Redwings singing on teritory, East Vancouver

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:36 pm

Here in the sultry Republic of East Vancouver, the spring nesting season is underway--today for the first time I heard male Redwing Blackbirds singing on territory at Trout Lake.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:07 pm

El Niño is a wondrous thing.

djm

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:58 pm

djm wrote:El Niño is a wondrous thing.

Isn't the classic el niño effect cool weather on the west coast & warmer weather in the east?

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:45 am

Here in Montréal I saw a dandelion blooming yesterday. Normally we don't see any flowers here until late April.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:55 am

I don't know about "classical", but El Niño on top of global warming has resulted in abnormally mild weather from coast to coast. It "should" be -5° to -10C° today, with about a foot or two of snow. Instead, we are getting highs in the double-digits and I need to cut my lawn.

djm

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:39 am

I swatted two mosquitos here last weekend. Today I saw the bloom of a hyacinth popping its head up. I hope when winter finally arrives that the plants survive it okay and the pests get hammered.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:05 pm

I've got crocus, daffodils and tulips starting to come up. This is way too early, but then our weather has been way too warm for this time of year. I'm not complaining, other than I bet our fruit trees, etc. will not bear much this year since they'll probably break bud and then we'll get a hard frost if not worse. The cold weather is supposed to hit us this week.

Coffee · Post by **Coffee** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:54 pm

Darn! I thought this would be a hockey thread.

Yeah anyways, here in England I've not seen one... single... snowflake. None.

It did frost once or twice though, but that's about it.

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:08 pm

It's really a pain here in Montreal, because every morning I'm not sure which jacket I'm going to wear. I got three: a rain jacket, an autumn jacket and my super Kanuk winter coat, which is totally useless under rain and too warm when it's above -5. So these days here it could be raining, snowing, you could get an ice storm, etc. It's a little bit crazy.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:41 pm

s1m0n wrote:Here in the sultry Republic of East Vancouver, the spring nesting season is underway--today for the first time I heard male Redwing Blackbirds singing on territory at Trout Lake.

Are you talking about the redwings we get here in Britain in winter (Turdus iliacus)? They come down as winter visitors from Scandinavia, though there are small numbers breeding in Scotland too. Along with blackbirds and fieldfares they have spent the last two months demolishing the windfall apples at the bottom of my garden. If this mild winter continues there should be a good survival rate this year.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:39 pm

SteveShaw wrote:Are you talking about the redwings we get here in Britain in winter (Turdus iliacus)?

Nope, this is another family entirely, and confusingly enough they are called redwing blackbirds but are not at all related to your blackbirds, which are very closely related to our robins, which are not at all like your robins.

Our redwings are Agelaius phoeniceus.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:51 pm

Just goes to show the truth of what we botanists have always said: Latin names are best!

djm · Post by **djm** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:34 pm

Here you go, Steve: red-winged blackbird. Named for the red epaulettes. I can't remember if there are different subspecies east vs. west N.America. Its trill is one of the first signs of spring as it returns to swamps and marshes to build its nests in the cattails and reeds.

djm

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:28 am

That's a good photo. If I'm not mistaken, redwings are Icterids.

(Checks--yes, they are). Here's yours and here's ours.

The males come north about three weeks earlier than the females (who look like slightly larger sparrows).

The sit upright on cattails and willow branches overlooking wetland*, and made a loud "skwaaa" sound to establish territory. for me, it's a much more evocative (and reliable) sign of spring than the cliche 'first robin' (which is a thrush in north america).

*as the male in the wikipedia page is doing.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:49 am

sign of spring than the cliche 'first robin' (which is a thrush in north america).

Ofcourse here it would be the swallow or the cuckoo announcing spring, there are flocks of robins around the birdfeeders outside the house all winter. But then again you could argue Ireland has something resembling a winter only every so many years.

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Redwings singing on teritory, East Vancouver

Redwings singing on teritory, East Vancouver

Re: Redwings singing on teritory, East Vancouver

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