# Spring



## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

I read threads where you folks below the bridge see kingfishers, robins, bluebirds, juncos, flickers, grackles, RW blackbirds, ad infinitem, all winter long. 

A burning question I have for you lucky people is, with all those birds around, what bird do you use as a signal spring has arrived? :idea:FM


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## Rowdy Bandit (Mar 22, 2016)

Forest Meister said:


> I read threads where you folks below the bridge see kingfishers, robins, bluebirds, juncos, flickers, grackles, RW blackbirds, ad infinitem, all winter long.
> 
> A burning question I have for you lucky people is, with all those birds around, what bird do you use as a signal spring has arrived? :idea:FM


Good question ...snowbirds?


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## DecoySlayer (Mar 12, 2016)

Road kill skunks and ring neck ducks.


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

The go to spring bird Robins .Then the woodpeckers beating on my antenna all day


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## Botiz (Oct 21, 2010)

Sure felt like spring today putting in some of my taps. 40 degrees, sun shining, birds singing...it won’t be long.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

Finally heard some birds doing the song and dance. 

Ok, black birds, not sure they ever left, yet quite noisy today....lol


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Black Morels.
Spring peepers are nice to hear , but can get sent back into the mud early on still.

I look for herons for spring's getting on in earnest.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Sandhill cranes flying across the straights. Their calling can be heard from a long ways. It means spring is on the way but not here quite yet.


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## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

i'm still waiting for winter to get here.


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## finlander (Jan 11, 2007)

Have had Red Headed woodpeckers,2, all winter eating corn kernels on our porch. Downy as well, another pair. Robins are the go to bird. Do not recall if robins stay put for the winter in any areas. Bluebirds do.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Chickadees change their song when spring is getting close.


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## Vicious Fishous (Sep 12, 2006)

I’ve heard some chickadees calling for “Cheeeeeseburgers”
We now live on a swamp that rarely freezes, and half the mentioned critters are all Still hanging around our property. When we start hearing warblers, or the cat birds, we know it’s spring.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

They start to get active -


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## eucman (Jan 24, 2009)

Forest Meister said:


> I read threads where you folks below the bridge see kingfishers, robins, bluebirds, juncos, flickers, grackles, RW blackbirds, ad infinitem, all winter long.
> 
> A burning question I have for you lucky people is, with all those birds around, what bird do you use as a signal spring has arrived? :idea:FM


R W blackbirds and grackles stil the harbingers of spring for me in S.E. Michigan.


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

Wood ducks.


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

eucman said:


> R W blackbirds and grackles stil the harbingers of spring for me in S.E. Michigan.


I agree, red wing blackbirds


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## don (Jan 20, 2001)

Our Redwings and Robins get snowed on every year but when I see Vultures in the sky Spring has officially arrived in the Mt.Pleasant area.


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## caseyj (Apr 8, 2001)

I still hear the cry of the Kee-Kee bird.


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## don (Jan 20, 2001)

caseyj said:


> I still hear the cry of the Kee-Kee bird.



Poor birds. I watch the farmer destroy their eggs with his farm equipment every spring behind my home.
A necessary evil I know, between that and predation and cold wet springs it must be a tough life in the Killdeers world.


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## Classic8Track (Jan 23, 2020)

UnknwnBanditRowdyTucoRojo said:


> Good question ...snowbirds?


And some in that Snowbird Bunch come back in March and complain about the Weather.


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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

caseyj said:


> I still hear the cry of the Kee-Kee bird.


Is that the one that says Kee-Keeris* it's cold, or the one with the short legs and ample endowment and every time it lands it says...., oh wait, that's the Wahoo bird. FM


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I just use a calendar to tell me when Spring gets here. I don't know of any birds who can read a calendar.


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## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

It's the Junco's for me. They are only here in the winter.


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

Had some doves getting frisky at the feeder today ...they are one of the earliest nesters .


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## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

Fishndude said:


> I just use a calendar to tell me when Spring gets here. I don't know of any birds who can read a calendar.


Beings the question was about what bird indicates spring to you, I guess you could have saved your time replying.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Well, since a relatively large percentage of MI birds migrate, all of the migratory birds kind of signal Spring to me. And the last decade or so, many birds that used to leave MI in the Winter, now spend Winter in the southern part of the State. Growing up in the 1970's seeing the first Robin of the new year was a thing. Now I see Robins year-round. The same goes for Bluebirds. Heck, I saw a bunch of Bluebills (Ducks) on Belleville Lake, a couple weeks ago.


