Spring?

Today we rode our bikes up to Ermineskin Marsh, with hopes of seeing a few Spring migrants. As this is the traditional weekend that the Brant Wildlife Festival Big Day birding competition used to be held, it seemed like a good time to go out and have a look to see what has arrived lately. Well, it's a good thing they decided to hold the big day next weekend, because it is quiet out there. Really quiet! The unseasonably cold, stormy weather seems to have stalled migration fairly severely. Although we did see a few Rufous Hummingbirds and Oranage-crowned Warblers, and the Virginia Rails have returned to the marsh, others usually present by this time of year, were not found. We could not locate any Common Snipe, Common Yellowthroat, swallows, or Red-breasted Sapsuckers. The Red-winged Blackbirds were singing up a storm, the rails did eventually respond to my calls, and a striking adult male Northern Harrier was circling the marsh looking for voles, but overall, it really felt like February rather than April. Had the big day been held today, nobody would have broken 100 species. I hope it warms a bit this week, and the birds start arriving. It's April, come on!