When it comes to signs of hope from the natural world, our cup runneth over this week. First, around middle of last week, came the grackles. Next, the snow melted so quickly it was like we were living in a time lapse video. Then several other rapid fire first birds of the season, some quite early. It was almost too much, I was all like, hey, save something for next week, nature!
But seriously, we needed this. For me, it began on Wednesday with my first grackles of, uh, whatever season this is. Let’s call it Sprinter. I saw them at, and I’m not making this up, the Birdwatcher’s General Store in Orleans. These grackles weren’t just looking for a birdfeeder to raid, they went straight to the source. I’m pretty sure I heard one of them ask for proprietor Mike O’Connor by name. I saw them a few other places on my way to the office – when grackles come back, they come back in bunches. As a result, the “first of spring” lustre doesn’t last so long as for other birds – by that afternoon it had gone from “hey, grackles!” to “oh, it’s just grackles”.
Next, on Sunday, it was my first Killdeer of the spring. These big plovers of ballfields and gravel pits love this season of mud, and this one arrived just as the last snow melted into the dirt. They’re not subtle, and, as usual, I heard mine before I saw it, giving it’s loud, eponymous call as it flew over some school fields in Orleans.
Monday morning brought the first stuffy-nosed calls of Fish Crows, the ever-so-slightly smaller cousin of our resident American Crows, to my East Harwich neighborhood. Most of them leave for the winter, save for a few flocks here and there in Plymouth and the Upper Cape, basically anywhere within several miles of the Bourne Landfill, as the crow flies. But I don’t see them near me until March. I always considered them migratory, because I never see them in winter most places, but apparently they are considered non-migratory, and have never been documented moving more than 180 miles in winter. What I perceive as migration may just be bunching up in different areas short distances away, like near the aforementioned landfill. But I’m still claiming it as a new spring arrival.
On Monday several people reported what has become the earliest arriving Osprey on Cape Cod, the male from highly visible Cedar Pond nest near the Orleans rotary. This is the male that has a very public annual nest battle with a pair of loitering Bald Eagles, and this year was no exception. It seems that by yesterday the Osprey had reclaimed his nest, as he was reported there alone. I suspect that, in keeping with the times, the eagles just do this to troll him.
The first Piping Plovers were reported in Sandwich on Monday, followed quickly by others at Nauset Beach in Orleans and Hyannis Harbor on Tuesday – they are about a week early, at least by 20 years ago standards. Keeping our feet in the sand, the first American Oystercatchers were noted on Nantucket on Sunday, then at beaches in Chatham and Oak Bluffs on Monday.
And that’s not even all of the new arrivals – the first Laughing Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Tree Swallows also made appearances in the last few days. With so much happening so fast, what can we look forward to from mother nature next week? My money is on a snowstorm. Happy Sprinter, everyone!
