Top 5 moments in the first week of Spring

Spring seems more like the beginning of the year than winter does. Wouldn't it make more sense if the year started in Spring and ended in the Winter? Any way, here are 5 of my most memorable moments from the first week of Spring. They are listed chronologically, not in order of importance.

1) The American Robins: There were robins everywhere in the first week of spring. I see them here throughout the winter in Connecticut but they are usually in the woods eating berries. This week I came upon a flock of about 100 American Robins scouring the ground for earthworms and other goodies. If they weren't eating, then they were singing from the treetops.

2) Gravestones with no names-I saw a flock of Wild Turkeys at the Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery in Middletown. CVH is a state funded mental health and substance treatment facility. As I was looking at the turkeys, I noticed something else. There were no names on the gravestones, just numbers. A memorial plaque was finally put up a few years back listing the names of the deceased. I found this article telling the sad history behind this cemetery.

3) Northern Pintails, Wilson's Snipe, and Green-winged Teal at The Portland Fairgrounds-

There is a muddy little skating pond located at the fairgrounds here in Portland. Every March around this time the area in and around the pond attracts some interesting birds. On Saturday March 22nd, I saw 14 Wilson's Snipe, Mallards, Canada Geese, Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal and 8 Northern Pintails! I was excited because this was the first time I've ever seen Northern Pintails at this location. These elegant looking ducks are somewhat uncommon in Connecticut.

There are a couple of drawbacks to this spot. The background is somewhat drab looking for taking photos and 4 wheel drive vehicles generally show up scaring the birds away, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Here is a short video of a few of the ducks I saw enjoying the first weekend of Spring.

I was looking for birds but found this frog instead at a small nature preserve in Glastonbury located off of Great Pond Road . Do you know what kind of frog this is?

I ended my first week of Spring at the Pine Brook Bog in East Hampton. You wouldn't know it from this photo but I spotted about 80 Ring-necked Ducks, along with some Hooded Mergansers and Common Mergansers here. I saw my first Tree Swallows of the year zig-zagging over the water. Red-tailed Hawks flew overhead while Red-shouldered Hawks called out from the woods. I was surprised to find an immature Bald Eagle perched in a tree along the opposite shore. There are plenty of eagles in Connecticut these days but they are usually along the Connecticut River or some other major body of water, not in a little bog like this. A young boy and his father who lived up the street came to ask me about what I was seeing. I was happy to share views of the birds in my scope with them and they seemed to be impressed with what they saw. It was a nice way to wrap up the first week of Spring.

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What were your favorite moments during the first week of Spring?