Where in the H*** are my buddies?
 

With present temps hovering just above 0° look what just showed up at the watering hole. Robins are an extremely rare sight at this time of year, February is generally the coldest time of the year here in northcentral Wisconsin. It's got to be a tough way to make a living for a bird that is usually looking for earth worms and bugs for sustenance.

I’ve also seen flocks of robins in greater numbers here in North Missouri, a trend apparent over the last several years. We are also seeing more overwintering dove.

I also have been bewildered by the sighting of a couple of robins as well as a cardinal this morning. Risky business being in the Dakotas this time of year. Someone must have told them about our lack of snow.

I always seem to have a few robins around in the winter. They love the fruit left on my ornimental apple and cherry trees.

It's been very cold and snowy here in NH but yesterday there was a Baltimore Oriole in a bush by my wood pile.

Never really considered robins to be migratory. Here in the northern panhandle of West Virginia and Eastern Ohio, you will see them all winter. They gather in large flocks and really hit the wild grape vines.

I can’t remember when robins haven’t overwintered here in the Northeast… certainly not in the numbers we see in the spring but I see them in small flocks of up to 8 birds searching for cherry or crabapples with some dried fruit still clinging to their branches.

We also have two mated pairs of cardinals all winter at my feeders. In the springtime they nest in the bushes around my house.





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My observation over the years is that when flocks of Robins start arriving in the north country of NH in October that the woodcock are soon to follow.

I lived in the southern part of the state next to a commercial apple orchard and we would see fruit eating birds through the winter.

I have seen large flocks of robins at the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Montgomery County, Maryland through the winter. Never see them at my house 25 miles east. One lone dove at my feeder this week.

It appears our robins have, all but one, migrated to your more temperate climates. Although not unheard of here in the northern half of Wisconsin, they are certainly a rare occurance. Nonetheless, he's shown up for the 2nd day in a row! We're currently in the midst of a 6"+ snowfall and the 1st pic below you will notice the undulation of the snow on the railing. You wiley observers will know what created the undulations, eh?

I'm a bit surprised that Pete had seen a Baltimore Oriole in NH yesterday, they are an early migrant for us. I cannot recall seeing or even hearing of one at this time of year around here. Cardinals and mourning doves are year round residents along with a few other species of our winter birds that can be seen in the 2nd pic below.

When I was a kid (50's - 60's) in Eastern KY, they often interfered a lot with our late season grouse hunting in February. Large flocks of them would burst out of patches of vines in the woods where we were trying to jump grouse. More than one was accidently shot. They always seemed to be healthy and large even with the heavy snow we generally had at the time. I always suspected they switched to a seed and berry diet at that time of years and competed with the grouse during that season. They were always healthy looking and around in large numbers.

First "spring Robins" in my yard in Maryland yesterday.

Lots of Robins have been wintering over in NH for quite a few years. In spite of a foot of snow on the ground I had several in my yard every day. My first song bird of the spring is the Red Wing Blackbird.

Robins winter here in S.E. Colorado. They seem to love water, which can be hard to find when it is around 0 deg. F. They hang around the waterfall in my small pond and when I dump a bucket of water in the bird bath they will fill it to overflow. When the ground is clear they collect in the garden and manage to find something to eat.
C.G.B.

Robins
 

About the third week in February there were 30-40 in the trees and flying back and forth between trees. I assume they were migrating through because the next day they were gone. I think they're better than Punxsutawney Phil in predicting an early spring. I don't know what they eat, especially at 5,240 feet elevation..:eek: