Spring has sprung! Nevermind the snowstorm we had just a couple of days ago. Spring has officially arrived in Denver.
How do I know? Because when I let Charlie out at 7 pm, the first thing I heard was a robin — the familiar cheerful “peek, peek, tut, tut” you often hear when robins are patrolling a lawn, listening for worms:
Oh yes, robins do indeed listen for worms. Or so I was taught as a child. That’s why you see them stopping and cocking their heads as they patrol your lawn. Also, they are one of the few bird species that can and do run as well as hop. Running, after all, is so much more energy efficient.
For the very few of you not familiar with the American robin, here’s a video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
Nobody doesn’t love robins, except maybe the neighbors who insist on letting their cats roam outside.
Anyway, let it be known, according to the robins, spring has arrived in Denver (next weekend’s predicted snow notwithstanding).
Oh, ROBINS ! yours are slenderer (!) than the Brits’, but just as cute.
Pity they don’t know what the weather is … 😉
Yep, I am a bit concerned about the snow we might still get. But the robins must know how to cope. I read somewhere just this evening that they hang around all year, but I don’t recall seeing any in winter. Maybe there’s a secret portal somewhere that whisks them off to the Gulf Coast.
From the Audubon Society:
“Our American Robin really isn’t similar, aside from having orange on the chest; it’s twice the size and four times the bulk of the European bird …”
Even with all the snow up here, there are robins around. I scatter a birdseed mix containing seeds, nuts, fruits, and dried mealworms. They are right in there with the other birds. Not as tasty as earthworms, but calories in a pinch. The elk are looking for anything edible, too. A local herd of around 100 slogged through the neighborhood Friday night heading to lower areas. Too deep to dig down to grasses, they were eating pine needles right off the trees. For the critters, i welcome a quick melt. For us, i just hope it can soak in rather than evaporate. Hurray Spring!
Offhand I wouldn’t have known what to put out for robins, but I’d have figured it out if I wanted to commit to feeding all winter. Good to know you’re doing it up there. On the webcams it looked like Estes got quite a lot of snow. And apparently the elk agree. (Would love to have seen all those elk.) It melted really fast down here, and I mean melted, not sublimated. Streets were running curb deep with slush and water. Lot of beautiful, wet, gurgling water. Hope some of it soaked my yard before hitting the street. I envy your having all that wildlife right at your front door.
(Of course if I ever got it in gear and got up there, I could see all your mountain wonders … Save a few for me in case I actually make it.)
yay!
👍
We’re have a week of spring here ourselves, but looks like we’ll have a sight cold spell over the weekend. Still, I’ll take it.
I think your slight cold spell is what is expected to maybe bring us a little snow