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## Shagy (Sep 20, 2001)

Red wing blackbirds


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

"The same goes for Bluebirds. Heck, I saw a bunch of Bluebills (Ducks) on Belleville Lake, a couple weeks ago."


Bluebills mixed in with the goldeneye on Pere Marquette Lake this weekend.


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## Shupac (Apr 17, 2005)

For about a week in mid April, I'll hear, but only rarely see, white throated sparrows. A couple of weeks later I'll be up in Grayling fishing and hear them serenading every sunset.


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## caseyj (Apr 8, 2001)

[ Heck, I saw a bunch of Bluebills (Ducks) on Belleville Lake, a couple weeks ago.[/QUOTE]


The story goes that bunch of ducks landed on a lake in Georgia and the lake froze overnight and in the morning..well you know the rest of the story.


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## cedarlkDJ (Sep 2, 2002)

caseyj said:


> The story goes that bunch of ducks landed on a lake in Georgia and the lake froze overnight and in the morning..well you know the rest of the story.


That’s a story alright! Unlikely in Georgia though. ()

Cold water is denser than warm water so it sinks, forcing warm water to the surface.
The entire water column of a lake must reach 39 degrees Fahrenheit first.
Then the surface water must reach 32 degrees before ice forms.
Besides, ducks will paddle around and keep it open anyway.
I saw the first red-winged blackbird at the feeder the other day.
Nothing since, so probably scooted back south for awhile.


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

Spring will be here in 4 weeks (so says the calendar)


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## cedarlkDJ (Sep 2, 2002)

WALLEYE MIKE said:


> Spring will be here in 4 weeks (so says the calendar)


It's going to feel like it this week-end!


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

It doesn't feel like it right now.


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## Rudi's Dad (May 4, 2004)

Sandhill Cranes and R.W. Blackbirds is what works for me.


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## largemouth19 (Oct 29, 2018)

Robins, you see them running around yanking worms from the wet ground that means spring has sprung.


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## finlander (Jan 11, 2007)

Early December I saw two cranes. Found out later there was a third, and it had injured its right wing. They are not where I saw them early. Swamps froze now. Would one adult and baby leave the injured one behind?


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Agree with some of the above, seems to be accurate here in north-central IN: 

- sandhill crane migration
- red wing blackbirds
- active cardinals


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## Bow hunter on a Mission (Oct 15, 2017)

Redwing blackbirds usually second week of March just north of Lansing.


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## Vicious Fishous (Sep 12, 2006)

The first male redwing black bird we’ve seen this year was just eating under the bird feeder. 2-22-20 Mason MI


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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

The first Junco's showed up today, finally. FM


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

fanrwing said:


> When do Orioles start showing up in the GR area?



Roughly Memorial Day, they like it a bit warmer and are mostly berry, insect, and flower bud eaters. So they wait until those things are abundant until they move in.

I think we will see them earlier this year.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

We have had slate juncos all winter and now they are gone. Orioles will be here soon. My neighbor feeds them grape jelly all summer.


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## RMH (Jan 17, 2009)

RMH said:


> I have had some common grackles show up on the feeder the last few days here in Hazel Park.


Last week I had a single red winged blackbird show up a few times and a today had a male and female cowbird at the feeder.

I know these are not much of a big deal out in rural areas but I'll take the variety of anything besides sparrows, starlings and fox squirrels. I still have various woodpeckers and common grackles hanging around. Right now I like the grackles, they come in 2-6 at a time a few times a day and don't stay long. Occasional cardinals on the feeder and blue jays and robins flying around doing their thing.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Friday night we had a nice steady hour long rain. Saturday morning I had worms on the drive but the were frozen in heavy frost. Spring has sprung. The Sandhill crane migration has made it back to the tip of the mitt but I have not heard any woodcock peeping.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

Possems and ***** are on the move. Darn


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

I pulled the card from my camera yesterday and was amazed at the number of woodcock that were using the open area in the shooting lane. It was about a month worth of pictures and the birds were there every night. Sure would like to know how many there are.


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

First of the year. They sure are pretty birds.


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