Hi, While the spring reporting period begins March 1, Spring the season begins on the vernal equinox, the day when the length of the day and night are equal. This year that will be on Tuesday March 20. I think that for me, at least in northern Ohio, a true spring migrant must be a complete migrant, that is a species which >99.997% of the population vacate the breeding range in the non breeding months. For me the harbingers of springs are true neotropical migrants. I expect to begin hearing Louisiana Waterthrushes singing on territory on April 1 Eastern Phoebes soon after but they winter in the Southern US. Black-throated Blues and Greens may be found in the region around this time, but not here on the higher elevations. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the other hand are among the first true neotropic migrants to appear in good numbers here on the front of Allegheny Plateau. Mid April would be quite early for that species, but 5 days latter they will show up in good numbers and to me signal the beginning of peak migration. Spring begins in 3 weeks! Haans Petruschke Kirtland ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]