We are in a time of transition when the weather doesn’t seem to know what it wants
to do. We still have lingering winter visitors but spring birds are slowly advancing,
anxious to begin the annual breeding season. If we haven’t seen them already, most
of us will soon have Song Sparrows in our yards and hear their cheery melody.
Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds have become common features, picking up
seeds on the ground and hogging the show with other species. You will see adult and
juvenile male Red-wings initially before the striped females show up in a couple of
weeks. The males spend that time selecting a territory for prospective mates.

This is peak time for migrant geese to appear. While some Canada Geese spend the
winter here and will remain to nest locally, vast numbers are migrants, heading
north to the Arctic for the summer. In the eastern part of the province, tens of
thousands of Snow Geese remain for a few weeks until they head down the St.
Lawrence into Quebec before they too move into the Arctic. The breeding cycle is in
full swing.

Happy Birding!

By Brian Morin

Publisher of Ontario Birding News