Birding on the First Day of Spring

We got about a foot of new snow Monday and all day, the birds hit the feeders pretty hard.  It was interesting to see some of them pause under the feeder’s eaves to take a break out of the snowfall.  One Red-breasted Nuthatch sat there, nearly motionless, for about 15 minutes before finally flying off with his sunflower seed.

So Tuesday, the first day of spring, was beautiful but not too birdy.  Chickadees, like this one, were active as usual and doing all their spring calls as we took our first walk.

Nothing stops chickadees from getting their breakfast.

As the dog and I started out to the drumming of a Hairy Woodpecker, we headed up into the red pine grove.  I was on snowshoes and Penny ranged ahead — until some gusts of wind started dumping snow off the trees.  Here she is heading back to me all a dither.  It only lasted for five minutes.

The Vizsla does not like surprise snow dumps like this one.

We weren’t seeing a lot of birds but it was a good workout in the new snow.  We made a long loop and came out on a west-facing slope where I found several birds’ nests that overlook the Shady Rill brook and road.  Here’s my favorite with an old barn below.

Bird Rm with vu. Avail May.

When we returned to the house, about an hour and a half later, we found the thistle feeder and feeders covered with Common Redpolls.