Canada geese do, however, nest on Shannon Run creek that runs the length of the west side of the farm as do the wood duck. I enjoy watching them flying in and cupping up for the landing. When the iris bloom in late April and early May the geese will walk their young out. Yes, the harbingers of spring....

Harry

[charlie cleveland]

you fellas sure know how to put good thoughts into a fellas head...thanks charlie

[Fred Preston]

Saw my first buzzard of the year a week ago dining on a road killed coon next to the snowbank on the side.

[Michael K. Burnley]

Yeah, last week two or three evenings I could hear the Tree Peepers down in the pines below my house here in the middle of Virginia. They would be chirping till just before dark when the temperature started to drop then they would stop. Springs a coming.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

One of my strongest memories in fowling is the day that Nathan and I hunted together on Mitchell's Bay in Ontario. When either of us mentions it we call it "the day the swans came" still to this day.

There's always a few there, early in the season just the feral mute type, then the real wild swans begin to trickle in as the season comes along. This day we left the dock with a light early snow falling. About the time Nate cut the engine I could hear them, as the light came up I could see them, flying over in flock after flock after flock.

Apparently some early hard weather to the north had moved them all en masse and we were seeing the full migration. It was middle of the week, we'd only gone out because we knew the early snow might have some ducks moving. Hardly anyone else on the lake, just one of those times.

This flight continued till nearly noon when the snow finally laid off and the sun came out. By this time the open water looked like a new huge white island had formed over the course of the morning, covered literally with a blanket of swans.

You know what's funny, I don't even remember if we shot any ducks that day.



Destry

[Richard Flanders]

First real harbinger of spring came to Fairbanks yesterday... I had my first water dripping off the sunny south side of my roof for a couple of hours. It's still well below 0deg here but that rising sun is powerful. This has been our coldest winter since 1998, which has made for some excellent wood-splitting temperatures. At -20 and below you can split a fresh-cut 12" birch round with a 2# axe in one hand... it's a beautiful thing.... or maybe it's just a "you had to be there" moment.

Destry: let me know the next time that swan thing happens and I'll have Scotty beam me down....

[Robert Rambler]

We enjoyed a few sunny days last week that had the Ground Hogs out of their holes, to nibble on whatever green stems they could find.

[Mike Shepherd]

My Belle fetched a baby cottontail at a field trial yesterday. Saw red ants while I was hunting Bobs last Friday. Our trial grounds in Amarillo burned up (during a field trial) in a grassfire a week ago.

Spring is here!

Mike

[Robin Lewis]

:shock:green stems

[Fred Preston]

First Bluebird this morning.

[Dean Romig]

That Bluebird looks just a mite pissed off that he didn't have the common sense to listen to the weather man.... :eek:

[Dave Suponski]

Dove's and a few songbirds are back and the snow's about 90% gone...Now we have mud....:rolleyes:

[C Roger Giles]

Fred;

At least you have Blue Birds, even POed ones. I have had no luck luring them to our area.

Roger

[charlie cleveland]

crow was out in my front yard pulling up worms this morning...he was a brave fellow but very cauctious...yes i did think about the parker but i was to slow...hes on his way now to see you roger...... charlie

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

whistle pigs are popping thier heads out of thier dens and the sound of gun fire will soon be heard over all the hills. Thomas L. Benson Sr.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I had to make a run out to a country friends house this morning and my truck looks like it's spring in Michigan for certain. Those roads were mighty sticky but it was still only 39 degrees.


Destry

[Harry Collins]

The groundhogs are just finishing breeding season. I wait until the 1st of June to shoot them. That way the babies will be big enough to take care of themselves and I will have something to shoot next year.

Harry

[Robert Rambler]

First Robin I've seen this year, was sitting on the railing of the deck this afternoon.:):)

[Marc Retallack]

Nice to hear the robins are making their way over to your part of the state Robert. I've been seeing them here for the last week or so. Maybe it's all that heat from TMI...:eek:

[william faulk]

Been pushing 70 in South Texas this past two weeks.White wings around my house are starting to call looking for some romance.There are an estimated 1,000,000 of these doves that stay all year around San Antonio.Can't attract any other birds to the feeders,these guys are so aggressive.They have all but pushed the smaller mourning doves out of South Texas.Don't need an alarm clock,they start calling at first light.
Also saw two V s of Geese heading back North last week up around the Katy prarie.
We have a short Spring down here,Summer starts in April.

[Dave Suponski]

Robert, Thats good to hear. That means they are on their way to CT

[Dean Romig]

Around the Shawsheen Flats it's the return of the Red-Wing Blackbirds that heralds the Spring. It seems to be earlier and earlier each year that they return. Sunday morning at about daybreak I heard them - hundreds of them high in the oaks and pines around my house and there's still more than a foot of hard frozen snow everywhere but they came up on the warm winds from the South Saturday night.
Up until then for a few weeks the Canada Geese would fly over before dawn each day calling hauntingly for landing instructions from 'birds of a feather' if there be any on the yet frozen Shawsheen marshes. Of course their pleas were unanswered so onward they flew in search of open water. Soon enough though - soon enough...

[Robert Rambler]

Yep ,it won't be long now! Come to think it, the Mallard Drakes have been chasing for the last two weeks. Skunks and Rabbits have been out "Looking for Love" and getting smashed along the road for their efforts for the last week.Snow Geese were in the fields by the 100's this past weekend.And I was in the back yard tonight limbering up my 5.5ft, bamboo 2/3w and
9ft, 5/6w St.Croix. Springs gotta be just around the corner.:)

[Marc Retallack]

Robert, do you ever fish Clark's or Stony creeks in Dauphin? Most years I spend 50-70 days fishing those two streams.

Cheers
Marcus

[Bill Murphy]

Do y'all have a good recipe for those harbingers? I have a feeling you need a bunch to make a good meal but I'm trying to cut back on my weight anyhow. Just a few should be fine for a good lunch.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Robins were standard table fare in the wintertime down Louisiana way for many years so I'm told. Never tried them but they can't be much different than dove or duck I'd imagine.

A cold rain falling here in Michigan this morning, temp is hovering around 37. Spring is coming but it's slow this far north. Spoke with Mother last night and they've seen the first robin in Southern Illinois so it's coming along.....


Destry

[charlie cleveland]

pear trees and plum trees blooming here in miss..crows doing their thing building nests...garden work looking good cabbage plants looking well and onions almost ready to eat some of those green tops....rained all night here gonna put a damper on saturdays turkey hunt but i will be in the woods the lord willing..... charlie

[Dean Romig]

I always thought robins would taste a lot like woodcock,both being eaters of worms and such - but no way!! Woodcock is much better - robin is stronger, more like duck.

[Dean Romig]

Charlie, I always prefer to hunt in a light rain.