I like it. Killdeer is a good one. Here's another good one: Horned Larks singing and defining territory. Saw an awsome fight the other day. I was afraid one of them was going to end up dead. I have been looking for Pipits around all the farm fields in my neighborhood and the Horned Larks are really getting down to buisness. Fun to hear and watch.
Anyway, I think everybody's thoughts on the harbingers of Spring are insightful and right on. There are many signs to look for.

Happy Spring everyone!

Shari Jackson
Stark County

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve J. <[log in to unmask]>
To: OHIO-BIRDS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, Feb 13, 2013 9:11 pm
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] First Birds


Nah, its them silly Killdeer...calling out overhead  in the middle of the 
ight...and you can't see them...but you know that they are there. :-D
rob thorn <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I'll have to differ a bit with Bill on this one.  I think that it's the
unpredictability of the habitat that defines a true harbinger.  Sure
Pectorals and Louisiana Waterthrushes travel very far to get here, but
their habitats - mudflats and streams - are less impacted by weather
vagaries.  I've seen waterthrushes singing and carrying on in a stream
that bisected deep snow. I doubt they had much of a problem finding
food. Swifts are a different thing; their aerial prowess is such that a
600 mile flight means little to them.  If conditions are bad, they just
turn around and fly back!

No, I'm more impressed by open grassland birds like Meadowlarks, Vesper
& Savannah Sparrows, since they arrive when their haunts can be either
open or totally snow-covered.  Not only that, but fields tend to lag
woods in their seasonal phenology, so their first big flush of insects
is a long way off.  The first singing Meadowlark or Vesper Sparrow is
truly an act of faith, faith that the worst of winter is over.  That's
the sign of a true herald.

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ur thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
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