I'll go along with Michael Price, Kevin Purcell and others who have cautioned that a few birds singing and a few plants leafing out or in full bloom (like the Sarcococca in our yard) don't necessarily point to an early spring. Winter singing is well known in resident birds such as Song Sparrows and Bewick's Wrens that defend winter territories rather than run around in flocks as Bushtits and Dark-eyed Juncos do. Real spring singing, when one might say a young bird's fancy turns to thoughts of love, comes when rapidly increasing day length brings about a surge in testicular growth, and that's some time in the future for most of our birds.

Recall, however, that both Anna's Hummingbirds and Bald Eagles normally begin their breeding cycles (starting with singing/courtship) in what we usually consider midwinter.

Even though the temps are above normal, when I look outside at the dark overcast, leafless trees, and birds scarfing down suet as fast as they can, I see winter, much as I would like it to be spring!
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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