![\"red-winged](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-6273-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBased on what I’m seeing in the field I’m wondering if\u00a0some birds aren’t being tricked into spring activities too early. Here in northern Utah we’re having yet another unusually warm winter. Temperatures are significantly higher than normal and most of our precipitation in the valleys has been in the form of rain rather than snow.\u00a0My snow blower remains in the backyard shed, unserviced and unused in the middle of January for the first time I can recall. And\u00a0at\u00a0least some of our birds apparently already have already begun responding to springtime hormones and genetic programming.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/200, f\/8, ISO 1000, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 @ 400 mm + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n It isn’t unusual for some of our avian year round residents to sing during winter but when they do their singing seems to lack enthusiasm and\u00a0they’re quite shy about it and difficult to approach during the process. But\u00a0in\u00a0spring when they’re singing on territory they’re much more “sticky” when approached and their enthusiasm for their singing is boundless.\u00a0That’s what I’m beginning to see now – birds that continue to sing on\u00a0perch as I approach in my pickup\u00a0rather than flying off and\u00a0their singing is animated and fervent. I photographed this male Red-winged Blackbird two days ago in low light as he sang and he didn’t fly off as I approached like they usually do\u00a0during winter. He held his ground for several\u00a0minutes, turning on his perch and singing away enthusiastically. Other blackbirds are following suit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/8, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 @ 320 mm + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Yesterday this Western Meadowlark was doing the same thing. Meadowlarks also occasionally sing during winter but not like this.\u00a0I photographed this bird for quite a while as it sang and it wasn’t about to be pushed off its perch by my presence – it was persistent and enthusiastic in its singing. Until yesterday I hadn’t been able to closely approach a singing meadowlark since last summer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 @ 240 mm + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve spent many hours watching singing meadowlarks through my lens in springtime\u00a0and when they’re serious about it they just can’t seem to help themselves – the song seems to bubble out of them despite whatever else may be going on. This bird (the same one as in the photo above)\u00a0even\u00a0continued to sing during a wing-stretch.\u00a0I’d swear that the meadowlark thought\u00a0it was April…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 @\u00a0100 mm + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And the meadowlark had company.\u00a0This juvenile White-crowned Sparrow seemed to enjoy the serenade and stuck around for several minutes as the meadowlark performed. This image is full frame, I was barely able to fit both birds in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blackbirds and meadowlarks aren’t the only species that seem to be significantly early in their springtime activities.\u00a0For the past week I’ve been watching a pair of Red-tailed Hawks at a nest in Farmington. Both birds are often there and sometimes they’re both in the nest when I drive by. I don’t recall ever\u00a0seeing this activity in red-tails so early in the season.\u00a0I don’t have any photos to illustrate because the nest is deeply buried in a cottonwood tree.<\/p>\n And there are American Avocets still hanging around the area that have never left for the winter.<\/p>\n My suspicions here about early springtime activities\u00a0are highly unscientific and anecdotal but what I’m seeing has certainly caught my attention.<\/p>\n When\u00a0birds nest too early the results can be disastrous.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on what I’m seeing in the field I’m wondering if some birds aren’t being tricked into spring activities too early.<\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/western-meadowlark-6559-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/western-meadowlark-6648-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/western-meadowlark-6689-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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