Early birds keep on coming

The world is changing all around us, and while we are well aware of that by now (those of us not in denial at least), it can be interesting to view these changes from a smaller scope. In this case, that would be through the records of a superb and meticulous Connecticut birder, Paul Desjardins. As heat records have tumbled in the last two months a study like this one illustrated the difference a few degrees can make, let alone several or more as some of our days have been 20 or 30 degrees above average for prolonged periods.

This has meant that many of our birds are coming north earlier, not only because of an easy flight but because their food is accessible and ready to serve whether it is in plant or animal form. Paul has recorded his earliest arrival dates over the past several decades and has already broken 12 of them. Keeping in mind Paul lives in far inland Connecticut and focuses much of his birding there makes some of these even more impressive as coastal dates can be earlier or have birds winter over.

Species	New date	Location	Old date	Location
Osprey	3/11	Old Lyme	3/12	Old Lyme
Greater Yellowlegs	3/9	Hammonasset State Park	3/18	Hammonasset State Park
Lesser Yellowlegs	2/26	Durham	4/1	Rhode Island
American Woodcock	2/28	South Windsor	3/5	South Windsor
Warbling Vireo	4/17	West Hartford	4/21	East Rock
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	3/28	Windsor	3/31	South Windsor
House Wren	4/14	Wethersfield	4/18	South Windsor
Pine Warbler	3/18	Windsor	3/25	Litchfield
Palm Warbler	3/28	Windsor	4/4	Windsor
Northern Waterthrush	4/17	East Granby	4/21	East Rock
Louisiana Waterthrush	3/30	Bloomfield	4/6	West Hartford
Chipping Sparrow	3/19	Windsor Locks	4/4	Windsor Locks

That Lesser Yellowlegs in February was a nice record seen by many, and a Louisiana Waterthrush in March is crazy to me - that is a date when we could very easily have snow across Connecticut! While one could never draw global conclusions about climate or bird populations and movement, it is an interesting illustration of what millions of birders have been noting on their own, and why we should all be entering data into eBird. Here's betting Paul breaks about 25 or 30 records this spring before all is said and done...


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician