I looked out onto my back yard this afternoon and saw a flock of Robins eating the ground feed.

I will have to refer to my Peterson's, but I thought the Robin was a Spring bird in the Eastern States.

Just thought I would share... perhaps Spring is on its way.

Mere

We've had robins all winter. I have several bushes with berries on them, and they flock thru in a group and move on. I just looked and the berries are indeed finally gone. But I have seen Robins in winter quite a bit lately.

I have Blue Jays in my suet feeders too. I now gauge winter by the Juncos. When they move in, that is really winter for us. When they leave, then that is our spring.
I have seen as many as 5 of them under our feeders this year.

http://wild-birds.suite101.com/artic...darkeyed_junco

I have a bald eagle looking for an open spot in the river to fish....no luck. It be frozen solid, still. We have to get to St. Patty's day to see a break. Unless we are very lucky!

I love watching the birds - we feed them along with the squirrels. All kinds of wildlife to watch including a group of deer that also participate in the feeding.

We still have the junkos... never have noticed the robins before...I would suspect that your Spring arrives a bit later than ours here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Thank you for the link and happy birdwatching,

Mere

Check out the Hummingbird cam:

http://cam.dellwo.com/

one surviving chick of two..

And this is the Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagle cam for this season:
http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/micr...eagle-cam.html

They are getting ready to lay the first egg. Camera is nicer and in a better position this year! When they zoom in you can see detail in the nest. Should be wonderful!

Bald eagle, lordy. how beautiful. We have a line that runs between the trees and holds some birdfeeders. Last season, a blue heron tried to fly through and got caught up in the line... It was incredible site and I felt so sorry for the bird, but it was fine and uninjured. Flew away no problem.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it was scoping-out the fish in our pond. Well, after the line episode, the heron never returned to my knowledge...

Mere

How incredibly neat-o the hummingbird cam is...

We had a nest outside our bedroom upNorth, one season.

It was fascinating. But she did not return. She was very shy around people. If anyone went out there she'd fly up to the top of the tree. She really chased the little red squirrels too! 2 fledged out of that nest. I have some hummer pics in my album on my profile here, after I got a better camera.

I always put up feeders.

I had the itsy bitsiest little hummingbird nest in a small pine in my yard. We had hummers at my feeder all summer. If anyone says, 'hummer' we all freeze to watch them. When I lived further north, we had them fight over the feeders...we had tons of them. Saw a pilated woodpecker several times too.

Here we have orioles, many cranes, and herons, besides the every day birds. One day out on the bike trail, I saw 5 herons in the river...blue herons. Of course they are all gone now. I feel bad when they leave.

I always have a half dozen turkey vultures circling over me when I am outside...darn buzzards are waiting to have me for lunch.

I had a friend a while back, who was chased by a crane and bitten on the calf, lol. They are dangerous birds if disturbed.

We have regular bird watching hikes here and a very knowledgeable man who knows 800 bird calls. I have gone on a few. This Christmas I got new binocs and a bird book.

We get eagles here in the off season, by summer they are all north. Robins arrive back in the early part of March...by the 17th for sure.

Mrs. D and Cyclelops, it sounds like you all have a nice birdwatching area... We really enjoy the hummers in the Summer and have a feeder at the kitchen window. I love watching them and getting 'buzzed' by them when I am gardening.

We used to have wild turkeys when we first moved here, but over the years more houses have been built and you don't see them as frequently. The turkey vultures I have seen, especially near the farms. They are UGLY grounded but beautiful in flight.

A few lovelies I have seen in our back yard over the years that are somewhat unusual are:
Spotted Western Race (a pair comes every spring), Blue grosebeak, Brown Thrasher, Indigo Buntings and Pileated woodpeckers. The Indigo Buntings are especially beautiful.

When I was young and lived with my parents, we lived near a bird sanctuary in Ipswich, Massachusettes. It was on the Cape (Anne) and there were loads of year-round and migratory birds. It was my job to keep the feeders filled, LOL. That is when I developed an interest in watching birds and keeping track of them in the Peterson Field Guide.

Cyclelops, you will definitely enjoy your binoculars. I can be found on my deck in the spring and summer for hours watching the woods with my binoculars...

Mere

It's probably not too funny, but Cyclelops, I had to laugh when you said you friend got attacked by the Crane. I did not know that they were so territorial...