Friday, March 4, 2011

Robins vs. Turkey Vultures?

A few weeks ago (mid February) when I came home from work and walked out of my garage, I was surprised to see robins.....but not just a few robins. In the trees behind our house were many robins - I stopped counting after 150 and there were many more trees full of the orange breasted brown birds. And they were singing rather loudly. My husband and I watched them for awhile amazed by the quantity. Later that evening after supper I sat down to relax and read the local paper. As I scanned the front page along the side bar in a small box was an article about robins being sighted in the area rather early this year. The article went on to tell the reader if you live in Northern Indiana and are looking for a sign of spring, it would be wise to be on the lookout for turkey vultures instead of robins! I have been looking for robins in the spring for a long time and I don't think I will change that behavior anytime soon.

7 comments:

  1. Personally, I'd much rather see a robin than a turkey vulture, especially first thing in the morning! :-)

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  2. I prefer robins also but April Pulley Sayre has a picture book, Vulture View, that made me feel more kindly towards turkey vultures. I would have loved to have seen the "robin tree".

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  3. So have you spotted any turkey vultures? Don't you wonder what makes such a large group of robins stop in your tree, then where do they all go, never to be spotted as a flock again? Just some things your post got me to wondering.

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  4. When I lived in the DC area a few years ago, I distinctly remember when I heard birds twittering after NOT hearing them for a while. It was like a revelation of seasons to a Californian. We have birds year-round, so that dramatic (yet, subtle) experience was a new one for me.

    However, your experience is anything but subtle. I imagine it must have been quite a sight!

    Elizabeth E.
    http://peninkpaper.blogspot.com

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  5. I sighted a robin Jan. 19 in one of our berry trees. I started marking down every time I spotted him. January 21 I saw a Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette photo with a robin sighting. February came and my son reported a tree full of robins in Ft. Wayne and then I started noticing a tree full of them here. I wonder what made them stay? come early? We worried about them finding food with all the snow. I put out some raisins but no takers for those!

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  6. Reminds me of the camp song: Three Chartreuse Vultures...

    I'm glad the robins moved on . . . they made a mess & it was a little creepy walking to your back door. :)

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