blog.lauraerickson.com

I saw my first robin of the year where I least expected it—in the Sax-Zim Bog on March 23. His plumage was bright enough that I was sure he was a male, but the ground was mostly frozen and the poor guy focused on finding food under the leaf litter

As of 2018, Rhode Island’s 431 species is barely fewer than Wisconsin’s 439 and Minnesota’s 442, while Rhode Island is less than 2% the size of Wisconsin and not even 1.5% as big as Minnesota. As of 2018, Rhode Island’s 431 species is barely fewer than Wisconsin’s 439 and Minnesota’s 442, while Rhode Island is less than 2% the size of Wisconsin and not even 1.5% as big as Minnesota.

The sky was blue and there wasn’t much wind, but temps had been in the teens overnight and it was still only 20 degrees, so the snow was frozen enough that I didn’t break through at all this time. If Spring and Winter had been competing in a March Madness game Monday, those snow conditions would have given Winter an early lead, but Spring scored a big three-pointer down in the marsh, where 3 Red-winged Blackbirds persistently yelled out theirspring song. The dozen Canada Geese flying overhead seemed confident that there was open water somewhere, their certainty boosting Spring, but the seven geese standing forlornly on the ice, looking at the bleak wintry landscape and wondering what happened to all the open water that had been right there, in that very spot, just last fall, sent the ball back to Winter’s court. But one chickadee suddenly grabbed the ball, and with the persistence and gumption of Iowa’s(she's from Port Wing! ) with all her double-doubles, this chickadee broke into a very long singing bout, producing a full 111 songs before he quieted down.

On March 21, they counted 1,076 Bald Eagles—a record for a single day—as well as 38 Golden Eagles. On Saturday, in Herbster, Wisconsin, Ryan Brady counted 267 Bald Eagles, almost as many as the 340 Frank counted that day in Duluth. I usually see my first robin of spring in Wisconsin, West Duluth, or my neighborhood, and sure enough, on Sunday, a cold, cloudy, blustery day, I heard a robin muttering curse words in my yard while staying out of sight. But my very first robin of 2019, seen far north of where I usually see my first, was by far the most cooperative robin I’ve ever seen.