Thursday, March 8, 2007 - Beginnings
Spring has begun. Winter has begun to end. However, when it comes to the cycle of seasons, there is no beginning nor end, just a constant spinning. Right now in nature, this movement is very obvious - more than for example a month ago. And for a birdwatcher those fairly subtle signs speak a clear language: all that was gone (or just hiding or being silent or otherwise keeping a low profile) all winter is coming back.
In Finland we have a proverb - or a poem actually - about Lark, Chaffinch, Wagtail and Swallow and their arrival in spring and the arrival of summer. It's very widely known. Perhaps this - seemingly innocent - rhyme is one of the reasons (counting year-ticks is another) why finnish birdwatchers are under a spell - a spell of following the progression of spring only through the arrival of migrant birds. Sure, arriving migrants are very handy indicators. An example: on monday there was only snow on the field, on wednesday there is a lark, on friday a whole flock of them and saturday is a sunny day and they are singing their hearts out - spring is here. Nothing wrong with that conclusion. But aren't we forgetting something? Does spring not arrive with those bird-species wintering here as well?
Birdwatchers tend to take pride in noticing (seeing and hearing) "more" than "the average people." The other people waiting for the bus just a few meters away don't usually seem to notice the Goshawk that sometimes flies by. I do - and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm proud of it. However, I think that if we are blind to the changes in the behaviour of our wintering birds when waiting for that first Skylark, we have no reason for pride.
So what are this unappreciated birds, that don't bother to leave our country for winter up to? In my "local patch" (I haven't been actually actively birding, just minding my own everyday business and keeping my eyes and ears open while doing so) for example:
* Blue Tits and Great Tits are singing actively, males are trying to lure females to the nest-holes
* House Sparrows are doing the same
* Magpies are at least flying around with twigs - perhaps not REAL nest-building yet
* Jackdaws are no longer just in flocks but couples, and searching for nest-sites
* Greenfinches (are they ever silent?) are singing
Despite all this, and this may be a bit of an anti-climax, I am eagerly waiting for my first Skylark for this year. I will see it on saturday, if not tomorrow already...
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Me - Timo Janhonen
Fabulous birding adventures on the south coast of Finland.
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