first robins

[BobG]

I heard them yesterday while running the dogs, but I never saw them.
Today they were out in force. While running the dogs at Scusset this morning, there were at least 15 male robins posted like sentinels atop the small cedar trees. --127-3-
They were being very aggressive with each other,as if staking out their territory.
They were real nice to see this morning. :)

[Geoff Mathews]

I heard them yesterday while running the dogs, but I never saw them.
Today they were out in force. While running the dogs at Scusset this morning, there were at least 15 male robins posted like sentinels atop the small cedar trees. --127-3-
They were being very aggressive with each other,as if staking out their territory.
They were real nice to see this morning. :)


I was out (in Southern MA) with my dogs on Saturday. The woods were literally crawling with robins. It's just a matter of time.

[Slappy]

Every morning as I ride the T over the charles I look for the cormorants. Still waiting, but you gotta love those first signs.

[Eddy Merckx]

I was out (in Southern MA) with my dogs on Saturday. The woods were literally crawling with robins. It's just a matter of time.

I was surprised to find a huge flock of robins in the woods last winter while scouting after deer season. (At first I didn't recognize them as robins. I didn't expect to find them in January, and never saw robins flock before.) I did a little research then, and here's what I found out:

Most robins do migrate south for the winter, but a substantial number overwinter here. Those that stay form substantial flocks that are usually found in heavily wooded (as opposed to suburban) areas. Bogs and cedar swamps are favorite winter habitats. While flocking, they subsist primarily on fruits and berries, and they roost together at night. Once spring comes, the territorial instinct kicks in and the members of the flock disperse across the landscape, each staking out his own turf.

Not saying that the birds you saw weren't a harbinger of spring (I hope they were!), just passing along something I found interesting.

[flynny]

I used to get excited when I saw my first robin - a sure sign of spring, but over the past 10 years or so, I have noticed an increasing amount of robins staying year round. Perhaps it is due to the warmer winters we have had the past several years, excluding this year and last year of course. In fact they have been one of the more common species in my yard this past winter, I feel sorry for them during the cold spells and wonder what they eat, since they do not go to the feeder for seed and you typically associate them pulling worms from the ground or eating insects.

I have replaced the first robin sighting as the initial sign of spring with the Sox home opener!

[BobG]

....beaucoup robins this morning! --126-3-

I run my dogs at Scusset all winter, and I only saw a couple all winter.
This morning, I observed three distinct flocks, 50+ birds in each. No doubt in my mind these are first arrivals. --127-3-

[Bob Parsons]

Redwing blackbirds are a more reliable sign of spring.

[Cheju]

What a disapointment!

I thought you were talking about SEAROBINS.

Cheju

[Skunk Buster]

Gosh I must be bored, talking about birds. But I agree with you Bob, redwing blackbirds and then swallows. Basically any bird whose main diet is bugs...I've found that I catch my first striper about the same time I get my first mosquito bite.

[RJ]

Me too, Cheju,

There ain't nothing like a fresh sea robbin stew with a few oysters thrown in and a 1/2 pound of butter a-swimming on the top. --127-3-

[Sentience]

i saw robins all winter. i live in downtown boston. i always double-take when i see them in such cold weather.

[Northfork]

Another good sign of spring is the first sighting of an osprey. Saw first one last year on 3/13 here on east end of NY.

[Slappy]

It feels like spring today. I thought this was about sea robins when I first saw the title.
Last year on a warm day in feb I thought it would be fun to go to the canal and bounce some squid along the bottom. About 20 sea robins later, I realized I wasn't going to catch any cod.
I didn't see any robins that day!

[Cheju]

Right On, RJ!

I guess we who love to eat and fight this underated sport fish, i.e, SEAROBINS, are in for a great year in 2004.

Commercial fisherman in the Falkland Islands( where the Searobins winter) say they have never had a better catch than this year! They say the migration started two weeks early this year and they are well on thier way north.

Little known fact: Unlike Robins who fly on their annual migration, Searobins walk!

Cheju

[vineyard fisher]

They walk all they way from the coast of Argentina to New England?

[titleguy]

Hey, if they can be aggressive in cedar trees along Scusset Beach, then a walking migration from the Falklands is nothing --127-3- :-%

[Cheju]

Even though the Falkland Islands are near Argentina and Argentina claims them as Islas Malvenas, the happy Scottish/Irish decendent Brits who occpy the Falklands would be upset to hear that their Searobins walk from the shores of Argentina to the Northeast of the USA. It is more accurate to say they walk from the Falklands.

Cheju